332 



acres of white aster. There were 

 several years, when' the bloom 

 was in sheets, affording a good 

 yield of surplus. The honey was 

 very light amber, of fine quality 

 and was considered next to white 

 clover. At such times a strong 

 odor, which was distinctly sour, 

 could be noticed." 

 Burdett Hassett. Page 257. Glean- 

 ings, 1911. 



Much has been written concerning 

 the danger of aster honey for win- 

 ter stores. So many reports of dis- 

 astrous results from wintering on 

 aster honey have been published, 

 that it is generally understood not to 

 be safe for winter stores. However, 

 it is probable that the trouble comes 

 from honey gathered too late to be 

 properly ripened, rather than be- 

 cause the honey is of poor quality. 

 The fact that the honey granulates 

 readily also probably accounts for 

 the trouble in some cases. 



In some localities, asters seem to 

 be a dependable source of surplus, 

 while in others they yield in appre- 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



ciable quantity only in rare seasons. 

 Kentucky seems to be in the heart of 

 the territory where asters are import- 

 ant. The following are typical re- 

 ports : 



"We have never failed to get a 

 good crop of surplus honey, 

 and plenty left for the bee's, 

 from aster for more than twenty 

 years, till this year." 

 H. C. Clemons, Boyd, Kv. Page 90. 

 Gleanings, 1909. 



"In this section the asters are 

 invaluable as fall forage for bees. 

 Let the season be cold or hot, we 

 are certain to have a continuous 

 bloom from early in September 

 until a really hard frost occurs 

 My Italian bees have never failed 

 to secure enough honey from as- 

 ters to carry them through the 

 winter, even when there was 

 hardly a pound of honey in the 

 hives at the end of August. 

 Daniel M. Worthington, Elkridge, 

 Md. American Bee Journal, 

 page 125, 1869.) 



"Blue aster, aster azureus, 



October 



(Photo by L 



Fig. 2. — Purplesten 



(Photo by John H. Lovell. 



known among farmers as blue 

 devil or stickweed, in my judg- 

 ment is one of the best we have, 

 from the fact that it produces 

 honey in the fall of the year. It 

 is usually in full bloom until 

 about the middle of October, and 

 if the weather is warm enough 

 for the bees to fly they get 

 plenty of honey to winter on 

 from this flower." 

 Wist Virginia. Page 869, Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, 1906. 



It is probable that most of the 

 species are of more or less value for 

 honey under favorable conditions. 

 The writer has seen bees working on 

 arrow-leaf aster, aster sagittifolius, 

 on sunny days in Cass County, Iowa, 

 the first week in November, after 

 everything else had been killed by 

 frost. Figure 1 shows this species, 

 which occurs in dry, open woods, 



from New Brunswick to Ontario ! 



west to Dakota, and from New York 

 to the Ohio valley, and alo(ig the 

 mountains to Georgia and Alabama 

 Generally speaking, the small- 

 flowered species with willow shaped 

 leaves, are best for honey. Aster 

 Tradescanti is probably first in the 

 list as a source of surplus. It is 

 found from Ontario to Saskatche- 

 wan, and throughout the States east 

 of the Mississippi south to the gulf 



lit- - Aster salicifolius is probably 



one of the best in Iowa and Illinois, 



being common on low ground. 



In a private letter. F. \Y. I.. Sladen 



writes concerning the asters in I an 



oli. as follows: 



"1 have this year had confirma- 

 tion that Aster cordifolius is a 

 US( till source of surplus li,,m-\ in 

 favorable seasons in the Gati- 

 rteau valley in Septembei I'm 

 ing a period of very fine weather 

 betw 'on Septi mber 1 1 ami _'_'. .i 

 crop of 12,000 pounds of honey, 

 principally from this source, ami 

 from the late flowering specie 

 of goldenrod, was obtained by 

 I. ' .pli \1 art ineau at Montcerf, 



