Following the Simpson Honey-plant through the bee journals is a journey of ups and downs. Here is an example of each!
Scrofularia nodosa var. marilandica, or Scrofularia nodosa var. americana, were the scientific names around 1885. It seems to have settled down today as Scrofularia marilandica.
It would be wonderful to have acres to plant to something, especially to support bees through the summer dearth! That a hundred years ago beekeepers were thinking the amount of land to support bees had been compromised makes you think about the issues 21st century bees are facing.
Pres. Miller—The Simpson honey-plant, or figwort, or carpenter‘s square, or heal-all, is before us. Who has had any experience with it? How many of you have seen it grow ? Three. What do you know about it as a honey-plant?
Mr. Green—From my experience I should say that it yielded honey readily enough, but I don’t know that it is practicable to raise it. It may be. I have never tried it.
Mr. Stone—I have seen it along the roadsides; in some places a good deal of it, and I have seen bees Just swarming on it every day, and it blooms along time, but I do not think it is fit for anything except for a honey-plant. It is a weed. If we can get a honey-plant that is better I would rather mow down the Simpson honey-plant and kill it out. I think that is just like the spider-plant.
Mr. Whitcomb—I doubt if it is profitable to cultivate anything for honey alone.
Mr. Green—I have seen considerable clumps of it growing. It grows all through the woods in our neighborhood, but it doesn’t seem to be a very thriving and robust plant. It doesn‘t take care of itself very well and establish itself against other weeds as sweet clover does.
Pres. Miller—When the boom was first on for the Simpson honey-plant I sent off and bought plants enough to set out an acre, cultivated it carefully, and had a flourishing field of it. Bees work on it, and they will wherever it is, but a honey plant to be of any use must not cost too much, and this field the next year was not good for much. I took care of it as carefully as I would of corn. The plants died out, and I afterward found that there were scattered plants of it in my neighborhood that I could have gone and dug up, but I didn‘t know the plant in the first place. I think you will find very few succeed with it.
I only know of one exception—Mr. Williams, of Missouri. I think every one else has given it up as a bad job.
But they are still going on in the old countries with those things, and across the ocean they are still talking about the Simpson honey-plant, and are distributing seed. But we have got through with it, and they are now in the heat of the disease.
I don’t think it is worth planting at all.
BEE PASTURE.
By Geo. W. Williams, Humansville, Mo.
 |
| 1898 - April - American Bee Journal, Volume 38 |
Pres. Miller—The Simpson honey-plant, or figwort, or carpenter‘s square, or heal-all, is before us. Who has had any experience with it? How many of you have seen it grow ? Three. What do you know about it as a honey-plant?
Mr. Green—From my experience I should say that it yielded honey readily enough, but I don’t know that it is practicable to raise it. It may be. I have never tried it.
Mr. Stone—I have seen it along the roadsides; in some places a good deal of it, and I have seen bees Just swarming on it every day, and it blooms along time, but I do not think it is fit for anything except for a honey-plant. It is a weed. If we can get a honey-plant that is better I would rather mow down the Simpson honey-plant and kill it out. I think that is just like the spider-plant.
Mr. Whitcomb—I doubt if it is profitable to cultivate anything for honey alone.
Mr. Green—I have seen considerable clumps of it growing. It grows all through the woods in our neighborhood, but it doesn’t seem to be a very thriving and robust plant. It doesn‘t take care of itself very well and establish itself against other weeds as sweet clover does.
Pres. Miller—When the boom was first on for the Simpson honey-plant I sent off and bought plants enough to set out an acre, cultivated it carefully, and had a flourishing field of it. Bees work on it, and they will wherever it is, but a honey plant to be of any use must not cost too much, and this field the next year was not good for much. I took care of it as carefully as I would of corn. The plants died out, and I afterward found that there were scattered plants of it in my neighborhood that I could have gone and dug up, but I didn‘t know the plant in the first place. I think you will find very few succeed with it.
I only know of one exception—Mr. Williams, of Missouri. I think every one else has given it up as a bad job.
But they are still going on in the old countries with those things, and across the ocean they are still talking about the Simpson honey-plant, and are distributing seed. But we have got through with it, and they are now in the heat of the disease.
Just as an aside, I wondered about the name. It seems the common name figwort refers to the early use of the plants in treating hemorrhoids, an ailment once known as figs.
Another common name is Carpenter's Square - I read that refers to the square stem. Maybe that is so, but it isn't that square...
BEE PASTURE.
By Geo. W. Williams, Humansville, Mo.
The query among the majority of bee keepers is, “why is it that the bees do not do as well as they did thirty or forty years ago?”
The answer to this is easy. Thirty years ago the country was comparatively new, the prairies and woods were covered over with nectar producing
plants and the bees had but to go forth and gather it, store it in the hive and ripen it into honey. There was enough of this to supply the few bees in the country with their choice sweets. As time went on the country becoming more densely populated the prairies and timber lands were demanded for tillage for farm crops, thus destroying the bee pasturage, nor was this all. As the country settled up thicker with people the number of bees increased and we see the result—an increased number of bees with a decrease of nectar producing flowers. What could be the result but less honey per colony? It is no wonder that the general complaint comes from all over the country that the bees do not store honey like they used to do.
What can we do about it, and how can we help them out? By making bee pastures; can this be done profitably? YES.
Right here let me correct an error that seems to have gotten possession of the minds of a very large majority of the people, i. e. that there is no plant or
plants that will pay to cultivate for bees alone.
In reading the bee journals the question is frequently asked, “Is there any plant that will
pay to grow for bees alone?” Ninety-nine out of every hundred who answer the question say that there is not. If you were to go into the hog or cattle business as a specialty and were to ask the question, “Is there any crop that would be profitable to raise for hogs or cattle alone?” and some supposed hog or cattle man should tell you no, and should
you follow his advice and turn your hogs and cattle out to shift for themselves or shut them up in a dry lot without making any provision for their needs, it would be but a short time until you, like the improvident bee keeper, would say that hog or cattle raising is a failure, but no sensible man will tell you that there is no plant or crop that will pay to grow for such stock, but upon the other hand will say Y-E-S, GROW CORN.
One of these propositions is just as reasonable as the other. The reply that there is no plant that will pay to grow for bees alone comes either from parties who have not fully tried the experiment, or from a selfish motive. Those of the selfish motive class are those who keep
bees in cities in limited space—even out on top of business houses—and as an excuse for not providing bee pasture say it will not pay. Yet these same bee-keepers are the the loudest in their condemnation of the farmer (the man who does provide for his bees) for flooding the market.
How many of you can call to mind men who with “cheap honey’ keep bees in the cities and towns, when asked if they try to make pasture, will say “Oh, no; it don’t pay.”
Yet, that individual never planted a seed or set a plant for his bees, but to justify his neglect says,“I-t w-o-n'-t p-a-y.”
I want to disabuse your minds upon this “won’t pay” theory by saying that there are plants that WILL pay and pay well—just as corn will pay to raise for hogs—to raise for bees alone. This I KNOW, because I have been doing it for years. I am cultivating on very valuable land three of the more common plants and consider my returns better than upon any of like acreage on my farm, and I have some very valuable acres in berries, etc.
These three plants are Simpson’ s honey plant, known among farmers as carpenter square, cure all, and figwort, sweet clover (bokara) and catnip, will also grow in all kinds of soil, from the low, rich bottoms to the high rocky lands with little or no cultivation, but all respond freely to cultivation and for best results should be cultivated, this is especially so with the Simpson’s plant, but the cultivation is as easy as that of any other plant. Sow the seed in late fall in seed bed and next spring, when the plants are three or four inches high, set in rows four feet apart with plants eighteen inches apart. Cultivate same as any
other hoed crop. The plants will bloom the first year, but will not be at their best until the second year. They are hardy and when once set, will, with a little care, last an indefinite time.
After the second year the bunches, like pie plant, can be divided, which is the easiest way to
propagate after once started, and it will be the better for the dividing.
This plant has an unassuming little purple flower which is rich in nectar, and the bees hum on it from daylight until dark. Here in Missouri it begins to bloom about the twentieth of June and is continually in bloom until a killing frost. The early light frost does not affect it.
This is without question the best of all honey plants for our State and will pay large returns for the cultivation. You who have bees, try it and be convinced that there are plants that will pay to cultivate for bees. As to sweet clover (bokara) and catnip, they are too well known to need any lengthy description. Gather and sow the seed in the fall and they will do well.
How many farms do we see where the owner is trying to keep bees and his fence corners growing up in weeds and briers. Why not sow these corners in catnip and utilize them, making that strip the most profitable on the farm? The catnip will hold its own when once established, with any of the weeds, and being of a dwarf nature will not grow high enough to be unsightly. Try it.
If you want your bees to make honey you must provide them with pasture. If you expect your cow to give you milk through the summer season you must provide her with pasture. Why not provide your bees with pasture instead of letting them rummage around, trespassing on the premises of those that do make an effort to provide for them?
This is not theory; it is a practical fact, and you must meet it in a practical way if you make
a success of bee-keeping.
The answer to this is easy. Thirty years ago the country was comparatively new, the prairies and woods were covered over with nectar producing
plants and the bees had but to go forth and gather it, store it in the hive and ripen it into honey. There was enough of this to supply the few bees in the country with their choice sweets. As time went on the country becoming more densely populated the prairies and timber lands were demanded for tillage for farm crops, thus destroying the bee pasturage, nor was this all. As the country settled up thicker with people the number of bees increased and we see the result—an increased number of bees with a decrease of nectar producing flowers. What could be the result but less honey per colony? It is no wonder that the general complaint comes from all over the country that the bees do not store honey like they used to do.
What can we do about it, and how can we help them out? By making bee pastures; can this be done profitably? YES.
Right here let me correct an error that seems to have gotten possession of the minds of a very large majority of the people, i. e. that there is no plant or
plants that will pay to cultivate for bees alone.
In reading the bee journals the question is frequently asked, “Is there any plant that will
pay to grow for bees alone?” Ninety-nine out of every hundred who answer the question say that there is not. If you were to go into the hog or cattle business as a specialty and were to ask the question, “Is there any crop that would be profitable to raise for hogs or cattle alone?” and some supposed hog or cattle man should tell you no, and should
you follow his advice and turn your hogs and cattle out to shift for themselves or shut them up in a dry lot without making any provision for their needs, it would be but a short time until you, like the improvident bee keeper, would say that hog or cattle raising is a failure, but no sensible man will tell you that there is no plant or crop that will pay to grow for such stock, but upon the other hand will say Y-E-S, GROW CORN.
One of these propositions is just as reasonable as the other. The reply that there is no plant that will pay to grow for bees alone comes either from parties who have not fully tried the experiment, or from a selfish motive. Those of the selfish motive class are those who keep
bees in cities in limited space—even out on top of business houses—and as an excuse for not providing bee pasture say it will not pay. Yet these same bee-keepers are the the loudest in their condemnation of the farmer (the man who does provide for his bees) for flooding the market.
How many of you can call to mind men who with “cheap honey’ keep bees in the cities and towns, when asked if they try to make pasture, will say “Oh, no; it don’t pay.”
Yet, that individual never planted a seed or set a plant for his bees, but to justify his neglect says,“I-t w-o-n'-t p-a-y.”
I want to disabuse your minds upon this “won’t pay” theory by saying that there are plants that WILL pay and pay well—just as corn will pay to raise for hogs—to raise for bees alone. This I KNOW, because I have been doing it for years. I am cultivating on very valuable land three of the more common plants and consider my returns better than upon any of like acreage on my farm, and I have some very valuable acres in berries, etc.
These three plants are Simpson’ s honey plant, known among farmers as carpenter square, cure all, and figwort, sweet clover (bokara) and catnip, will also grow in all kinds of soil, from the low, rich bottoms to the high rocky lands with little or no cultivation, but all respond freely to cultivation and for best results should be cultivated, this is especially so with the Simpson’s plant, but the cultivation is as easy as that of any other plant. Sow the seed in late fall in seed bed and next spring, when the plants are three or four inches high, set in rows four feet apart with plants eighteen inches apart. Cultivate same as any
other hoed crop. The plants will bloom the first year, but will not be at their best until the second year. They are hardy and when once set, will, with a little care, last an indefinite time.
After the second year the bunches, like pie plant, can be divided, which is the easiest way to
propagate after once started, and it will be the better for the dividing.
This plant has an unassuming little purple flower which is rich in nectar, and the bees hum on it from daylight until dark. Here in Missouri it begins to bloom about the twentieth of June and is continually in bloom until a killing frost. The early light frost does not affect it.
This is without question the best of all honey plants for our State and will pay large returns for the cultivation. You who have bees, try it and be convinced that there are plants that will pay to cultivate for bees. As to sweet clover (bokara) and catnip, they are too well known to need any lengthy description. Gather and sow the seed in the fall and they will do well.
How many farms do we see where the owner is trying to keep bees and his fence corners growing up in weeds and briers. Why not sow these corners in catnip and utilize them, making that strip the most profitable on the farm? The catnip will hold its own when once established, with any of the weeds, and being of a dwarf nature will not grow high enough to be unsightly. Try it.
If you want your bees to make honey you must provide them with pasture. If you expect your cow to give you milk through the summer season you must provide her with pasture. Why not provide your bees with pasture instead of letting them rummage around, trespassing on the premises of those that do make an effort to provide for them?
This is not theory; it is a practical fact, and you must meet it in a practical way if you make
a success of bee-keeping.
1900 - The Progressive Bee-keeper
Links:
Another interesting discussion in the 1884 Indiana State Board of Agriculture-
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