190 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



S. Cornell — The objection to cork-dust 

 was the difficulty of obtaining it. He 

 had obtained 500 pounds in Rochester, 

 which cost him 5 cents per pound and 

 the freight, If there was likely to be 

 enough demand for it, a firm in Toronto 

 had said they would put in a machine 

 for grinding it. 



Mr. Pringle — With the exception of 

 cork-dust, which was the best, he has 

 found that dry, fine sawdust was the 

 best available packing. 



Mr. McEvoy asked for a vote on the 

 question of " Out-Door vs. In-Door Win- 

 tering," and after a good deal of discus- 

 sion, when a show of hands was called 

 for, it appeared that the majority pres- 

 ent were in favor of packing on the 

 Summer stands. 



EVENING SESSION— FIRST DAY. 



At 7:30 p.m. the President called the 

 meeting to order, and asked for Mr. R. 

 McKnight's essay on 



HONEY-PEODUCING PLANTS. 



When requested to prepare an essay 

 on honey-producing plants I felt the 

 duty to be a difficult one. The more I 

 looked into the subject, the more appar- 

 ent did the difficulty become, not because 

 of the meagerness of the subject, but 

 because of its magnitude. 



A little investigation will reveal the 

 fact that honey-producing plants are 

 more numerous and widely diffused than 

 most of us have any idea of. We all 

 know the class of flowers from which 

 the greater part of our surplus honey is 

 collected, and have some acquaintance 

 with the richness of their nectar-pro- 

 ducing capabilities ; but few of us have 

 any conception of the vast variety of 

 plants that contribute to the simple 

 wants of the bee. They include all, and 

 more than all, that require the visitation 

 of insects, for their fructification and 

 continued existence. 



Moreover, it is a recognized fact among 

 scientists, who have devoted much time 

 to the investigation of botanic mysteries, 

 that flowers once devoid of perfect nec- 

 taries, and wanting in the functions 

 necessary to the abundant production 

 of honey, may be so changed, through 

 time and selection, as to become so. This 

 being the case, it is possible that flowers 

 that now regale the bee with their sweet 

 laudations, may in time lose their power 

 to supply their liquid attractions, and 

 possibly pass out of existence. It must 

 be borne in mind, that honey-producing 

 plants ar.e not limited to those only 

 whose flowers are visited by the bee. 

 The flowers of many honey-producing 



plants — their nectaries and the modifica- 

 tion of their nectaries being so arranged 

 that the bee cannot extract the honey 

 therefrom — when it is easily accessible 

 to other insect tribes. 



Then, again, there are families of 

 plants that yield nectar, not found in 

 the blossoms — that, popularly speaking, 

 have no blossoms — the common bracken 

 may be cited as an example. 



A sweet liquid is oftentimes exuded 

 from the leaves of a great variety of 

 trees and shrubs ; and appropriated by 

 the bee. It is, however, generally taken 

 by it at second-hand, being first collected 

 by myriads of tiny insects, and subse- 

 quently expelled from their bodies in a 

 modified form, when it is popularly 

 known as honey-dew. 



It is therefore manifest that for me to 

 attempt to enumerate the honey-produc- 

 ing plants, even of my own neighbor- 

 hood, would be a hopeless task. In- 

 deed, I am persuaded that no bee-keeper 

 or botanist has yet accomplished the 

 work of naming the entire list of honey- 

 producing plants of this, or any other 

 country. A tolerably complete list of 

 those best known, may be found on page 

 386 of "Langstroth on the Honey-Bee," 

 revised by Dadant. To this I refer those 

 who are curious to learn the names of 

 the best honey-producing plants of North 

 America. R. McKnight. 



Owen Sound, Ont. 



HONEY-DEW. 



F. A. Gemmell asked with reference 

 to the secretions found on willows, what 

 it was that the insects lived on, and if 

 it went through any change before being 

 exuded and taken up by the bees ? 



Wm. McEvoy thought that honey-dew 

 was atmospheric. He had found the 

 secretion on the leaves of trees, but 

 could find but one or two of the aphides. 



S. Cornell — If Mr. McEvoy had gone 

 higher up the tree he would have found 

 millions. In the Fall of 1886 he was 

 away from home several months, and 

 left his bees in charge of others. That 

 Fall, the aphides had come in bigger 

 flocks than ever, and his bees gathered 

 much of it. The colonies were doubled 

 down to 180, and some of the honey- 

 dew was fed to those deficient in stores. 

 The smell was horrible, and the mixture 

 was as dark as black-strap. In the 

 Spring, his 180 colonies had dwindled 

 down to 50 or 60. He had exposed 

 some of the combs, but there were no 

 bees around Lindsay that would rob 

 them. 



J. K. Darling corroborated what Mr. 

 Cornell had said. The aphides live by 



