Great Facebook Page: Historical Honeybee Articles - Beekeeping History

Historical Honeybee Articles - Beekeeping History

You really must follow this group if you use Facebook! 

 Here is an August 2019 "back to school" post to give you a feel for it.  I love the old photos they post.

The School Year Has Begun For Many Youngsters.
Here is a Lesson for Young Beekeepers
Via: Historical Honeybee Articles - Beekeeping History

Image: Circa 1902 to 1926 - Apis Mellifica School Room Wall Chart by Prof. Dr. Paul Pfurtscheller.

Dr. Paul Pfurtscheller was an Austria zoologist, known best for his series of 38 lithograph zoological school charts. He initially designed these pull down charts to use in his own classrooms, but they were quickly recognized as exceptional works, and began being used at the Zoological Institute University. These charts are very rare; printed between 1902 and 1926.

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The following article not related to above image.

circa. 1873 - Lessons for Young Beekeepers

Lesson 1 - Natural History

1. To what order of insects does the bee belong?

Hymenoptera.

2. Why so named?

Hymenoptera is from two Greek words that mean "wing'' and "membrane;" it is applied to all insects that have four membranous wings.

3. To what genus does the honey bee belong?

Apidae.

4. Why is it so named?

From the Latin Apis, a bee. From this word comes also apiary, apiarian, etc. This word apis is prefixed to some other term to denote the different species of the honey bee. Thus, Apis Mellifica, the common black bee; Apis Ligustica, or Apis Ligurienne, the Italian or Ligurian bee; Apis Fasciata, the Egyptian bee; Apis Indica, the East Indian species, and so on.

5. What is the meaning of Mellifica?

It is from two Latin words that mean "honey" and "to make," hence it means "honey-making." It might, with equal propriety, have been applied to any other species besides the black bee.

6. Describe the bee briefly.

A bee is a true insect that is, one that has six legs, four wings, and whose body is divided into three distinct parts or segments, called the Head, Thorax, and Abdomen.

7. Describe the head.

It is triangular in shape and is furnished with two compound eyes, three simple eyes, and two antennae.

8. Describe the compound eyes.

Viewed through the microscope, they seem to be made up of a great number of little eyes, hexagonal in shape and are arranged regularly. They seem to be fixed, incapable of motion.

-National Agriculturist.

Source:
The Indiana Progress, Indiana, Pennsylvania, April 03, 1873
1873 - Lessons for Young Beekeepers

Image: Apis Mellifica Wall Chart by Prof. Dr. Paul Pfurtscheller

1877 - German Beekeepers, and Advice from 1839

This engraving of "Honey Cutters" is fascinating to study. 

The apiary seems to be using sections (small wooden squares holding the comb), a more valuable and salable method of offering honey to the rightfully suspicious customers of that time.  Honey dilution with cheaper substances was rampant, and only comb honey guaranteed a pure product. 

Actually, the same issues are still with us, with imported honey being often incorrectly labeled as to origin.  Local beekeepers you know are the best source.  Farmers markets can even have opportunists who buy bulk honey and label it as their own "local" honey... so know your beekeepers!!

Honey cutting beekeepers, Lüneburg Heath, original wood engraving from 1877. 

The wood engraving is from a German family magazine from 1877. 

Size of the sheet: 24 x 15.5 cm.

(This is a translation using Google Translate and common sense rather than knowledge of German.)

For human consumption, honey is obtained by beekeepers who hive the bee colonies. In Europe, the honey harvest from the Middle Ages to the late 19th century was made by the Zeidler. The word comes from the Old German "zeideln" ("honey cut"). Cutting, because then - unlike today - the entire honeycomb was taken.  The survival of the bee colony was secondary. Honey and wax could be immediately recycled and further processed.   According to the extraction of the honey one distinguishes varieties. 

The beekeeper ( Imker )is engaged in the keeping, propagation or breeding of honey bees and the production of honey and other bee products. Beekeeper is a word combination from the Low German term Imme for "bee" and the Middle Low German word kar for "basket, vessel". Although everyone can be a beekeeper without a special training, there is also an associated apprenticeship with the official name Tierwirt, specializing in beekeeping. 

The Lüneburg Heath is a large, mostly flat-wave heathland, Geest and forest landscape in the northeast of Lower Saxony in the catchment areas of the cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Hanover. It is named after the city of Lüneburg.    (Original text at end of post.)

Getting around the problem of destroying a hive to gather the honey had many solutions offered over the years with the addition of sections placed on top of hives used in the illustration above. 
Here is a simple earlier one from 1839. 

Honig Schneiden Imker, Lüneburger Heide, Original-Holzstich von 1877. Der Holzstich stammt aus einer deutschen Familienzeitschrift von 1877. Die Rückseite des Blattes ist bedruckt. Größe des Blatts: 24 x 15,5 cm.

Honig ist ein von Honigbienen zur eigenen Nahrungsvorsorge erzeugtes und vom Menschen genutztes Lebensmittel aus. Für den menschlichen Gebrauch wird Honig durch Imker gewonnen, die die Bienenvölker hegen. In Europa erfolgte die Honigernte vom Mittelalter bis ins späte 19. Jahrhundert auch durch die Zeidler. Das Wort kommt vom altdeutschen „zeideln“ („Honig schneiden“). Schneiden deshalb, weil hier – anders als heute – die gesamte Honigwabe entnommen (erbeutet) wurde; dabei war der Fortbestand des Bienenvolkes nachrangig. Honig und Wachs konnten sofort verwertet und weiterverarbeitet werden. Entsprechend der Gewinnung des Honigs unterscheidet man Sorten.

Der Imker beschäftigt sich mit der Haltung, der Vermehrung oder der Züchtung von Honigbienen und der Produktion von Honig und weiterer Bienenprodukte. Imker ist eine Wortzusammensetzung aus dem niederdeutschen Begriff Imme für „Biene“ und dem mittelniederdeutschen Wort kar für „Korb, Gefäß“. Imker darf zwar jeder ohne eine spezielle Ausbildung sein, trotzdem gibt es auch einen zugehörigen Lehrberuf mit der amtlichen Bezeichnung Tierwirt, Fachrichtung Imkerei.

Die Lüneburger Heide ist eine große, überwiegend flachwellige Heide-, Geest- und Waldlandschaft im Nordosten Niedersachsens in den Einzugsgebieten der Städte Hamburg, Bremen und Hannover. Sie ist benannt nach der Stadt Lüneburg.

1861 - Dr. Jana Dzierzon - His System of Bee Culture in a Nutshell

I am new to beekeeping. Langstroth was the only name I was aware of in recent history. But Jana Dzierzon is the gentleman on whose shoulders Langstroth stood as he created the improved moveable frame system that finally solved most of the problems of the past.

This article, however, is concerned not with Dzierzon's hive work but with his observations of the bee's life and anatomy.

 Jana Dzierzon is a scientist/beekeeper, reminding me of Randy Oliver currently. 

Go read the Wikipedia page for an overview of Dzierzon and some nice photos!

The astonishing thing to think of now, given what we know now about Apis mellifera, is how Dzierzon's ideas were refuted!  

"These propositions, which embrace, substantially, the entire Dzierzon theory, are, in so far as they contain or propound anything novel, deduced from the personal observations and experiments of that celebrated apiarian. Several of them were warmly impugned by some of the ablest correspondents of the German Bienenzeitung (Bees Newspaper)."

The following article was published in Dadant & Sons, American publication The Bee Journal in 1861.

Stamps honoring Jana Dzierzon.

The Dzierzon Theory

We propose, on this occasion, to present to the reader, in the form of distinct propositions, the fundamental principles of Dzierzon's system of bee culture, as set forth by the Baron of Berlepsch, in his celebrated Apistical Letters; designing to furnish in the succeeding numbers of this Journal, a condensed statement of the facts and arguments by which these propositions are demonstrated.

We do this because, though that theory is frequently spoken of, and some of its leading features are probably known, no detailed account has hitherto been published in English. Yet, without an accurate and familiar acquaintance with it, the practice of bee culture cannot be conducted with the judgment and skill requisite to justify an expectation of successful results. The practical operations must be based on and adapted to the theory, which, hence, becomes a proper subject of study.

The propositions, as laid down by the Baron of Berlepsch, are as follows:

First. A colony of bees in its normal condition, consists of three characteristically different kinds
of individuals—the queen, workers, and (at certain periods) the drones.

Second. In the normal condition of a colony, the queen is the only perfect female present in the hive, and lays all the eggs found therein.  These eggs are male and female. From the former proceed the drones; from the latter, if laid in narrow cells, proceed the workers or undeveloped females; and from them also, if laid in wider, acorn-shaped, and vertically suspended, so-called royal cells, lavishly supplied with a peculiar pabulum or jelly, proceed the queens.

Third. The queen possesses the ability to lay male or female eggs at pleasure, as the particular cells she is at any time supplying may require.

Fourth. In order to become qualified to lay both male and female eggs, the queen must be fecundated by a drone or male bee.

Fifth. The fecundation of the queen is always effected outside of the hive, in the open air, and while on the wing. Consequently, in order to become fully fertile, that is, capable of laying both male and female eggs, the queen must leave her hive at least once.

Sixth. In the act of copulation the genitalia of the drone enter the vulva of the queen, and the
drone simultaneously perishes.

Seventh. The fecundation of the queen, once accomplished, is efficacious during her life, or so
long as she remains healthy and vigorous; and she never afterwards leaves the hive, except when
issuing with a swarm.

Eignth. The ovary of the queen is not impregnated in copulation; but a small vesicle or sac situated near the termination of the oviduct, and communicating therewith, becomes charged with the semen of the drone.

Ninth. All eggs germinated in the ovary of the queen, tend to develop as males, and do develop
as such, unless impregnated by the male sperm while passing the mouth of the seminal sac or
spermatheca, when descending the oviduct. If they be thus impregnated in their downward passage (which impregnation the queen can effect or omit at pleasure) they develop as females.

Tenth. If a queen remains unfecundated, she ordinarily does not lay eggs. Still, exceptional cases do sometimes occur, and the eggs then laid produce drones only.

Eleventh. If, in consequence of superannuation, the contents of the spermatheca of a fecundated queen become exhausted; or if from enervation or accident, she lose the power of using the muscles connected with the spermatheca, so as to be unable to impregnate the passing egg, she will thenceforward lay drone eggs only.

Twelfth. As some unfecundated queens occasionally lay drone eggs, so also, in queenless colonies, no longer having the requisite means of rearing a queen, common workers are sometimes found, that lay eggs from which drones, and drones only, proceed. These workers are likewise unfecundated; and the eggs are uniformly laid by some individual bee, regarded more or less, by her companions as their queen.

Thirteenth. So long as a fertile queen is present in the hive, the bees do not tolerate a fertile worker. Nor do they tolerate one while cherishing a hope of being able to rear a queen.  In rare instances, however, exceptional cases occur. Fertile workers are sometimes found in hives immediately after the death of the queen; and even in the presence of a young queen, so long as she has not herself become fertile.    (Bee factoid: In a queenless hive, laying workers may appear, but they are not fertile.)

These propositions, which embrace, substantially, the entire Dzierzon theory, are, in so far as
they contain or propound anything novel, deduced from the personal observations and experiments
of that celebrated apiarian. Several of them were warmly impugned by some of the ablest
correspondents of the German Bienenzeitung.

But Dzierzon alone, for a season, and the Baron of Berlepsch, the Rev. Mr. Kleine, and others, subsequently defended them with equal astuteness and vigor—adducing unquestionable facts
in their support. The controversy was a very animated one; nor was opposition silenced till, by the introduction of the Italian bee, the means of conclusively determining the chief points at issue were furnished. 

The evidence thus supplied was so clear and decisive, that all serious opposition ceased, and the truth of the positions was conceded by all intelligent apiarians. Naturalists and physiologists, however, continued to discredit and reject some parts of the theory, because they contravened so directly their own long-cherished views and opinions. But even they were ultimately constrained to yield to the evidence, when the facts as ascertained by Professors Leuckart and Von Siebold, no longer left room for cavil or doubt.

-----

These two photos appear to be the same apiary.

"Father Jan Dzierżon in his apiary.      The breeding apiary in Maciejów is still active today".

  

"Jan Dzierżon in the apiary in Łowkowice."   Łowkowicewas his home town.

Honeybees... on Labels!

I found myself enjoying these labels when they turned up in another search.  The first two are my favorites.  That is a zaftig queen!

1910 - A. W. Smith's Apiary in Parksville, New York

I was cruising the vintage photos on eBay and found by chance a photo of a negative identified as A. W. Smith's Bee Yard in Parksville, New York.  

I copied it and flipped the colors so I could see the photo below.  Looks like Mr. Smith, his horse, and wife and two children in his apiary.  I searched online for Mr. Smith and found he was an active beekeeper for at least a couple decades. 

I always think of how these men and women in old photos didn't have varroa mites to deal with.  *sigh*

1804 - Die Bienenkolonie, als Partei eines Englischen Gartens (The bee colony, as a party of an English garden)

This is an extraordinary bee house for English gardens described in a German magazine from 1804.  There are 32 hives in there! The article is in blackletter, which OCR does not recognize. I am not up for transcribing the article now so to read the German original you can go to Allgemeines teutsches Garten-Magazin oder gemeinnützige Beiträge ..., Volume 1. 


Here is Plate 23 which illustrated the article.

The Latin inscription on the building says something like "Thus, among you, not for you bees make honey".

1889 - A Beautiful Apiary

This piece was written by the beekeeper, Mr. H. B. Hains in 1889.  He was a respected beekeeper and active in the beekeeping community.

Two years later he was distributing an engraving of his apiary (I assume this one) at the Ohio State Bee Keepers Convention. 

Can you blame him?  What a beautiful set up.

REPORT FROM WELCOME APIARY

SIXTEEN YEARS OF BEE-KEEPING, AND A PICTURE OF FRIEND HAINS' BEE-YARD.

WELCOME APIARY is located in the village of Bedford, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh and Cleveland & Canton Railroads, both of which run through it, dividing it about equally — the east half only showing in the engraving. 

It may be said to have been established July 4, 1844, when a fugitive swarm of bees clustered on a tree near where the house-apiary now stands. Being eleven years of age, I assisted in hiving and caring for them, and from that time they received box-hive attention—sometimes numbering a score or more, at others only two or three colonies, but never becoming entirely extinct.

In the spring of 1870, there being but three stocks, I transferred and Italian-ized them, and commenced bee-keeping on modern principles. I have tested nearly every thing said to be an improvement or a help in the business. I have retained only such as proved to be beneficial, among: which I may mention movable frames, comb foundation, honey-extractor, smoker, veil, slow feeder for spring, and rapid feeder for fall, division-boards to contract brood-nest, and last, but not least, pure Italian bees in well painted chaff hives, in the shade of trees.


Notwithstanding I have had uniform success in wintering bees in the house-apiary, I wish to class it among the things I do not recommend on the score of economy and convenience.      

I keep bees only in the south side, and it is more work to care for them than for an equal number in hives. You had better invest your money in chaff hives. I want no bee-bench, bee-shed, nor bee-house of any kind. I want no queen-excluding honey-boards, no sections larger nor smaller than one pound, no reversible frames. I fill my wired frames clear down to the bottom with foundation, and there is no necessity of reversing them to get them filled with comb: and if the honey in brood-combs is uncapped when the sections are put on, the bees will remove the honey as fast as the queen needs the room.

Although this article is already too long, I wish to refer to one feature of the work in our apiary, and that is, it is largely done by women, which demonstrates that women can adapt themselves to the business, and become successful apiarists. 

Mrs. Hains and her cousin, Miss Dennett (who, by the way, arc treasurer and secretary of the Progressive Bee-keepers' Association, which holds its next meeting in this place May 6th) have almost exclusive charge of the queen-nursery, as well as other departments of the work.  Inexperienced persons would not hesitate to pronounce them wasteful in the extreme should they witness their selection, or, rather, rejection, of all small and medium sized queen cells—a rule which they rigidly enforce, believing that none but the most perfect arc worthy to bear the title of royalty, and that, through careful selection, we may expect to come the nearest to realizing the hopes of all bee-keepers, which is, securing the best possible race of bees.

In addition to the apiary illustrated above, I have six others, in adjoining towns, aggregating about 200 colonies, and they are managed for comb honey principally, while my home apiary, which is kept as near a hundred as circumstances will permit, is devoted to queen-rearing and the production of extracted honey.

My winter loss in my home apiary is usually about ten per cent, composed largely of united nuclei. My report for the winter past is as follows:

Of 86 stocks on summer stands, lost 4: of 25 in house-apiary, lost none; of 18 in cellar, lost half.

I have purchased about as many bees as I have sold during the last sixteen years, in which time I have increased from 3 to 300 stocks.   The largest yield of honey obtained from one stock in one season was 120 lbs.   The average yield, year after year, has not exceeded one-fourth that amount.   On the whole, I believe I have received just about a fair compensation for the money invested and the time devoted to bee culture, and am fairly satisfied with the result, as I expect to earn about a hundred cents to get a dollar out of any legitimate business.
J.B.Hains
Hedford, Ohio, Apr. 1, I860.

Friend Hains, I am very glad indeed to hear that your apiary is "managed by women". Perhaps this has something to do with the neat and tidy appearance it presents.  I remember Mrs. Hains quite well; and, if I remember correctly, she does not look as if the duties had been so arduous or fatiguing as to wear her out, either mentally or physically. 

We should be very glad indeed to have some reports from either of the ladies. I fear we are not having so many communications of late from the other sex as we used to have in former volumes of Gleanings.

1885-ish - Compiled List of A. I. Root's Honey Plants

Read or download at Hathitrust!

This is a compilation of plants and comments from Root's catalogs that I am using as a guide to creating honey plant postings.   I'm still adding to it and correcting OCR typos.
I figured you might like to skim it.  
Occasionally I added the year a plant was in the catalog, but I forgot just as often. 
There is an index to the honey plant pages  done so far up above. 

"Mignonnette, catnip, motherwort, borage, melilot, and some others, I have tested, but am still doubtful in regard to them.  ..." A. I. Root

Bee-balm, or Melissa (1888) 

During the year of 1887 this plant called forth considerable attention, not only for the amount of honey it produces, but for the enormous numbers of blossoms found on a single stalk.  The introducer claims, in fact, that the large number of thirty thousand seeds have been counted on one stalk.  It is also so prolific in seed that the introducer claims to have received a bushel of seed from 2100 plants.  We can supply the seed.    

Per packet 5 cts.; per ounce, 15 cts.; per pound, $2.00.  For further description, see Gleanings for November, 1887

Borage. (1887 and 1888)

A strong, hardy, rapidly growing plant, bearing a profusion of blue flowers. It may be sown any time, but will, perhaps, succeed best, at about corn planting time. As it grows tall, and branches out considerably, it should have plenty of room. I know that bees are very busy on it, all the day long, from July until Nov., but I do not know how much honey an acre of it would furnish. 

It is easily tried, because it grows so readily, and if sowed on the ground after early potatoes are dug, you will get a nice crop of fall bloom. Sow broad cast, or in hills like corn.

In 1888 only: Borage is also used as a salad or cooked like a spinach. 

Price 10c. per oz., or 75c per pound.
If wanted by mail, add 18c. per lb. for bag and postage.

2016 - E. Craib, Connecticut - I experimented with a 10' x 10' plot of borage last year thinking it was Mother Nature's gift to the bee only to find they much preferred anise hyssop.  It could very well be that the borage did not like my garden's siting or soil.  You might get the opposite bee preferences. 

I looked up how to propagate the anise hyssop and was happy to see cuttings get plants going quickly and easily. If you visit me in a few years the paths around my house should be a symphony in purple anise hyssop!  (It also makes tons of seeds which made me think being a Johnny Appleseed sort of person might be fun.)  

Catnip. (1887 and 1888)   This has been very much talked about, and we have record of some experiments with an acre or more, but if I am correct, no one has ever yet seen a barrel of catnip honey. Still, someone may raise catnip honey by the barrel, and make money at it. If you wish to try, we can furnish you good seed, that we have tested ourselves, for 10c per oz., or $1.00 per lb.; 18c per lb. extra, if wanted by mail. Sow in the fall.

Dandelions.  (1887 and 1888)   I presume every body can get dandelion seeds and roots without buying them, but for all that, I have much faith in an acre of cultivated dandelions. Vilmorin's improved, is superior for "greens," and by the way our bees take to our "patch" of it, I think it must be superior for honey.

Price of seed, 5c per package, or 35 c. per oz.

Honey Pea.(1887 and 1888)This is the stock pea of the South and often yields much honey. It is also used for food. Price, $1.75 per bushel; $1.00 per half-bushel; 60c per peck, packages included: per lb.. lOe: by mail, 18c extra.bushel weighs about 30 lbs.

HORSEMINT, the celebrated honey-plant of Texas.Per oz. 20c; per lb., S2.00: postage. 18c per lb. extra.

Coerulea, bee clover. This latter blossoms in about six weeks after sowing, and bears a small blue flower.Price of seed, 10c per oz., or 7.5c per lb.; if wanted by mail, add 18c for bag and postage.

Lippia Nodiflora.For description see Dec. '79 Gleanings. Per oz., $1.00. Per pkt., .5c. Give hot-bed treatment.


Mignonnette. This is a great favorite with the bees, and also with those who are raising plants for their bees; but, although we have sold considerable of the seed for bee pasturage, I am not sure that any one has ever made it pay in dollars and cents, for he honey alone. It will pay, without any doubt, to raise the seed, especially if "the price keeps up anywhere near what it is now; but for honey alone— who will demonstrate its value beyond doubt?    The tall varieties seem best suited to the bees, but are not as fragrant. It should be sown in the spring, and as the seed is small, it should have fine clean soil, and be covered lightly. This plant seems to have a rare capacity for standing frost, and bees may often be seen busy upon it clear into October.The seed is 20c per oz., or $2.00 per lb. If wanted by mail, add 18c for postage.

Motherwort. This is a near relative of the catnip and is probably equally valuable as a honey plant. Prices of the seed, same as for catnip. Sow any time.

Mustard.The honey from this is said to be very light, equal to any in flavor, and to command the highest price in the market. We can furnish the common, (either white or black) for 10c per oz., or 26 c per lb. Add 18c per lb., if to be sent by mail.

Raspberry. A pretty good honey plant, too well known to need description. The Red Raspberries are thought to yield most honey, and of these the Gregg and Cuthbert varieties are said to be best.Price of plants, per ten, 60c: per hundred,$3.00. If wanted by mail, 3c each extra.

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome integrifolia).Is closely connected with the noted Spider Plant (C. pungens) these two being the only species of the Cleome. With us, it is much inferior to the Spider Plant as a honey producer. We have reports from some localities of its yielding large quantities of honey, hence, quite a demand for the seed is the result. Price per lb., $1.25. postage 18c. extra. Per ounce, 15c.

Sage, White (Salvia argentea).Is called the honey plant of California, and belongs to the Labiatae or Mint family, the same as Rosemary. Balm. Hoarhound, &c. Price per ounce, 35c. per lb.. ?4.iXi.

Sweet Clover (Melliotus alba, or Meliot).— This has some valuable traits, as standing frost and drouth, but many times and seasons, the bees will hardly notice it at all.   The statement has been made that an acre can support 30 colonies of bees, and afford from 500 to 1000 lbs. of honey.  Such statements, although they may be honestly given, I think should be received with due allowance; about four pounds of seed are needed for an acre; sow like Alsike.  It will grow on almost any barren hillside, but it is a bad weed to exterminate; if, however, it is mown down to prevent seeding, the roots will soon die out. Sow in spring or fall.    We have it on our honey-farm, but it is rather behind the Simpson honey-plant in this locality.

Common Sweet Clover, per lb., ?c: 10 lbs., $1.50;
100 lbs., $12.00; if wanted by mail, add 18c for bag and postage. This is sold with the hulls on; the Bokhara is hulled.

Bokhara clover, seed received from D.A. Jones:
10c per oz., or 3.5c per lb.: 10 lbs., $1.00; 100 lbs..
?25.0n. If by mail, add 18c per lb. 

Sage, White (1883, 1893) (Salvia argentea) is called the honey-plant of California. (Silver Sage)

Sunflower.— This plant is visited by the bees in great numbers in some seasons, while, in others, it is scarcely noticed; but, as the seeds usually pay all expenses of cultivation, i holds its place as a honey
plant. The mammoth Russian bears by far the largest blossoms, as well is the largest seeds. 

Price of seed 5c per oz. or 1.5c per ft>. : 10 lbs. or over, 12c; 100 lbs., 10c. if wanted by mail, add 18c for bag and postage.

Spider Plant.— This plant, under favorable circumstances, yields more honey than anything that ever before came under my observation. In Oct., 1879, each floweret yielded drops so large that a bee had to make two or more journeys to set it all, and I succeeded in dipping the honey from the plant with a spoon, until I half filled a bottle with it, for experiment. As it only yields this honey early in the morning, and late in the evening, it willgo nicely with the Simpson honey plant. I should think it quite probable that 5 acres of each of these plants would keep 100 colonies busy enough to be out of mischief during a dry fall, when bees are so apt to be robbing. For particulars concerning both plants, see AB C of Bee Culture.The Spider plant is an annual, and should be sown every year. It grows most quickly with hotbed treatment, but will blossom in August if sown in the open ground in May.Price of seed — per package, 1o c.;  per oz., 20 c.; per lb., $2.00. Postage 18c per lb. extra.


Seven-Top Turnip.  -- This plant, although not equal to the spider plant and Simpson honey plant, is entitled to a place next to them, because it bears its crop of honey in the spring, between fruit blossoms and clover. It should be sown in Aug. and Sept. It bears no root like the ordinary turnip, but only foliage that is used for greens. Price of seed. 10c per oz., or 50c. per lb. If wanted by mail, 18 c. per lb. extra.

Sorghum, Early amber. This is not strictly a honey-plant, but sugar can easily and cheaply be made from it, for feeding bees or other purposes.  About 6 lbs. (4 qts.) are wanted for an acre of ground.  Price best Southern-grown seed, peroz., 5 c.; per lb..15 c.  If wanted by mall, 18c per lb. extra: 10 lbs. or more, 10c per lb.

Any of the above seeds will be sent in .5c packages,
to those who would like just a few to try.


OTHER HONEY PLANTS.

The following are recommended as honey plants, but I have not thought them worthy of a more extended notice for cultivation. Some of them have been tried on our grounds but either yielded no honey at all, or very little, and I have thought best to put them in here until we could give them a more extended trial. We keep the seed for sale in 5c. packages; if larger quantities are wanted, we will
give prices on application. 

Aster (1883)

Blackheart. (1883)  (Polyganum persicaria) A large variety of Smartweed belonging to the Buckwheat family. If I am correct this is also called Heartsease. (Now usually called Lady's Thumb :-)

Cacalia, or Tassel Flower (1883)  (Sonecio sonchifolia) from India. Cultivated as a summer annual.

Blue Flag (Iris or Flower de Luxe).—A perennial, about 2 feet in height, comprising but few wild species, and grows better when cultivated. 

Clovers, foreign.

• Alfalfa, grown principally in the Pacific States. (This is virtually the same as Lucerne). Prices same as White Dutch clover. 

• Italian, or Scarlet (Trifolium incarnatum) introduced from Italy and France. The flowers are most beautiful, much resembling a large luscious strawberry. Blossoms first year. 

• Lucerne or French (Medicago sativa). best for sandy soils. 

• Yellow Trefoil (Medicago lupulina), a weed or pasture plant, in dry or sandy fields.

Erysimum (False Wall Flower).— Belongs to the Cruciferae or Mustard family, and comprises but three species.

Esparcette or Sainfoin (Hedysarum onobrychis). Usually classed with the clovers, as it belongs to the same family (Leguminosae or Pulse) as the Clover, Pea, Locust, &c.  

Fuller's Teasel (Dipsacus  fullonum) —A variety of teasel, usually cultivated; is valuable for carding woolen cloth, as well as for honey.— See A B C. 

Golden Rod (Solidago).— Belongs to the Compositae Family, and comprises a large variety of fall blooming plants.  

Hoarhound or Madwort (Marubium vulgare). 
Only this one species is common to America; was introduced from Europe and belongs to the Labiatae or Mint family.  

Hyssop (Hyssopus) — Only one species (H. officinalis), and belongs to the Mint family; is cultivated, and was brought from the Old World.

Mollie Heath, the honey plant, a species of acacia, having a most beautiful ornamental foliage, and called a very valuable honey-plant. We have never
yet got it to blossom here, but the beauty of the plant pays for cultivation. 

Monarda  Punctata (Horse Mint).— Belongs to the same genus as wild Bergamot (Monarda or Balm); grows well only in sandy soil.

Portulaca — Best uii.xed: makes a beautiful plant for the flower garden, blooms for months, and attracts swarms of bees every morning.

Phacelia (Name derived from Greek word meaning cluster: it has no common name).— Flowers in spring or summer, and belongs to Hydrophyllaceae or Waterleaf family.

Pyrethrum. the plant that furnishes the Persian insect powder. Seed, per packet. 10c. 

Spanish Needles (Bidens bipinnata).— Grows in waste grounds from Connecticut to Illinois, and south, and belongs to that immense family, Compositae. 

Spring Vetches or Tares (Vicia sativa).— Seems to be a cross between the Pea and Clover, partaking of the peculiarities of each, and belongs to the same family, Leguminosae. Does not yield honey with us.

Verbena Hastata (Blue Verbena). Grows to a height of 3 or 4 feet, and thrives in almost any kind of soil, if not too dry or sandy. 

Whitewood, Tulip, or Poplar (Liriodendron tulipefera). {Usually called Tulip Tree now}— A tall and handsome tree, usually planted for ornament, and valuable for shade and timber, as well as for its honey producing blossoms.

 See Basswood Trees.