Gleanings in bee culture . welteiing in New Yorkand other cities, the bee-keepers of Connecti-cut are smiling broadly with satisfaction asthey see the incoming honey crowding thecapacity of their hives. The cool spell, wel-comed by the suffering city dwellers, takesthe smile right off the face of the bee-keeper,as he knows full well that another year mustroll around before he again enjoys suchpleasure as has been his of late. The sumac-bloom is made up of a numer-ously branched panicle with countless tinyflowers, almost green in color. The littleshallow blossoms are broadly open, and, con-sequ
Gleanings in bee culture . welteiing in New Yorkand other cities, the bee-keepers of Connecti-cut are smiling broadly with satisfaction asthey see the incoming honey crowding thecapacity of their hives. The cool spell, wel-comed by the suffering city dwellers, takesthe smile right off the face of the bee-keeper,as he knows full well that another year mustroll around before he again enjoys suchpleasure as has been his of late. The sumac-bloom is made up of a numer-ously branched panicle with countless tinyflowers, almost green in color. The littleshallow blossoms are broadly open, and, con-sequently, the sumac at its best rivals thebuckwheat and the linden in the rapiditywith which it enables the bees to gather thehoney. Strong colonies have no tiouble ingaining twenty pounds or more in a typical-ly good day. The usual routine of the honey-flow is asfollows: From July 8th to the 15th the beesare getting acquainted with the slowly open-ing bloom, and get their brood-nests filled 1907 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 621. FIG. 1.—CLUMP OF SUMAC BUSHES IN FULL BLOOM.—PIG. 2. Fig. 2 the same as Fig. 1, but taken three weeks later. Bloom all fallen; only the leaves and bare flower-stalks remain above the brush. and begin work in the sections. From July16 to the 22d the maximum bloom is on, andthe sections are tilled then if ever. From July22d the bloom drops off rapidly, and thebees simply complete the sections alreadystarted. To put on more supers after the22d of July almost invariably means a lot ofunfinished sections. While the bees are busy on the bloom,there is usually a bitter odor about the api-ary, resembling the smell of crushed lettuceleaves. The new honey is more or less bit-ter to the taste. Probably some essential oilof the plant, an oil which is also in the milkyjuice of the plant, is present in some amountin the honey. As the smell also resemblesthe fragrance of milkweed, and as the beeswork on milkweed while the sumac is inbloom, it is possible that this bitt
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbees, bookyear1874
