The late Prof. A. J. Cook estimated that there are nearly eighteen
hundred species of plants on which bees work in America. Most of these
are minor sources, which the bees visit incidentally for the minute
quantity of nectar that may be available, or for pollen. There are some
plants rich in nectar which can never be important to the beekeeper
because they are not sufficiently plentiful.
Honey production, as a business enterprise, is dependent upon a few
species which yield nectar abundantly and which are sufficiently common
to enable the bees to secure honey in large quantity. In order to
make the most of his business, the beekeeper should have a thorough
knowledge of the honey plants in all the country surrounding his
apiaries. It often happens that a distance of but a few miles makes a
great difference with the available honey sources. Many a man by moving
an apiary a few miles has greatly increased the yield. It sometimes
happens that the plant which is the main dependence will fail, and
that by moving to some other source, a crop may be harvested. To know
fully the honey plants of his region, their time of blooming and habit
of nectar secretion under his particular conditions, is of fundamental
importance to the man who would succeed as a beekeeper.
In many places the presence or absence of a single plant determines
whether or not beekeeping is worth while. Over a large portion of the
Middle West, the beekeepers depend almost entirely upon white clover
for surplus, and in seasons when this plant fails they get no honey to
sell.
Likewise, in many localities in the irrigated regions of the Rocky
Mountain States, when alfalfa fails to yield, there is no surplus
honey. Yet in all these sections, beekeeping would be impossible if
there were no other plants. There are localities where tremendous
honeyflows occur for a short period of time, where beekeeping is not
practical because there is insufficient forage to support the bees
the rest of the year. In such places beekeepers often take advantage
of the flows by moving the bees away as soon as the plants cease to
yield nectar, and returning them the following year at blooming time.
This applies to some parts of the valley of the Appalachicola River in
Florida. While the flow from Tupelo is sometimes remarkable, there is a
shortage of pollen throughout the summer months.
The ideal situation for beekeeping is one where there are at least
three plants which yield surplus honey in considerable quantity, and
which bloom at different periods. Beside the main sources, there should
be a great variety of minor plants yielding both pollen and honey
throughout the season to support the bees between the main flows. In
such a situation, there is seldom an entire failure of the honey crop;
and, in good years, the beekeeper fares well, indeed.
There are many localities where the bees suffer seriously for lack of
pollen at some seasons of the year. An available source of pollen is
second only in importance to an abundant honeyflow. This being the
case, the plants which are generally regarded as valuable for pollen,
especially those blooming at seasons when pollen is not abundant
generally, are included in this book.