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ILLIXOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



79 



and yet there were thousands of acres 

 of golden rod .all around us. Within 

 the last two years when I had an 

 apiary in the Alleghany mountains I 

 have found golden rod was one of the 

 best honey producing plants I have 

 ever come across, but it is a different 

 kind of golden rod; it is not the gold- 

 en rod we have along the river; it is 

 the mountain golden rod. 



Mr. Hummel: I hail from Union 

 County. We have golden rod in our 

 part of the County quite numerous 

 that produces quite a bit of honey, and 

 in regard to pollen it cannot be ex- 

 colled. 



Mr. Hershisher: I live in Erie 

 County, New York, and golden rod is 

 so^netimes an excellent honey produc- 

 er; in fact some twelve or fourteen 

 years ago I produced as high as eighty 

 pounds of comb honey per colony from 

 golden rod. When you get it pure it 

 is one of the nicest honeys I know of. 

 It is just a trifle darker than the white 

 clover honey — a sort of straw color. I 

 Look a sample of it down to a conven- 

 tion at Geneva, New York, and showed 

 it to a number of bee-keepers there 

 and asked them what kind of honey 

 that was, and none of them knew; they 

 couldn't recognize it. I asked them if 

 they knew what golden rod honey was. 

 Some of them thought it was a darker 

 color. It was after ibuckwheat and 

 before aster bloom. I am sure it was 

 golden rod honey. I saw the bees come 

 in loaded with it. There are two kinds 

 of golden rod. I think perhaps three 

 kinds. One is quite low and has a 

 bloom that is good for nothing; then 

 there is a very tall kind that the bees 

 work on; then there is a low flat kind 

 with rather an inobscure blossom that 

 the bees work on. 



Prof. Surface: Is the blossom most- 

 ly on one side of the stem? 



Mr. Hershisher: No; it is perfectly 

 round; it grows in a bunch. It is not 

 a sure yielder. I have had two or 

 three crops in the last few years; and 

 it has the same conditions as Mr. 

 Cleaver named; and I get those con- 

 ditions in that lower country, which 

 would be so:mething like the condi- 

 tions that exist in the mountains, then 

 I get a yield of golden rod; and when 

 there are the conditions that exist in 

 the southern districts than I think I 

 get no yield. 



Mr. Klinger: I am from the central 

 part of Pennsylvania, and we have 

 quite an amount of golden rod bloom, 



but I find the bees working upon only . 

 one kind, the kind that Prof. Surface 

 has alluded to, I am not able to give 

 the name. I have found them work- 

 ing on the one variety and there is 

 one feature about it, they work prin- 

 cipally in the afternoon from about 

 three o'clock on until it gets dark. I 

 think perhaps if we could cross them 

 with the lightning bug we might be 

 able to get them to work later on in 

 the night. (Laughter). They do come 

 in very late in the evening. I can not 

 tell anything about the kind of honey 

 that it produces because it comes in 

 mixed with the aster. There is an aster 

 giving us an abundance of honey at 

 that time. 



The President: The white aster? 



Mr. Klinger: I think it is purple. 

 The botanical name is aster erecoides. 

 It comes in mixed with that. 



Mr. Holterman: This aster question 

 is a somewhat interesting one, and I 

 think we should try to solve it if pos- 

 sible. I am thoroughly satisfied that 

 the only explanation that I can give is 

 that the color of the honey that comes 

 from the different varieties of asters 

 varies possibly in different seasons. 1 

 sometimes have a pretty heavy flow. 

 High land golden rod is what we call 

 the one that does not yield. Now, to 

 my surprise a gentleman gets up here 

 and says up in the mountain he gets 

 it. When we shake the combs at that 

 time the thin honey which shakes out 

 is a beautiful light ochre color from 

 the golden rod which I get. I think 

 the color of the honey must vary with 

 the variety of golden rod. 



The President: Have you any Span- 

 ish Needle there? 



Mr. Holterman: No. 



I confess I have come to this meet- 

 ing to quite an extent in the ihope that 

 this matter of two queens or more in 

 a hive will be thoroughly threshed out, 

 and I want to hear the experience of 

 the members on that subject. 



Mr. Hershisher: It is my opinion 

 that those who think that golden rod 

 honey is dark don't know golden rod 

 honey. I think they have got a little 

 buckwheat mixed with it. At some 

 Country fairs where I have been I have 

 seen a nice jar of buckwheat honey 

 placed on exhibition with a beautiful 

 bloom of golden rod on it.- 



The President: It is merely a blend. 



Mr. Holterman: I thought the 

 same as Mr. Hershisher yesterday, but 

 after hearing the evidence of other 



