There are about one hundred and fifty different species of eucalyptus
trees, most of which are native to Australia and Tasmania, where
they are the most characteristic and important timber trees. Many of
them secrete resinous gums, hence are called “gum trees.” A number
of commercial products are derived from them. They have been widely
introduced into California, and, to some extent, also into Florida,
Texas and other Southern States. The various species are known as
sugar gum, blue gum, mahogany gum, red gum, stringy bark, white iron
bark, red box tree and various similar names. Richter lists 21 species
as yielding honey in California. According to this author there is a
great variation in the quality of honey from the different species.
While some species seem to yield water-white honey of good quality,
others produce an amber product of low value. The blue gum (=Eucalyptus
globulus=) is said to produce “honey, amber, of acid flavor, heavy body
and granulating within a few months. The blue gum is very constant in
nectar secretion, even in spite of unfavorable weather, and since it is
of wide distribution, considerable quantities of honey come from this
source. On account of the pronounced flavor of eucalyptus honey there
is little or no demand for it in the retail trade.”
On the other hand, he describes white ironbark (=Eucalyptus
leucoxylon=) “a great honey producer, with a beautiful flavor much like
vanilla extract.”
Almost all of the honey seems to be gathered from the sources which
produce the poorer grade, so that the eucalyptus honey is not favorably
known in the markets.
The blooming period of the different species varies so that there are
some in bloom at all times during the year. The blue gum, already
mentioned, blooms from December until June, while the sugar gum blooms
from August to November. Several species bloom during the winter
months, when they are especially valuable in sustaining the bees until
the time of the main honeyflows. Fig. 53 shows the eucalyptus blossoms.
[Illustration: Fig. 54. Avenue of eucalyptus trees in California.]
At the California short course, at Davis, in 1918, M. H. Mendleson, of
Ventura, spoke as follows concerning this source:
“Every winter the gum, or eucalyptus, comes into bloom. Last winter
they filled two or three stories high on eucalyptus. I got 17¹⁄₂
cents per pound for it; previously I never could get more than 4
cents, but it was seldom that I got a surplus from this source. The
most eucalyptus honey I have ever known was gathered last spring.
“The scarlet bloom (=Eucalyptus ficifolia=) is one of the greatest
honey producers I have ever known. It grows from 10 to 25 feet and
has a brilliant bloom, in clusters, a beautiful sight. * * * The
honey is of fine flavor, water white. You can see the nectar wave in
the flower cup when you shake it. The flow sometimes lasts a month.
It will stand a light frost, but not a heavy one. Our hot east winds
are very hard on it, as they scorch the trees.”
EUPATORIUM, see Boneset.
EUPHORBIA, see Snow-On-the-Mountain, also Poinsettia.
F
FALSE INDIGO (Amorpha fruticosa).
False indigo is a tall shrub common to low lands along streams from
Pennsylvania west to the plains. It grows in thickets and is very
attractive to the bees. It is of special importance in Nebraska and
Kansas. In the Arkansas Valley beekeepers report that bees get both
nectar and pollen in considerable quantity, though it is seldom
mentioned as a source of surplus. Nebraska beekeepers value it because
it fills in the period between fruit bloom and white clover.
FARKLE-BERRY or SPARKLE-BERRY (Vaccinum arboreum).
The farkle-berry or sparkle-berry is also known as winter huckleberry
and tree huckleberry. It is a tall shrub 6 to 25 feet in height and
common from southern Illinois and Missouri east to North Carolina and
south to Texas and Florida. In parts of Arkansas it is one of the main
sources of honey. W. C. Brass writes that in Lonoke County, near the
center of the State, it is very abundant and takes the place of clover
further north. It blooms in May and the bees roar on the sparkle-berry
bushes like swarming time. It belongs to the group of plants to which
the blueberries belong and most of these are good honey plants.
FIDDLE NECK, see Phacelia.
[Illustration: Fig. 55. Figwort, or Simpson honey plant.]
FIGWORT (Scrophularia marilandica).
Simpson honey plant, or figwort, is another widely distributed plant.
It is common in the woods from Maine to the Rocky Mountains and south
to the Gulf. It is also said to occur on the Pacific Coast. The same,
or a similar plant occurs in Europe and Asia.
It is a tall growing plant from 3 to 6 feet high, with numerous small
branches. The stem is four angled, with rather long-pointed leaves.
The flowers are very numerous and quite small, as will be seen by the
picture, Fig. 55. It blooms in the late summer and is freely visited by
the bees.
FILLAREE, see Pin Clover.
[Illustration: Fig. 56. Blossoms of fireweed.]
FIREWEED or WILLOW HERB (Epilobium angustifolium).
Fireweed is a common plant in the woodlands of the Northern States and
of Canada. It is a tall herb with attractive pink blossoms on a long
terminal spike, as shown in Fig. 56. It springs up following forest
fires and covers the burned district with a dense growth. The blooming
period is long, lasting from July till frost, as new blossoms appear
as the older ones fade. It is important as a source of honey in much
of eastern Canada, Minnesota, parts of Michigan. Wisconsin and on
the Pacific Coast, where it is also valuable in Oregon, Washington
and parts of Montana. It is gradually crowded out by other growth.
A locality may yield great crops of fireweed honey for two or three
years and then little surplus be gathered from it for many years. The
author has visited beekeepers in Northern Michigan who count on an
average of fifty pounds or more per colony, with as high as 125 pounds,
in locations where fireweed was yielding. As fireweed disappears in
that locality, raspberry and milkweed follow, and these are also good
sources, so that the location does not suffer from the change.
Honey from fireweed is very light in color and of high quality. The
late W. Z. Hutchinson, who wrote much concerning beekeeping in the
forest region of northern Michigan, styled it as the whitest and
finest-flavored honey with which he was acquainted.
As the timber is removed, settlement gradually clears the land, and the
wild growth gives place to cultivated fields and pastures. Most of the
fireweed country is also good clover territory, so that the beekeepers
need not fear the development of the country.
FLAT TOP, see Eriogonum.
FLEA WEED, see Blue Curls.
FLORIDA--Honey Plants of.
Wild Pennyroyal in southern half of the State.
Titi, in pine swamps in northern portion, gives surplus only in west
Florida.
Black Tupelo, in same territory as titi, bad weather makes the yield
uncertain.
White tupelo in low swamps over west Florida; main source in swamps
along the Appalachicola and Chipola rivers in Calhoun County.
Orange from the north central portion to the southern end of the
peninsula.
Andromeda, central and northwestern part of the State, not important.
Gallberry or holly grows in almost all parts of Florida, but does best
in north part of the State.
Saw or scrub palmetto thrives on sandy soils, doing best on moist
hummocks.
Black mangrove grows on lands overflowed daily by salt water along the
east coast, but yields best on east side.
Partridge pea grows in great abundance in the high pine lands of the
northern half of the State.
Cabbage palmetto reaches its greatest height on the coasts and keys of
the southern section. Yields heavily when it does yield.
Manchineel, on southern coast and keys as far north as Palm Beach.
Dogwood, along the keys and southern coast.
Pigeon cherry, same range as the two preceding.
In addition there are a number of such fall flowers as wild sunflowers,
asters, goldenrods and thoroughwort.
Four-fifths of all the surplus honey produced in the State comes
from the blossoms of nectar-producing trees or shrubs, not flowering
plants.--E. G. Baldwin in Gleanings in Bee Culture, March and April,
1911.
FLORIDA MAHOGANY, see Red Bay.
FLOWERING RASPBERRY, see Salmon Berry.