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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 23, 



honey-dew so that a person who had never seen it before could 

 be sure of it. I don't believe I oould give such a description 

 of clover and linden honey as to allow a novice to distinguish 

 them. Iloney-dow is generally dark in color — I have seen it 

 darker than buckwheat, but not so clear — and it has a dis- 

 agreeable taste and a rank smell. But that doesn't tell you 

 anything very positively, for some people think linden honey 

 has a disagreeable taste and a rank smell. If any one has a 

 satisfactory description by which one unacquainted with it 

 can readily recognize it, I shall be glad to have them help out. 



It is possible to have a heavy yield of the stuff one year, 

 and then not to see a drop of It for years again. Some places, 

 however, seem to be visited with it every year. 



Yes, it would be a good plan, where combs contain honey 

 that is little better than poison to the bees, to extract and fill 

 up with sugar. You can extract without disturbing the cells 

 that are sealed. I don't know whether it might not be best 

 to uncap and extract any that is sealed, if it comes from the 

 same source. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. J. P. II. BR01V2V, AUGUSTA., GA. 



[Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer in this department. — Ed.] 



^Mailing Drones for Fertilizing Purposes. 



'•I have a few virgin queens but no drones to fertilize 

 them ; can you mail me a few ?" Thus writes a correspondent 

 in New York State. 



It is no hard matter to successfully mail drones, but I 

 have never known of their being any benefit after their re- 

 ception. The confinement in the cage, and the tumbling 

 about in the mail-pouch, seem to impair their virile power. 



Tiie Iloncy-Locusi Tor Bees. 



This, I think, staiids at the head of the list of mellifluous 

 trees cultivated for ornamental purposes. When in bloom, 

 which lasts from one to two weeks, the bees swarm on it from 

 early dawn until dark. They will work on this bloom to the 

 neglect of all other forage. The honey is quite light — much 

 lighter than basswood. The only objection to it as an orna- 

 mental shade-tree is its long spires. 



Cutting Out Qucen.Cells to Prevent Swarmin; 



Peculiarities of Honey.Producing Flora. 



Dr. Brown : — Will you kindly give your views as to the 

 feasibility of preventing swarms by cutting out queen-cells 

 every six or seven days ? I believe this method has some ad- 

 vocates, but will the bees work as well as if allowed to swarm? 



" Eastern Kentucky." 



Theory and practice do not always work harmoniously to- 

 gether, particularly when there are a number of collaterals 

 bearing upon the " matter of fact" side of the question. This 

 is particularly so when applied to the theory of cutting out 

 queen-cells to prevent swarming. ., i 



To cut out the queen-cells is a very uncertain remedy to 

 prevent swarming with the Cyprians, Palcstines, and some 

 other varieties of the honey-bee; and, in fact, it is not always 

 reliable witli Italians and blacks. When bees get the swarm- 

 ing-fever, they will often swarm in spite of the absence of 

 cells. 



Besides, when cutting out, a cell may be overlooked ; and 

 the labor involved, and the time consumed in performing this 

 work in a large apiary, would amount to a large item of ex- 

 pense. Moreover, the constant disturliing and tinkering at a 

 colony during the midst of the honey-flow interferes with the 

 labor of the workers. This is a fact too well established. 



Taking one season with another, the bulk of our surplus 

 honey is gathered by the first or prime swarms. Hence, sum- 

 ming up the pyrin and the coii.s, it is best to allow one swarm 

 to issue, and then, in five or six days, cut out all queen-cells 

 but one, which should be the best. By this time the larv;e 

 will be too old to use for others, and the probabilities are that 

 no more swarms will issue from that hive during the season ; 

 and if the honey-flow is protracted, the old colony may gather 

 a fair lot of surplus. 



Of the whole round of bee-keeping knowledge, that which 

 embraces the honey-producing plants, seems to be the least 

 understood. Conclusions here are generally drawn too 

 hastily, and consequently erroneous information is frequently 

 imparted. 



Bees at times worlv on bloom that yields very little honey, 

 and the fact of their presence does not prove that it is val- 

 uable for its secretion of nectar. One or two seasons of ob- 

 servations are not sufficient to determine the worth of a plant 

 for honey. There are hundreds of acres of golden-rod, Solidago, 

 within range of my bees, and for quite a number of seasons I 

 was under the impression that the honey they were then stor- 

 ing was obtained from the golden-rod. The bees were work- 

 ing on it, but I finally found out that I was mistaken in my 

 conclusions, and that the honey was gathered from a different 

 source. A species of aster was in bloom at the same time ; 

 and, by the way, it blooms in my locality from the first of Sep- 

 tember until killed by the frost. In early morning not a bee 

 could be seen upon it, but they could be seen upon the golden- 

 rod at nearly all hours in the day. Toward noon they would 

 commence working on the aster and keep it up until late in 

 the evening. By Sept. 20 the golden-rud is pretty well out of 

 bloom while the aster is at its height. But as the character 

 and quality of the honey gathered continued to be the same, I 

 found out that I had been giving the golden-rod credit for an 

 article it did not produce. The golden-rod {Solidariopuliescens) 

 in my location is a poor honey-plant, while it may be good in 

 other places. 



The sourwood is considered by some bee-keepers as a most 

 valuable forage. My bees have access to hundreds of these 

 trees, and I have yet to see the first bee on the bloom. Now 

 this is very strange when put by the side of what others say 

 of it. I can only account for it by diversity of soil or atmos- 

 pheric condition. 



Buckwheat, north of the latitude of North Carolina, may 

 be a good forage plant; but south, it is perfectly unreliable. 

 It will only secrete an abundance of nectar when the atmos- 

 phere is cool and moist. This is a condition we cannot well 

 have in the South. If sown, with us, in early spring, it comes 

 in competition with forage that yields honey much more lib- 

 erally than it does, and the bees go for the richest pasture. If 

 sown so it will bloom in July and August, the time when we 

 have a gap between the spring and fall f ow, our hot suns dis- 

 sipate all nectar if any should be secreted : and if sown so it 

 will bloom in the fall it will come in competition with flowers 

 that are better forage. Buckwheat will bloom here six weeks 

 after sowing. 



Our most reliable and best honey-sources are the poplar 

 or tulip tree (Liriodeiidron), holly, black-gum, persimmon, 

 and some others of minor consideration. The poplar never 

 fails unless killed by frost, as it was last year. The honey is 

 rather dark, but of most excellent flavor. Our main honey 

 crop is gathered from tlie above sources, from the first of 

 April until the middle of June. Before this, bees work on a 

 great variety of forage, including fruit-bloom, commencing on 

 the alder about the middle of January, which only yields pol- 

 len. This year my bees brought the first pollen in from the 

 alder about Feb. 22, a full month later than usual. 



The forage in serai-tropical Florida is entirely different 

 from what it is in this latitude. The past cold, freezing win- 

 ter has been very disastrous to the honey-sources there ; so 

 much so that for the time being the "tropical" part of the 

 adjective would better have been erased and " frigid " substi- 

 tuted. 



There is a very beautiful tree, Sterculia platanifolia (some- 

 times called " varnish tree," from the smoothness of its bark), 

 that blooms the latter part of June, and continues in bloom 

 some two or three weeks. The bees work on this from day- 

 light until dark ; and while I do not think it yields a great 

 deal of honey it affords some for breeding, and fills a portion 

 of the gap between the spring and fall harvest. The tree is 

 of Japan origin, large leaved, grows very rapidly, very orna- 

 mental, and makes an excellent shade. I do not think it 

 would grow north of the latitude of Tennessee ; when quite 

 young it needs some winter protection. I have none for sale. 

 I presume young, two or three year old trees could be obtained 

 of first-class Southern nurserymen. 



During the past 30 years I have tried many experiments 

 with cultivated bee-forage, and I am satisfied that it does not 

 pay to cultivate plants exclusively for the amount of the nec- 

 tar-secretion. There are many conditions influencing the 

 secretion of honey that we do not understand, and as large 

 and certain crops of honey are what the bee-keeper desires, 

 he should give his best energies toward studying these in- 

 fluencing conditions. 



