Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained Part 8

ALDER YIELDS THE FIRST.

The first material gathered from flowers is pollen. Candle-alder (_Alnus Rubra_)[9] yields the first supply. The time of flowering varies from the 10th of March to the 20th of April. The amount afforded is also variable. Cold, freezing weather frequently destroys a great portion of these flowers after they are out. These staminate flowers are nearly perfected the season previous, and a few warm days in spring will bring them out, even before any leaves appear. When the weather continues fine, great quant.i.ties of farina are secured.

[9] The botanical names are from Wood's Cla.s.s-Book.

The time that bees commence their labors does not govern the time of swarming by any means; this matter depends on the weather through April and May. These remarks apply particularly to this section, Green County, New York, in lat.i.tude about 42 degrees. In other places many different trees, shrubs, and herbs, may be found yielding honey and pollen that scarcely exist here, producing far different results.

Our swamps produce several varieties of willow, (salix,) that put out their blossoms very irregularly. Some of these bushes are a month earlier than others, and some of the buds on the same bush are a week or two later than the rest. These also afford only pollen, but are much more dependence than alder, as a turn of cold weather cannot at any time destroy more than a small part. Next comes the aspen, (_Populus Tremuloides_); of this we have more than is necessary for any purpose.

It is not a particular favorite with the bees, as but few, comparatively, visit it. It is followed very soon by an abundance of the red maple (_Acer Rubrum_), that suits them better, but this, like the others, is often lost by freezing. The first honey obtained of any account is from the golden willow (_Salix Vitellina_); it yields no pollen, and is seldom injured by frost. Gooseberries, currants, cherries, pear and peach trees, add a share of both honey and pollen.

Sugar maple (_Acer Saccharinum_) now throws out its ten thousand silken ta.s.sels, beautiful as gold. Strawberries modestly open their petals in invitation, but, like "obscure virtues," are often neglected for the more conspicuous Dandelion, and the showy appearance and flagrant blossoms of the apple-trees, which now open their stores, offering to their acceptance a real harvest.

FRUIT FLOWERS IMPORTANT IN GOOD WEATHER.

In good weather, sometimes a gain of twenty lbs. is added to their stores, during this period of apple-tree blossoms. But we are seldom fortunate enough to have good weather all through this period, it being rainy, cloudy, cool, or windy, which is very detrimental. Sometimes a frost at this time destroys all, and the gain of our bees is reversed, that is, they are lighter at the end than at the beginning of these flowers. Yet this is the season that decides their prosperity for the summer, whether they do _first rate_ or otherwise. If good weather now, we expect our first swarms about the first of June; if not, no subsequent yield of honey will make up for this deficiency. We now have a time of several days, from ten to fourteen, in which but few flowers exist. If our hives are poorly supplied when this scarcity occurs, it will so disarrange their plans for swarming, that no preparations are again made much before July, and sometimes not at all. In sections where the wild cherry (_Cerasus Seratina_) abounds, the flowers of this will appear and fill this time of scarcity, which this section annually presents.

RED RASPBERRY A FAVORITE.

The red raspberry (_Rubus Strigosus_) next presents the stamens as the most conspicuous part of the flower, soliciting the embrace of the bee, by pouring out bounteous libations more prized by our industrious insect than wine. For several weeks they are allowed to partake of this exquisite beverage; it is secreted at all hours and in all kinds of weather. When the morning is warm we often hear their cheerful humming among the leaves and flowers of this shrub, ere the sun appears above the horizon. The gentle shower, sufficient to induce man to seek a shelter, is often unheeded by the bee when luxuriating among these flowers; even white clover, important as it is in furnis.h.i.+ng the greatest part of their stores, at this season, would be neglected if there was only a full supply of this. Clover begins to blossom with the raspberry, and continues longer. We have an insufficient supply (in this section) in most seasons. Red clover probably secretes as much honey as the white, but the tube of the corolla being longer, the bee appears to be unable to reach it. Yet I have seen a few at work even here but it appeared like slow business. Sorrel, (_Rumex Acetosella_) the pest of many farmers, is brought under contribution, and furnishes the precious dust in any quant.i.ty. Morning is the only part of the day appropriated to its collection.

CATNIP, MOTHER-WORT, AND h.o.a.rHOUND ARE SOUGHT AFTER.

Catnip, (_Nepeta Cataria_,) Mother-wort, (_Leonurus Cardiaca_,) and h.o.a.rhound, (_Marrubium Vulgare_,) about the middle of June, put forth their flowers, rich in sweetness, and like the Raspberry, the bees visit them at all hours and in nearly all kinds of weather. They last from four to six weeks; the catnip I have known to last twelve in a few instances, yielding honey during the whole time. Ox-eye daisy, (_Leucanthemum Vulgare_,) that beautiful and splendid flower, in pasture and meadow, and worth but little in either, also contains some honey. The flower is compound, and each little floret contains particles so minute, that the task of obtaining a load is very tedious.

It is only visited when the more copious honey-yielding flowers are scarce. Snap-dragon,(_Linaria Vulgaris_,) with its nauseous and sickening odor, troubling the farmer with its vile presence, is made to bestow the only good thing about it, except its beauty, upon our insect. The flower is large and tubular, and the bee to reach the honey must enter it; to see the bee almost disappear within the folds of the corolla, one would think that it was about being swallowed, when the hideous mouth was gaping to receive it; but unharmed, soon it emerges from the yellow prison, covered with dust; this is not brushed into pellets on its legs, like the pollen from some other flowers, but a part adheres to its back between the wings, which it is apparently unable to remove, as it remains there sometimes for months, making a cl.u.s.ter outside the hive, appear quite speckled. Bush honey-suckle (_Diervilla Trifida_) is another particular favorite.

SINGULAR FATALITY ATTENDANT ON SILKWEED.

Silkweed (_Asclepias Cornuti_) is also another honey-yielding perennial, but a singular fatality attends many bees while gathering it, that I never yet saw noticed. I had observed during the period this plant was in bloom, that a number of the bees belonging to swarms, before the hive was full, were unable to ascend the sides to the comb; there would be sometimes thirty or more at the bottom in the morning.

On searching for the cause, I found from one to ten thin yellow scales, attached to their feet, triangular, or somewhat wedge shape, in size about the twentieth part of an inch. On the longest point or angle, was a black thread-like point, from a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch in length; on this stem was either hooks, barbs, or a glutinous matter, that firmly adhered to each foot or claw of the bee, rendering it useless as far as climbing the sides of the hive was concerned. I found also among bees cl.u.s.tered outside of full hives, this ornament attached, but to them it appeared no inconvenience. Among the scales of wax and waste matter that acc.u.mulates about the swarms to the amount of a handful, I found a great many of these scales, which the bees had worked from their feet. The question then arose, were these scales a foreign substance, accidentally entangled in their claws, or was it something formed there by nature, or _rather_ an unnatural appendage?

It was soon decided. From the number of bees carrying it, I was satisfied that if it was the product of any flower, it belonged to a species somewhat abundant. I set about a close examination of all such as were then in bloom. I found the flowers of the Silkweed, (or Milkweed, as some call it,) sometimes holding a dead bee by the foot, secured by this appendage. Both sepals and petals of this flower are re-curved, that is, turned backward towards the stem, forming five acute angles, or notches, just the thing for a trap for a bee with _strings_ of _beads_ on its toes; when at work they are very liable to slip a foot into one of these notches; the flower being thick and firm, holds it fast; pulling only draws it deeper into the wedge-like cavity.

The bee must either perish or break loose; their instincts fail them in this emergency; they know nothing about getting it out by a gentle pull the other way. I never saw one do it except by accident. By examining the buds of this plant just before opening, I found this fatal appendage, by which great numbers of our bees are lost.[10] When I point out a loss among our bees, I would like to give a remedy; but here I am at a loss, unless all these plants are destroyed, and this is impracticable in many places. After all I am not sure but honey enough is obtained by such bees as do escape, to counterbalance what we lose.

This would depend on the amount of honey yielded by other flowers at the same time.

[10] In Wood's Cla.s.s-book of Botany, "Order CII.," in a plate showing the parts of this plant, it is thus described: "Fig. 11, a pair of pollen ma.s.ses suspended from the glands at an angle of the antheridium," &c.

One, when reading this simple botanical description, and seeing the plate, or the Botanist with his gla.s.ses, when he minutely inspects the parts, would not suspect anything fatal to bees about it.

Whitewood (_Liriodendron Tulipifera_) yields something eagerly sought for by the bees, but whether honey, or pollen, or both, I have never been able to ascertain. All the flowers of this kind, with us, are too high. It is very scarce, as well as Ba.s.swood, (_Tilia Americana_,)--that in some places is abundant, and yields honey clear and transparent as water, superior in appearance, but inferior in flavor to clover; it also appears much thinner when first collected.

LARGE YIELD FROM Ba.s.sWOOD.

During the time this tree is in bloom, a period of two or three weeks in many sections, astonis.h.i.+ng quant.i.ties are obtained. A person once a.s.sured me that he had known "ten pounds collected by one swarm in a day, by weighing the hive in the morning and again at evening." I have some doubt of the statement, and think half the amount would be a good day's work; but I had but a small chance to know, as only a few trees, as a specimen, grow in this section. I have weighed hives during seasons of apple-tree blossoms and buckwheat, the two best yields of honey we have, and three and a half pounds was the best for one day that I ever had. Sumach, (_Rhus Glabra_,) in some sections, affords considerable honey. Mustard (_Sinapis Nigra_) is also a great favorite.

I have now mentioned most of the honey-producing trees and plants that come on before the middle of July. The course of these flowers is termed the first yield. In sections where there are no crops of buckwheat, it const.i.tutes the only full one. Other flowers continue to bloom till cold weather. Where white clover is abundant and the fields are used for pasture, it will continue to throw out fresh flowers, sometimes, throughout the summer; yet the bees consume about all they collect in rearing their brood, &c. Thus it appears in some sections six or eight weeks is about all the time they have to provide for winter.

GARDEN FLOWERS UNIMPORTANT.

In pa.s.sing along I have not mentioned garden flowers, because the amount obtained here is a small item, compared to the forest and fields--especially ornamental flowers. It is true that the Hollyhock, (_Altha Rosea_,) Mallows, (_Malva Rotundifolia_) and many others yield honey, but what does it amount to? A person expecting his hives to be filled from such a source would very likely be disappointed, especially when many are kept together.

HONEY-DEW.

Honey-dew is said to be a source from whence large collections are made in some places. When or where it appears or disappears is more than I can tell. I have seen the accounts of it, but accounts I have learned to doubt until I find something corroborative in my own experience. I find too many errors copied merely because they happen to be in company with several truths. Huber discovered many important truths, and has given them to the world; too many writers take it for granted when two points of his are true, the third _must be also_. It is no proof that there is no such article merely because I never discovered it. In the many fruitless endeavors that I have made to get a view of this substance, it may be I have lacked close observation; or possibly there is none showered upon this region; or I may have failed to bring my imagination to a.s.sist me to convert common dew into the real article.

SINGULAR SECRETION.

I once discovered bees collecting a secretion unconnected with flowers; but was not honey-dew, as it has been described. I was pa.s.sing a bush of Witch-hazel, (_Hamamelis Virginiana_,) and was arrested by an unusual humming of bees. At first I supposed that a swarm was about me, yet it was late in the season, (it being about the 25th July.) On close inspection, I found the bush contained numerous warty excrescences, the size and shape of a hickory-nut. These proved to be only a sh.e.l.l--the inside lined with thousands of minute insects, a species of aphis.

These appeared to be engaged sucking the juices, and discharging a clear, transparent fluid. Near the stem was an orifice about an eighth of an inch in diameter, out of which this liquid would gradually exude.

So eager were the bees for this secretion, that several would crowd around one orifice at a time, each endeavoring to thrust the other away. This occurred several years ago, and I never have been able to find anything like it since; neither have I learned whether it is common in other sections.

SECRETIONS OF THE APHIS.

The liquid ejected by the aphis, (plant louse,) when feeding or sucking the juices of tender leaves, and received by the ants that are always in attendance, is something like it; but in this case the bees were in attendance instead of ants.

This mode of elaborating honey, although not generally collected by bees, perhaps may not be too much out of place here. Also, it may furnish a clue to the cause or substantiate some theory of honey-dew.

These insects (_Aphis_) have been very appropriately termed "ants'

cows," as they are regarded by them with the most tender care and solicitude. In July or August, when the majority of the leaves of our apple trees are matured, there is often a few sprouts or suckers about the bottom or trunk, that continue growing and putting out fresh leaves. On the under side of these, you will find the _aphis_ by hundreds, of all sizes, from those just hatched to the perfect insect with wings. All appear to be engaged in sucking the bitter juice from the tender leaf and stalk. The ants are among them by scores. (They are often accused by the careless observer of the injury, instead of the _aphis_.) Occasionally there will issue from their abdomen a small, transparent globule, which the ant is ever ready to receive. When a load is obtained it descends to the nest; others may be seen going and returning continually. Many other kinds of trees, shrubs and plants are used by the ants as "cow pasture," and most kinds of ants are engaged in this dairy business.[11] Would the bees attend on the _aphis_ for this secretion, (for it appears to be honey,) if the ant was not there first? Or if there were no ants or bees, would this secretion be discharged, and falling on the leaves below them, be honey-dew? If they were situated on some lofty trees, and it lodged on the leaves of small bushes near the earth, it would, with some authors.

[11] The history of insects, as published by Harpers, gives more particulars on this interesting subject.

These questions I shall not answer, at present. As for theory, I shall probably have enough before I get through, where I hope the subject may be more interesting.[12]

[12] Since the foregoing was written, I have made some further observations on this subject. In August, 1852, I noticed, on pa.s.sing under some willow trees, (_Salix Vitellina_,) that leaves, gra.s.s, and stones, were covered with a wet or s.h.i.+ning substance. On looking among the branches, I found nearly all the smallest were covered with a species of large black _aphis_, apparently engaged in sucking the juices, and occasionally discharging a minute drop of a transparent liquid. I _guessed_ this might be the honey-dew. As this was early in the morning, I resolved to visit this place again, as soon as the sun got up far enough to start out the bees, and see if they collected any of it. On my return I found not only bees in hundreds, but ants, hornets, and wasps. Some were on the branches with the _aphis_, others on the leaves and larger branches. Some of them were even on the stones and gra.s.s under the trees, collecting it.

We will now return to the flowers, and see what few there are yet to appear, after the middle of July. The b.u.t.ton-ball bush (_Cephalanthus Occidentalis_) is now much frequented for honey. Also, our vines, melons, cuc.u.mbers, squashes, and pumpkins. The latter are visited only in the morning, and honey is the only thing obtained; notwithstanding the bee is covered with farina, it is not kneaded into pellets on its legs. I have seen it stated that bees never get honey early in the morning, but pollen instead. Now it is not best always to take our word, who pretend to know all about it, but look for yourselves into some of these matters. Take a look some warm morning, when the pumpkins are in bloom, and see whether it is honey or pollen they are in quest of. Also please make an observation when they are at work on the red raspberry, motherwort, or catnip; you will thus ascertain a fact so easily, that you will wonder any one with the least pretension to apiarian science could be ignorant of it. I mention this, not because it is of much importance in itself, but to show the fallibility of us all, as we sometimes copy the mistaken a.s.sertions of others.

ADVANTAGES OF BUCKWHEAT.

Under some circ.u.mstances, clover will continue to bloom through this part of the season; also, a few other flowers; but I find by weighing, a loss from one to six pounds, between the 20th July and the 10th of August, when the flowers of buckwheat begin to yield honey, which generally proves a second harvest. In many places it is their main dependence for surplus honey. It is considered by many an inferior quality. The color, when separated from comb, resembles mola.s.ses of medium shade. The taste is more pungent than clover honey; it is particularly prized on that account by some, and disliked by others for the same reason. In the same temperature it is a little thicker than other honey, and is sooner candied.

AMOUNT OF HONEY COLLECTED FROM IT.

Swarms issuing as late as the 15th July, when they commence on buckwheat, sometimes contain not over five pounds of stores, and yet make good stocks for winter, whereas, without this yield, they might not live through October. It fails about once in ten years. I have known a swarm to gain in one week sixteen pounds, and construct comb to store it at the same time. At another time I had a swarm issue the 18th August, that obtained thirty pounds in about eighteen days. But such buckwheat swarms, in ordinary seasons, seldom get over fifteen pounds.

The flowers last from three to five weeks. The time of sowing the grain varies in different sections, from the 10th of June to the 20th July.

Farmers wish to give it just time to ripen before frost, as the yield of grain is considered better, but as the time of frost is a matter of guess-work, some will sow several days earlier than others. Whenever an abundant crop of this grain is realized, a proportionate quant.i.ty of honey is obtained.

DO BEES INJURE THE CROP?