1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



333 



Fig. 



-Large-leaved aster. Aster 

 lus. (Photo by Lovell.) 



ophyl 



Quebec, from 300 colonies. The 

 honey was light amber color, 

 and a pleasant flavor, and not 

 unwholesome for wintering, not 

 granulating in the combs. (See 

 experimental Farms report 1914- 

 15, page 996). Other valuable 

 species of aster in Canada for 

 honey production are A. lateri- 

 florus (Maritime provinces to 

 Ontario) : Aster umbellatus 



(Maritime provinces to Eastern 

 Manitoba), and Aster puniceus, 

 Fig. 2 (Maritime provinces to 

 Ontario.)" Ottawa, October 2, 1917. 

 Aster puniceus, the purple-stem- 

 med aster, Fig. 2, is found from No- 

 va Scotia to the Rocky Mountains 

 and south to Northern Alabama. It 

 is one of the most attractive of the 

 asters, growing on wet land and in 

 the borders of swamps. Lovell 

 writes that in Maine he has seen the 

 bees on this species in large numbers 

 on September 17. 



The white field aster or frost 

 flower, Aster vimineus, Fig. 3, is 

 common from Eastern Canada to 

 Minnesota, and south to Arkansas 

 and Florida. It grows in dry, open 

 fields, along roadsides, and in waste 

 places. It is a late bloomer, belong- 

 ing to the group of field asters which 

 are important for nectar. Some 

 other species, however, yield more 

 freely. 



The swamp aster,Aster acumina- 

 tus, occurs on wet land, but as far as 

 available information goes is not 

 valuable for honey. 



The large-leaved Aster macrophyl- 

 lus, Fig. S, is a northern species, 

 found in open woodlands. Grae- 

 nicher observed ninety-five species 

 of insects on the flowers of this 

 species in Wisconsin, which indicates 

 nectar in abundance in that State. 



Several other species are known to 

 produce nectar freely, A. multiflorus, 

 A. lateriflorus, A. dumosus, A. pani- 

 culatus and A. vimineus being re- 

 ported from various localities. A. 

 ericoides is reported as valuable in 

 Missouri: 



"There is an abundance of As- 

 ter ericoides now in full bloom. 

 The bees are working on it more 



vigorously than they have on 

 white clover or any other bloom." 

 George E Wilkins, Wright County, 

 Mo. Page 699, American Bee Jour- 

 nal, 1904. 



So far we have been unable to find 

 any records of surplus honey from 

 asters west of the Missouri river. 



Wintering Experience 



By A. Coppin 



LAST fall I had 160 colonies in 8- 

 frame single-walled hives. I 

 commenced packing them for 

 winter in good time, putting them in 

 clamps of either six or twelve hives. 



My bees were in rows, one facing 

 east and the other west, with about 

 4 feet of space between the rows, 

 which gave me ample room to work 

 with them. 



When I got ready to pack them for 

 the winter I moved each row back 

 almost 2 feet, thus leaving them al- 

 most back to back, or, in other 

 words, just enough space between 

 the two rows to put in packing. 



I then filled this space in with for- 



est leaves and straw and covered 

 them all in with the exception of the 

 fronts, which were not protected. 



I got 153 of the 160 packed before 

 the big snow came, thus leaving 7 

 that were not packed, and as the 

 snow staid with us practically all 

 winter, these 7 were never taken 

 care of. 



Six of those 7 were in one-story 

 hives, and the odd one was a two- 

 story hive. 



The result was as follows : The 6 

 in the one-story hives were dead this 

 spring, while the two-story was alive. 



From the 153 that were packed 1 

 lost 24, thus leaving 129 from what 

 were packed, and one from what 

 wasn't packed. 



I talked with two other parties 

 that have bees; one of these had 10 

 hives packed in one clump and re- 

 ports them all alive. 



The other party had 26 hives and 

 did not pack them at all, and reports 

 20 dead. 



While we had an unusually hard 

 winter, I yet believe that it is bet- 

 ter to either pack your bees or put 

 them in a cellar. 



Wenona, 111. 



Fig. 3. — White field aster. Asle 



(Photo by Lovell.) 



