1878. 



GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTUKE. 



-KJl 



BEE BOTAM AM) ENTOMOLOGY. 



ST?- AM one of the ABC class in bee culture, and 

 il as such am very much interested in bees and 

 •^ bee plants. I send you herewith three speci- 

 mens of fall flowers, numbered 1. 2 and 3. which are 

 very common here, and should verj- much like you 

 to ^ve me the names of the same in neit Gleax- 

 IXGS, and their worth as bee plants. 



No. 1 has been in very hea%T blossom here for 

 about a month, and Is "scarcely beginning to fail 

 now. Bees have been very hard at work on it all 

 this time. 



Xo. 2 1 suppose is golden rod. although I am not 

 quite positive. If it is. of course Gleasisg? has 

 already told me all about it. Bees very much pre- 

 fer Xo". 1 tQ it. however. 



Xo. 3 is considerably sought after by the bees, and 

 they seem to get a good deal of honey from it, but 

 this is also very much inferior to Xo. 1. 



If you are not overrun with such questions from 

 the ignorant, and can answer as above, you will 

 very much oblige the ABC class of this neighbor- 

 hood. X. H. Allex. 



Kirkwood, Mo.. Oct. 7, 18TS. 



No. 1 is one of the small asters, of which there are 

 a large number of species, all valuable for bees. 



Xo. 2 is one of the largest golden rods, of which 

 there are also a large number of species. They are 

 prominent bee plants. Xo country on the globe is 

 more renowned than the United States, for the as- 

 ters and golden rods which abound in autumn. 



Xo. 3 is Eupatnrium aUi.fsimiim, one of the tall 

 bonesets. of which we have twenty or thirty species, 

 all valuable for honey. " W. j". Beal. 



Mich. AgT. College^ 



I send you a bush that has been in bloom about a 

 month. It grows about 2 feet high. Bees work on 

 it all day, and it must be honey tdey get as I don't 

 see anything on their legs. Please give the name of 

 it. I also send the head or blossoms of what is 

 called here golden rod. It commenced blossoming 

 6 weeks ago; some of the plants have ripe seed, oth- 

 ers are just in bloom, and still others are just bud- 

 ding. ^Vehavehad5 or 6 frosts, but they do not 

 seem to injure it. Bees are very busy on it. My 

 bees have gathered more honey from it than from 

 all other blossoms. The honey is a clear golden col- 

 or, nearly the color of the blossom, and weighs 13 

 lbs. to the gallon. Would it pav to save the seed? 



T. B. W1I.LIAMS. 



Fort Scott, Kas.. Oct. 8. 1S78. 



The name of the bush, of which a specimen was 

 sent, is Awii^hiachyri^ dracunculoiiUs. It hasno com- 

 mon name. It is probably much like some of the 

 golden rods and asters for hone.v. Bee-keepers, un- 

 less they are botanists, have but a faint idea of the 

 great number and varietv of plants visited bv bees. 



W. J. Beal. 



Mich. AgT. College. 



I cannot say whelher it will pay to rai.se 

 golden rod or no. It timiishes miich honey 

 in some localities; in others like our ow"iij. 

 bees notice it little or not at all. 



Enclosed, I send you a sample of a weed found 

 here very plentifully, which seems to be quite pro- 

 lific in honey, for the bees are constantl.v at work 

 upon it. It is also very prolific in tiowers. as I have 

 just taken a small branch, six inches long, and 

 counted I'-U flowers upon it. I know of no name for 

 it. What can you say about iff 



A. A. Fradexburg. 



Xorth East. Pa., Oct. 7, 1878. 



The enclosed plant is Agter cardifuliiw. 



W. J. Beal. 



Mich. Agr. College. 



Enclosed find a bunch of bloom, from which the 

 bees appear to be getting plenty of hone.v for pres- 

 ent use. Please tell me the name of the plant. 



S. H. Lane. 



Whitestown, Ind.. Oct. 8, 1878. 



The enclosed plant is one of the small asters, of 

 which there are many. W. J. Beal, 



Mich. Agr. College. 



and also on the edge of the ditch. It appears to be 

 on a ^ine. and has a white bud which blooms into a 

 beautiful, light blue flower. F. F. Fell. 



West Baton Kouge, La.. Oct. 17th. '7>*. 



The enclosed flower is Con'iclimum ca:}e*tmum, or 

 mist flower. I know nothing of the value of this 

 particular plant for bees. It is nearly related to 

 Eitpatorium or boneset or thoroughwort. I presume 

 it is good for bees. W. J. Beal. 



Mich. AgT. College. 



Bees are still bringing in honey lively, from cle- 

 ome and a wild flower, of which the enclosed is a 

 Specimen. What is the name? Chas. E. McRay. 



Canon City, Col., Sept. 23, 1S78. 



The enclosed flower is a species of CnrfopstU, of 

 which there are many; all are good bee plants, so 

 far as I know. " W. J. Beal. 



Mich. Agr. College. 



CAliIFORM.4. 



Enclosed, please find specimen of a little blue 

 flower now in bloom here, which the bees are very 

 busy on. It grows among the brush and hedges. 



fH.^VE shipped my honey, at ?12..}il per ton. in a 

 sailing vessel, from San Francisco via Cape Horn 

 to Liverpool. Eng.. and will myself start in about 



a month, via Omaha and X. T.. to look after the sale 

 of the honey, and learn what I can of the European 

 honev market. Hundreds of tons have been lately 

 shipped from this coast to Liverpool, London, and 

 Hamburgh. 



Our honey will not average quite as good and thick 

 as usual this year, on account of so much rain and 

 fog during the first half of the season. 



I verv narrowlv escaped ha\-ing my apiary (worth 

 1^3.0001 burned a few days since, by a greet fire in the 

 mountains, and among the apiaries of the Sespe. 



I suppose, since you have had a picture of a Cali- 

 fornia apiarv. vouwill not want one of my apiary, 

 as vou once "suggested. I have now 490 hives nearly 

 Siinplicitv stvle. painted white, the whole apiary 

 making a" nice honey comb, slightly inclined to the 

 east. I have some "grape%-ines growing nicely in it 

 this vear. but hesitate to plant many, for fear they 

 will he too much in the road; especially, if we shake 

 the bees in front of the hive in extracting. 



Mv extracting house is in the center of the apiary; 

 the "lower half is wood, and the upper half wireeloth, 

 affordina- the coolest retreat in hot weather, and giv- 

 ing a full % lew of all the surroundings. A 2-inch tin 

 pipe, painted black so as to heat the honey for 

 straining, conducts the honey from the extractor, 

 for a distance of 125 feet, to the honey house or base- 

 ment of mv shop, at the lower side of the apiary, in- 

 to a tank holding 3.0UO lbs., with measuring faucet 

 to draw off the honey. 



The crvstal waters of the Sespe flow from north to 

 south among the rocks, just east of the honey house; 

 the mountains rise on the other three sides of my 

 three acre plat, now dotted with elder trees, some of 

 them nearlv as thick as a mans body, and looking 

 Uke a fifteen vear old apple tree. They are too big 

 to make popguns of. as we used to do in the East 

 from the largest stocks of them, which grew and 

 bore berries in the fence comers; but I am about 

 digging them up to give place to an orchard of 

 choice fruit trees. . 



I was fearful that my combs would melt in so 

 warm a cove, but as I use enameled cloth on the 

 hives, when the weather becomes hot I fold the cloth 

 forward two inches from the rear, placing a 2-ineh 

 stone on the fold under the lid. thus making a cur- 

 rent of air through the hive and between cover and 

 cloth. 



Sitting on mv three wheeled wagon, with a canopy 

 overhead and tools around me, 1 work all day, cool 

 and easv. 



We think we get along very well with tin rabbets, 

 without metal corners. My bees increased this sea- 

 son from 173 to 400 colonies and produced 45,000 lbs. 

 of honey. ^ .,_ 



I must have more help next year, and will test how 

 it will do to keep 400 hives with their increase in one 

 place. 



You should have J. G. Corey, one of our best in- 

 formed bee men, of this place, to give his experience 

 this vear with foul brood »m a large scale, how it was 

 introduced, and what about the purifying acid. He 

 has also just completed a smoker which you may 

 have to conclude surpasses Xo\-ice"s. I think I will 

 take one to the editor of the B. B.J. R. \^ ilki>'. 



San Buenaventura. Cal.. Oct. H, 1878. 



