Propolis is a resinous gum gathered by the bees from buds of trees,
and used to close crevices about the hive. It becomes brittle and
hard in cold weather, but when warm is sticky and very tenacious. The
beekeeper finds it quite a problem to keep his hands free from propolis
when manipulating the hives in mid-summer. Some races of bees deposit
propolis much more freely than others, the Caucasians being especially
inclined to gather a great surplus of the cement and place it in lumps
about the hive. If, perchance, a mouse, beetle or other object enters
the hive which the bees are unable to remove, they frequently coat it
freely with propolis, and there it remains.
Cracks seem obnoxious to the bees, and the small spaces between the
frames are quite likely to be filled with the cement. In the production
of comb honey, the tendency of the bees to fill every crevice with
it leads to much labor on the part of the beekeeper in cleaning his
finished sections for market. This is especially true of honey left on
the hive till late in the season, as propolis is gathered in quantity
in late fall in anticipation of cold weather.
Cottonwood is thought to be one of the chief sources of propolis
wherever that well-known tree is found.
Bees gather much material from a great variety of sources. In addition
to the fresh wax gathered from plants and trees, they are often
attracted by fresh varnish or other substances from which they can get
sticky material to serve as glue.
PRUNE, see Plum.
PUMPKIN (Cucurbita pepo).
The pumpkin is a well-known gourd-like fruit, usually of deep yellow
color, that is widely cultivated as a food for stock and for pie.
There are numerous varieties of various sizes and colors. The blossoms
are large and showy and very attractive to the bees. The plants yield
an abundance of pollen as well as nectar. The honey is amber and not of
high quality, and granulates readily.
Where pumpkins are grown on a large scale for stock feed or for canning
factories, they are a valuable source of bee pasture.
PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE (Lythrum).
There are two species of lythrum frequently reported as honey plants.
The European species, =Lythrum Salicaria=, the spiked loosestrife,
has become naturalized in wet places from Nova Scotia to Delaware.
According to H. D. House, State Botanist of New York, it is common in
and around the inlets and backwaters of the Hudson River all up and
down that stream. It is also common up the Mohawk Valley, at Oneida
Lake and along the railroads westward across the State to Lake Erie. It
is a tall plant of vigorous growth, but as it confines itself largely
to wet places, it is not likely to be any more of a nuisance than the
usual coarse weeds growing in such situations. The bees work this plant
freely and occasional reports of honey from this source are received
from New York State. The honey is very dark and of strong flavor,
having a slight tobacco-like taste as it gets older.
=Lythrum alatum=, a native species, is found from Ontario and Minnesota
south to Georgia, Florida and Texas. A report from Oklahoma is to the
effect that it blooms with sweet clover, lasting till frost. The bees
work upon it from daylight till dark in either wet or dry weather.
Similar reports come from Texas. It is found on low lands in the
southwest.
It is also reported by beekeepers from New Orleans as attractive to
bees in Louisiana.
Q
QUEBEC--Honey Sources of.
In Quebec alsike and white clover furnish the principal surplus honey.
In the southern part of the province buckwheat, basswood and sweet
clover are also important. Fireweed, blueberry, goldenrod and aster are
the source of surplus honey over much of the province and willows and
maples are valuable for spring brood rearing.--F. W. L. Sladen.
QUERCUS, see Oak.
QUININE Tree, see Hop-Tree.
R
RABBIT BRUSH (Chrysothamnus nauseosus hypolluca).
Richter lists rabbit brush as yielding nectar in the vicinity of
Independence, California, from September till November. He states that
the bees work vigorously on it, but that the honey is dark, of poor
flavor and disagreeable odor, and that when the bees are evaporating it
it can be smelled all over the place.
There are seventeen different varieties of rabbit brush in the
southwestern desert from New Mexico to California and north to Utah and
Colorado. They are described as coarse plants, usually shrubby and
growing to a height of as much as six feet. They have small heads of
yellow flowers. The Navaho Indians use the heads of the various species
to dye wool yellow.--(Flora of New Mexico.)
RADISH or JOINTED CHARLOCK (Raphanus Raphanistrum).
The wild radish or jointed charlock is a troublesome weed in the fields
of eastern Canada and United States from New England to Pennsylvania.
Like many other introduced plants, it has been widely scattered with
grain seeds. It has been introduced into northwestern Iowa with oats,
where it is spreading in fields and waste places.
Sladen lists it as one of the important sources of nectar in Nova
Scotia.
RAGGED LADY, see Red Gaura.
RAGGED SAILOR, see Centaurea.
[Illustration: Fig. 116. Bloom of the tall ragweed.]
RAGWEED (Ambrosia trifida).
Figure 116 shows the blossom and leaf of the great ragweed, often
called horseweed. This is a very common roadside weed, growing to a
height of 10 or 12 feet. It is common in Quebec and Ontario, west to
Manitoba. In the United States it occurs from New England west to
Colorado and south to the Gulf. It is also found in Cuba and Mexico. It
is especially common in the rich lands of the Mississippi Valley from
Minnesota to Texas.
The ragweed does not produce nectar, but furnishes large quantities of
pollen in late summer and fall.
RAPE (Brassica napus).
Rape is a foreign plant related to the cabbage, which has been
introduced from Europe. In the United States it is chiefly grown as a
catch crop or forage for hogs and sheep and sometimes as a cover crop.
In Europe it is highly regarded as a honey plant, as the following
letter from Baron Von Berlepsch, which appeared in American Bee Journal
in April, 1874, will show:
“During the years between 1841 and 1858, that I was a practical
agriculturist, I cultivated rape, to a large extent, and can in
consequence thereof, and from knowledge otherwise gained, testify
most assuredly, that in all Germany there is no plant yielding more
honey than rape. I know of instances, occurring in my own experience,
where a very populous colony of bees, during time when rape was in
blossom, gained a weight of 20 pounds and over in one day.
“On the 10th of May, 1846, there was near me a 65-acre field in
blossom. The weather was excellent, and my strongest colony, which I
placed on a platform scale, gained that day more than 21 pounds in
weight. I know of only one other plant that can be compared with rape
as a honey-yielding plant, and that is esparet (=Sainfoin=).”
A Wisconsin beekeeper, writing in American Bee Journal the same
year stated that rape in Wisconsin is scarcely second to linden. He
described the honey as of golden color and good flavor. He further
cited the fact that rape blooms about the middle of August, when there
is little else, as a great advantage in cultivating it for its honey.
The few references to it in our literature indicate that it may be of
more value to the beekeeper than is generally recognized.
RAPHANUS, see Radish.
RASPBERRY (Rubus). Also called THIMBLEBERRY.
The wild raspberry (=Rubus occidentalis=) is a very common plant in
the woods of the Northeastern States. Mohr gives its natural range as
New England to Quebec and Ontario, Minnesota, Nebraska, Colorado and
Oregon, south to Ohio and West Virginia, and along the mountains to
Georgia.
[Illustration: Fig. 117. Wild raspberry grows in great abundance in
Ontario and other northern regions.]
There are several species of wild raspberries, and probably all are
good honey producers. Raspberry honey is produced extensively in
northern Michigan, where the plant is abundant on cut-over lands. It
blooms following the tree fruits and is usually ahead of the white
clover. In localities where it is plentiful it is a most valuable
honey plant and phenomenal yields have sometimes been reported from
this source. A good raspberry location is very desirable. Beekeepers
who chance to be near large plantations of raspberries cultivated for
market are equally fortunate. The honey is white and of a superior
quality. Figure 117 shows a luxuriant growth of wild raspberry as it is
found in many localities in Ontario.
RATTAN VINE (Berchemia scandens).
Rattan vine, or supple-Jack, is a common climbing vine in low thickets
throughout the Southern States from Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri,
south to Florida and eastern Texas. The flowers are greenish yellow,
usually appearing in June. The plant is slender and of vigorous growth,
frequently climbing high trees.
In east Texas it is one of the important sources of surplus honey.
There the plant is abundant along the streams, and is reported as
yielding honey for a long period. The author has found rattan vine
highly regarded in many sections of the South, especially in Alabama.
Scholl states that the honey is dark amber in color and used mostly for
manufacturing purposes.
RATTLE BOX or RATTLE WEED, see Loco Weed.
RATTLESNAKE-ROOT (Nabalus altissimus).
Rattlesnake root is listed by the late A. J. Cook as “which swarms with
bees all the day long,” but the author can find so few references to it
that it is probably of little importance.
RED BAY (Persea Borbonia).
Red bay, or Florida mahogany, is also known as tisswood, sweet bay and
laurel-tree. This tree should not be confused with the magnolia, which
is also called sweet bay. (See Magnolia). The alligator pear (=Persea
persea=) is a near relative, which has been introduced from Central
America and extensively cultivated for its fruit. It has run wild in
some parts of Florida.
Red bay is reported as yielding surplus honey in considerable quantity,
but of poor quality along the Gulf Coast of Texas. The honey is said to
be very dark, suitable for baking purposes. Beekeepers report that the
plant is quite dependable, but of limited range.
RED-BERRY, see Buckthorn.
RED BOX-TREE, see Eucalyptus.
[Illustration: Fig. 118. The blossoms of red-bud appear before the
leaves.]
RED-BUD (Cercis canadensis).
The red-bud, or Judas-tree (Fig. 118) is a common shrub or small tree
in the Southeastern States. It is found occasionally from western
Pennsylvania to southern Michigan, southern Iowa and Nebraska south to
western Florida and east to Texas. It grows along streams and in the
woodlands where the soil is moist and rich. In Alabama it blooms late
in February, and in southern Iowa in April. The rose-pink blossoms
appearing in early spring, before the leaves are out, make the tree
very conspicuous during the blooming period. Where the tree is abundant
it furnishes a liberal pasture for the bees for early spring brood
rearing. Blooming so early, it is rarely the source of surplus. In
the northern part of its range it often blooms with fruit trees and
dandelion, so that it is not as important as farther south.
There is another species in south Texas and Mexico which blooms in
March, the Texan red-bud (=Cercis reniformis=), and one, the western
redbud (=Cercis occidentalis=), which occurs in the mountains of
California and occasionally in Utah.
The red-bud is also known as salad-tree, or June-bud.
RED CLOVER (Trifolium pratense).
There have been so many conflicting statements regarding the question
as to whether or not the honeybee is able to secure honey from red
clover (=Trifolium pratense=) that it has seemed worth while to
investigate the subject with some care. There have been so many reports
of honey from this source, that it is desirable to learn whether the
honey did come from red clover, or whether the beekeepers have been
mistaken, and some explanation of the confusion is necessary. There is
no question but that the plant secretes nectar in abundance, but since
the corolla tubes are much longer than the tongues of the bees, they
are unable to reach it under ordinary conditions. It is a well-known
fact that plants behave very differently under different climatic
conditions, so an effort has been made to secure evidence from as many
localities as possible, and from a great variety of conditions.
In Iowa the writer has sometimes found bees working freely on red
clover in extremely dry seasons. At such times the bees were apparently
getting some nectar, although it could not be detected in the hive.
However, one year, Mr. C. H. True, of Edgewood, Iowa, had on exhibition
at the State Fair, a generous quantity of honey which he thought was
secured from red clover. It was slightly tinted with red, and had a
flavor different from white or alsike clover honey. The explanation
often given is that in dry seasons the florets are somewhat dwarfed,
and because of the shorter tube the bee is able to reach the honey. Dr.
L. H. Pammel, botanist at the Iowa College of Agriculture, has made
a special study of bees and red clover under Iowa conditions. After
having many measurements made, he has reached the conclusion that the
effect on the length of the corolla tube, as a result of drought, is
so slight that the bee would not be able to reach the nectar from this
cause. He goes on record as follows:
“I have for several years closely observed honeybees and red clover,
and from these observances I am still inclined to the opinion,
earlier expressed, that honeybees do not get nectar from the flowers
of the red clover, notwithstanding the opinion of many beekeepers in
Iowa.”--Third report Iowa State Bee Inspector.
At the 1917 Convention of the Illinois Beekeepers, Mr. Frank Bishop, of
Virden, reported that one season he secured an average of 100 pounds
per colony from red clover. According to his statement, there was
no other bloom within reach at that time. He further stated that he
visited the red clover fields, investigated the matter carefully, and
was fully satisfied that red clover was the source of the honey.
[Illustration: Fig. 119. Red clover blossoms.]
So many reports from well-known beekeepers are to be found in our
literature, that it seems worth while to quote several of them,
together with the place where the reference is to be found. Mr. Wm.
McEvoy, of Woodburn, Ontario, wrote to Gleanings in Bee Culture, page
468, 1907, as follows:
“In September, 1905, I extracted over 3,000 pounds of pure red clover
honey, after giving the bees plenty to winter on. This honey was a
light amber color, and good in flavor, and sold for the same price
as honey gathered from white clover. My bees being Italians, worked
well on the second crop of red clover, which was not injured by the
midge in my locality, in 1905, on account of the first crop being cut
early.”
Adrian Getaz, of Knoxville, Tenn., makes the following contribution to
the subject in Gleanings, page 660, 1909:
“In regard to bees gathering nectar from red clover, several opinions
have been advanced. Generally, it is supposed, that, owing to dryer
weather, the second crop has blossoms with shorter corollas, and that
the bees can reach the nectar on that account. Another theory is that
the nectar is more abundant, and fills up the corollas better, and
thus comes within reach of the bees. A German apiarist a few years
ago undertook to settle the matter, and spent a part of the summer
lying down in the clover fields to see how it was. He reported that
very few insects take the nectar through the corollas; but some kinds
cut a hole near the bottom and help themselves through it. The hole
once made, a number of insects, including bees, take advantage of it;
and if the bees do not work on the first crop, it is because there
are few hole-boring insects present.”
Here follows a brief report with nothing to indicate whether the bees
were seeking nectar or pollen:
“Last year was very dry and there was scarcely any white clover in
blossom here; but the bees went fairly wild on the red clover, and it
was the first crop, too.”--J. F. Brady, Deerfield, Minn. Gleanings,
page 149, 1911.
That the subject is not new will be found by examining the files of the
bee magazines of many years ago. Apparently, it has been a controverted
subject since beekeeping has been followed seriously in America. In the
first volume of the American Bee Journal, page 228, 1861, we find the
following:
“I noticed in August and the beginning of September, while the bees
were gathering honey from buckwheat, that they obtained pollen of
a brownish color from some source. On investigating the matter, I
found that they collected it from red clover. This somewhat surprised
me, as I had never seen them gathering honey from the red clover to
such an extent, particularly while other forage was plenty. * * * I
have also noticed that the bees visited only those heads that were
imperfect, the tubes being shorter in consequence.”
The principal interest attached to the above is the statement that
the bees visited only the imperfect blossoms. On page 9 of the same
volume is a statement somewhat similar, reported in one of the German
journals, of Italian bees getting honey from red clover, in 1858. It is
said that the season was very dry and the blossoms somewhat smaller as
a result.
In 1899, page 15, American Bee Journal, we find another report of bees
working on it in dry weather:
“My bees work more or less on it almost every year during hot and dry
weather, but it does not produce as fine honey as white clover; when
candied it is coarser grained, and has a water-soaked appearance. I
wish that my bees would let it alone, for we have plenty of white
clover when the red is in bloom.”--Fred Bechle, Poweshiek County,
Iowa.
Again, on page 27 of the same issue, Theo. Rehorst, of Fond du Lac
County, Wisconsin, reports:
“The mammoth red clover produces good honey and all our honeybees can
reach the nectar, although the corolla is far longer and deeper than
the common red clover. I never saw any honey from common red clover;
only thin, red stuff, thin as water.”
In 1903, E. E. Hasty, of Ohio, wrote, in the American Bee Journal,
that while he admitted that bees worked on red clover at times, he was
extremely doubtful about their ability to get much honey from it. The
same doubt has been expressed by numerous observers from time to time,
the usual explanation being that the bees are gathering pollen, rather
than nectar.
On page 49 of the 1903 volume of the American Bee Journal is reported
an interesting case of honeydew from red clover. Since it is the only
case of the kind found in all the literature consulted it is quoted
quite fully:
“For about ten days my bees have been bringing in honey from the
second crop of red clover. Now this is nothing remarkable, for I have
seen them doing so for more than twenty years past; but recently,
passing through a field of red clover in bloom, I stopped to watch
them, and, to my surprise, found them working, not on the blossoms,
but on the leaves. This, I confess, I had never seen before. On
closer examination I found the clover leaves covered with small plant
lice, and the under leaves covered with honeydew, very similar to
that frequently found on the leaves of the hickory, oak and other
trees, though the honey is not so dark-colored as from leaves of
trees.”
On page 839 of the American Bee Journal for 1906 is found a rather
convincing discussion of the subject of honey from red clover. It was
at a convention of the National Association, and several men of wide
reputation took part in the discussion, and testified to the fact that
they had secured surplus from red clover. Hutchinson stated that he had
secured 500 pounds from red clover at a time when there was nothing
else in bloom, and that it was a light amber or dark white color.
Messrs. Townsend, Stone, Davenport and others agreed that they had
secured red clover honey, Townsend reporting as much as 2,000 pounds
stored in two weeks’ time.
The subject is discussed at length in Bulletin No. 46 of the New
Zealand Department of Agriculture, by Isaac Hopkins, whose experience
in this connection is interesting. We quote him in part:
“In my early days of beekeeping it was a moot point whether Italian
bees worked on red clover or not. At this time I had a unique
opportunity of testing the matter thoroughly, an opportunity which
would rarely occur; therefore, I feel myself on safe ground when
dealing with Italian bees and red clover.
“For five years (1882-87), I was located on the late J. C. Firth’s
estate at Matamata, where I started large bee farms. My bees, which
were chiefly Italians, were near to thousands of acres of red clover.
* * * Now and again we saw a few here and there gathering pollen from
the blossoms, and sometimes a good deal of pollen from red clover was
brought in when, no doubt, it was scarce elsewhere.
“In order to make a thorough test, I shifted, on one occasion, a
number of strong two-story colonies to the center of a 700-acre
paddock of red clover. The first crop had been cut for hay, and the
second crop flowers were just opening. There was no ordinary bee
forage anywhere near. After the fourth day, I examined the hives and
found from the odor that came from them on removing the covers that
some nectar had been gathered from the surrounding clover. I also
observed that some clover pollen had been stored.
“There were two seasons out of the five when my bees worked more
freely on the red clover than in others. In these seasons it was
noticeable that myriads of small-sized moths flitted about the
clover, while they were rarely seen at other times. I was much
interested, and in casting about for a reason, I became satisfied,
after very many tests, that the red clover was secreting at times
much more nectar than usual, and it may have been that it reached
a higher level in the tubes on these occasions, and so came within
reach of the tongues of the bees. Be that as it may, some red clover
nectar was gathered from second crop flowers in these seasons.”
While the different observers are by no means agreed as to the reason
why the bees are able to get nectar from red clover on occasion, the
testimony is very closely agreed upon the fact that it is only from
the second crop, and in hot and dry seasons, that the bees are able
to store honey from this source. So many widely-known men come forward
with the positive statement that they have been able to secure surplus
honey from red clover, that we can hardly question the fact that honey
is sometimes stored from this plant. Whether the corollas are punctured
by other insects, the tubes are shortened by drought or the nectar
rises higher in the tube, remains to be proven.
RED GAURA (Gaura coccinea).
The red gaura, also called ragged lady, is common from Montana to
Arizona and Texas. It is much sought by the bees for both nectar and
pollen. Its nectar secretion is abundant, but it is not sufficiently
common to be important. A good stimulant.
RED GUM, see Eucalyptus.
RED-HAW, see Hawthorne.
RESEDA ODORATA, see Mignonette.
RETAMA (Parkinsonia aculeata).
Retama is a small tree common throughout southern and western Texas. It
has slender branches, bearing the yellow petaled flowers in axillary
racemes. It is frequently mentioned as a source of nectar by Texas
beekeepers. Scholl states that the bees work on it more or less
all summer. Like many Texas shrubs, it has a habit, of blooming at
irregular periods, from spring till September.
RHODE ISLAND--Honey Sources of.
The sources of honey in Rhode Island grouped in the order of their
appearance are willows, maples and other less numerous trees, which
furnish bees with the early supply of pollen and honey, so useful and
so needful in building up the bee population preparatory to the harvest
in which the beekeeper shares.
Next come the fruit blossoms, plum, peach, cherry, pear, apple,
raspberries, huckleberries and blueberries which, when the spring is
favorable, yield good crops of honey. In some places, dandelions are
an important addition to the fruit bloom, though not always opening at
the same time. In several parts of the State there are large areas of
locust. This blooms the latter part of May, and when conditions favor,
yields for about eight days a heavy water-white honey. The clovers
usually follow this, but are of consequence only under favorable
conditions of rainfall, save in a few sections where soil conditions
afford abundant moisture.
In many sections sumacs furnish the next crop, and where they are
sufficiently abundant the beekeeper may rightly look for a good crop of
a very fair honey.
In some of the more swampy and less settled sections, button
bush, clethra (sweet pepper bush) and clematis yield a white and
highly-flavored honey, that from clematis being of the very highest
quality. But the yield from these plants is irregular, in some years
being almost absent.
In some of the villages and cities the European lindens are numerous
and yield heavily. The bloom ceases toward the end of the clover
flow, though the time of flowering of different trees in the same
neighborhood varies greatly. Native linden, basswood, is now found only
in a few places. The season closes with the goldenrods and asters,
which yield a rich, aromatic honey which, though not acceptable to many
persons, commands a fancy price from others. The crop from these two
sources is not always to be depended upon, being more affected by the
weather than some of the others.--Arthur C. Miller, Bulletin, State
Board of Agriculture.
RHODODENDRON, see Azalea.
RHUS, see Sumac.
RICHARDIA, see Mexican Clover.
ROBINIA, see Locust.
ROCKBRUSH (Eysenhardtia amorphoides).
Rockbrush is a small shrub common to southern and western Texas, and
extending into Mexico. It blooms after heavy rains, several times
during the year, and yields honey in surplus quantity. It is reported
frequently throughout the region south and west of San Antonio to the
Rio Grande.
=Colubrina Texensis=, an entirely different shrub, which is common from
the Colorado River to the Rio Grande and west to New Mexico, is also
known by the name of rockbrush. It is reported as yielding both pollen
and nectar, but not as a source of surplus honey.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEE PLANT (Cleome integrifolia).
The Rocky Mountain bee plant, also known as stinking clover (Fig. 120),
is principally confined in its distributions to the plains region west
of the Missouri River. It is also reported from north Pacific Coast
States. While it is a dry land plant, it is occasionally reported
from Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Although it is occasionally seen
elsewhere, the author has not seen it in Iowa excepting on the Missouri
River bluffs, where it is plentiful in some localities. This plant
is reported as especially valuable in Colorado, where it is said to
produce considerable quantities of honey.
It is an annual with large, showy, pink or purple flowers. At one time
there was much interest in this plant on the part of eastern beekeepers
who tried to introduce it by sowing seed. At the Michigan Agricultural
College a small field was planted to ascertain whether it could be
grown profitably for honey alone. As no plant has as yet proven to
be sufficiently valuable to justify its cultivation for this purpose
exclusively, it is not surprising that the Rocky Mountain bee plant did
not prove to be an exception. It is acrid and pungent and said to be
distasteful to animals, which seldom eat it. If the plant had any value
for any purpose besides honey production, an effort to extend the area
of the distribution might succeed, but the introduction of plants that
are essentially weeds in their nature seldom meets with favor.
According to Frank Rauchfuss, the cleome is erratic in its yield. If
there is a wet spring the seeds germinate early. When this is followed
with good rains in June the plants are vigorous and spreading in their
growth and each will have many blossoms. One year he extracted an
average of 116 pounds per colony from a ten-days’ flow. The honey is
white in color, with a greenish tinge. It has a rather sickening flavor
when fresh, but improves with age. When pure it is a first quality
honey. It is rare that a good crop is secured from his source.
The plant thrives best on sandy and gravelly soils.
[Illustration: Fig. 120. Cleome, or Rocky Mountain bee plant.]
ROMAN CANDLE, see Yucca.
ROSE (Rosa).
There are many species of roses of wide distribution. They yield pollen
abundantly and are frequently valuable, in localities where they bloom
when pollen is scarce. There are numerous reports of rose honey, but in
most cases the observer has probably mistaken the object of the bees
when working on the flowers. Several competent observers credit the
Cherokee rose as a source of nectar. (See Cherokee Rose.)
“Some time ago quite a discussion was brought about by the assertion
of Gaston Bonnier, that one never saw bees upon roses, no matter how
colored or how fragrant. Dr. Miller replied that he had often seen
them upon the crimson ramblers and that they even tore the buds open.
“The magazine ‘L’Abeille de l’Aube,’ in its August number quotes the
different assertions which were made upon the subject since then in
Europe.
“Mr. Bonnier came back with the assertion that the bees were only
hunting pollen, for, according to him, there is no nectar in roses.
“Joan Ruppin, of Fountenay-Aux-Roses, saw his bees take pollen on the
roses, but never any nectar.
“A. Martinot saw the bees often on the crimson ramblers and on other
similar roses, never on the double flowers.
“Mr. Pitrat believes they find both nectar and pollen on the simple
flowers.
“Louis Rosseil, Consul of Belgium in Athens, says that in the Island
of Eubia, the bees work upon fields of roses and produce a white
honey much esteemed.”--American Bee Journal, October, 1912.
Beekeepers in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and on the Pacific Coast
report that their bees get honey from roses.
ROSIN WEED, see Cup Plant, also Gum Weed.
ROYAL PALM, see Palm.
RUBUS, see Raspberry.
RUDBECKIA, see Coneflower.
RUSSIAN OLIVE, see Oleaster.
S
SABAL, see Palmetto.
SAGE (Salvia).
When sage is mentioned, we of the east are likely to think of the
common garden sage (=Salvia officinalis=), which for at least three
centuries has been cultivated for its aromatic leaves. Of this there
are several varieties, some with broad and some with narrow leaves. The
garden sages are good honey plants, but seldom sufficiently abundant to
amount to much as honey producers. The honey from the garden sage is
said to be nice and white like that from catnip or motherwort.
The name sage is derived from its supposed power to make people wise by
strengthening the memory, for which it was used in ancient medicine.
There are upwards of five hundred species of sages, widely distributed
in the temperate and warmer regions of both hemispheres. Probably most
of the species yield honey, although but few are known to be important.
Rayment mentions the wild sage (=Salvia verbenacea=) as introduced into
Australia from Europe, but now yielding honey during the dry months
of the year. (Money in bees in Australasia.) There are more than two
hundred species known to occur in Mexico and Central America and it is
very probable that when beekeeping is developed on a commercial scale
in those countries, the sages will be found to be very important honey
plants.
[Illustration: Fig. 121. White sage is uncertain in its yield.]
Since practically all sage honey that goes to market in America is from
California, the sages from that State are of first importance. Sage is
known to occur in other Western States and the question is sometimes
asked whether any honey is secured from this source elsewhere. In
answer to this question Mr. J. E. Miller, of Caldwell, Idaho, writes,
in Gleanings in Bee Culture (September 15, 1908), as follows:
“My neighbor, Mr. Garfield, experimented with one colony of bees by
taking it eight or nine miles away from alfalfa or other cultivated
fields, and setting it among the white sage. He went out to look
after it every week and took fresh water. We do not know the exact
amount of honey the bees gathered, but they did fully as well
as those left at home near the alfalfa. The honey was of that
water-white color peculiar to California sage honey. Mr. Garfield
sent samples to California and it was pronounced A-1 white sage; so
we are convinced that the white sage of Idaho does yield just as much
and just as good honey as that of any other State.”
It is probable that one or more species of sage occur in nearly every
State, but they increase in abundance westward. In the arid country
west of the Missouri River they become sufficiently common so that an
appreciable amount of honey might be expected in many localities. It is
quite likely that sage honey in small amounts is mixed with honey from
other sources, and so not detected, in many many localities outside of
California. The fact remains, nevertheless, that sage, as an important
source of surplus, is not reported outside of that State.
The quality of sage honey is of the best, being water-white in color,
of a heavy body and delightful flavor. Since it does not granulate, it
is much sought for by bottlers in the east, who blend it with clover
or alfalfa. There are many who regard sage honey as the finest in the
market. In this connection A. I. Root, in an early edition of his A B C
of Bee Culture, wrote:
“I well remember the first taste I had of the mountain sage honey.
Mr. Langstroth was visiting me at the time, and his exclamations were
much like my own, only that he declared that it was almost identical
in flavor with the famed honey of Hymettus, of which he had received
a sample some years ago. Well, this honey of Hymettus, which has been
celebrated both in prose and poetry for ages past, was gathered from
the mountain thyme, and the botany tells us that thyme and sage are
closely related.”
Although there are several species of sage which yield honey in
California, the quality does not differ materially, as far as can be
ascertained from printed reports. It is all described as “water-white,
unexcelled flavor, of heavy body and does not granulate.”
Prof. A. J. Cook wrote to the American Bee Journal (June 21, 1906)
concerning the sage as follows:
“Chief among the honey-bearing mints are the incomparable sages of
California. These are not excelled even by the clovers or linden. The
honey is white, delicate of flavor, and must ever rank among the best
in appearance and quality. Not only this, but the quantity is often
phenomenal. This comes from the fact that flowers are borne in long
racemes of compact heads, and as the separated flowerets do not bloom
all at once, but in succession, the plants are in bloom for weeks.
The sages, then, are marvelous honey producers, first, because of the
generous secretions of each flowerlet, and second, because of the
immense number of these flowerlets and the long period of bloom.”
[Illustration: Fig. 122. Black sage is the finest honey plant on the
Pacific Coast.]
At another time Mr. Cook wrote that the honey from all sages is so much
alike that it would be indistinguishable.--American Bee Journal, August
3, 1905.
Richter, in his Honey Plants of California, speaks of the white sage
(=Salvia apiana=) Jep., as “very common on the dry plains toward the
foothills, and ascending these to about 3,000 feet.” (Fig. 121).
Writing in Gleanings in Bee Culture, P. C. Chadwick describes a journey
which he made in the San Bernardino Mountains with the intent to find
out the highest elevation at which bloom could be found in sufficient
quantities to support bees. Up to an elevation of 7,000 feet he found
white sage in abundance, and all alive with bees. (Western Honey Bee,
September, 1914.) Richter gives its range as common from Santa Barbara
County southward, blooming from April to July. “As abundant as the
black sage, but not as good a yielder, nor has the honey as fine a
flavor.”
Black sage (=Salvia mellifera=), Greene, also known as ball sage, or
button sage (Fig. 122), is generally credited as being the principal
source of sage honey, most of the honey which goes to market under the
name of white sage being produced from this plant. Quite probably it
is the best honey plant on the Pacific Coast. Richter says of it: “As
a general rule, every fifth year an excellent crop is obtained, and
every third or fourth year a total failure is experienced, the flow
being dependent upon winter rains, with warm spring quite free from
cold winds and fog. When in bloom a certain amount of warm weather is
required before it produces nectar.”
The range of black sage is given as “Mt. Diablo, Los Trampas Ridge,
near Hayward, San Mateo County, Glenwood and Brieta, southward to
southern California. April-May.” (Jepson). “Coast ranges and ascending
to 5,000 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains. March to June. San Diego
County, February to May.”
Mr. J. E. Pleasants, of Orange, California, writing in American Bee
Journal (June, 1914) describes the peculiarities of the sages as
follows:
“The black sage is king of them all. When climatic conditions are
favorable I think black sage can be relied upon to produce more ‘gilt
edge’ than any other plant in the West, and for body and flavor it
is hard to excel. It blooms for weeks. The blossom is small and
inconspicuous, but what a flow of nectar it can yield.
“The white sage is a much prettier plant. Its soft, grey leaves and
tall blossom spikes make it quite showy, while its pleasing aromatic
odor breathes the very essence of wild perfumes. But this queenly
plant is much more inconstant than its plainer sister. Some years it
produces a good harvest, others very light.
“The silver or purple sage, which has silvery leaves and brilliant
light purple blossoms, is usually a good producer, but is much
restricted as to locality.”
The purple sage (=Salvia leucophylla=) (Fig. 123), also called
white-leaved sage, or silver sage, is reported as a good yielder,
although not as abundant as either of the foregoing species. The
Richter catalog gives the range as occasional in the foothills of the
Santa Monica and San Fernando Mountains, April to July, and from San
Luis Obispo to San Diego Counties and not extending inland beyond the
coast ranges.
[Illustration: Fig. 123. The purple sage.]
=Salvia amabilis=, loving sage, is reported from Santa Barbara,
March-June, but probably not important.
=Salvia carduacea=, thistle or annual sage. “Inner coast range valleys
and throughout the San Joaquin Valley, southern California, June.”
(Jepson). “A well-known honey plant.” (Richter).
=Salvia columbariae=, annual sage. “Throughout the coast ranges, Sierra
Nevada and southern California, on hill and mountain slopes.” (Jepson).
=Salvia sonomensis=, Greene, creeping sage. “Montana species at middle
altitudes. Ramona Mountains west of Calistoga, Mt. Shasta, Calaveras
and Mariposa Counties, San Diego County. May.” (Jepson). “Also June,
Sierra foothills from Sierra to Inyo Counties, main source of honey in
many districts.” (Richter).
Concerning the regularity of yield from sage, Mr. P. C. Chadwick wrote
in Gleanings in Bee Culture (January 1, 1911), as follows:
“South of the Tehachapi Mountains lies practically the entire sage of
our State, notwithstanding eastern people and many of our westerners
term every form of small growth on the vast slopes of the Rocky
Mountains “sage brush.” There is no denying that the button (or
black) sage is, of all honey plants, our chief surplus producer.
Neither does it average a crop more often than every other year,
regardless of rainfall, for it seems necessary, from its semi-arid
nature, to be dried out or rested before it comes back to its prime
yielding condition. I have seen it return some surplus for three
consecutive seasons; but the middle season was not what could be
considered a crop, even after a sufficient rainfall.”
Again he writes to the same journal to the effect that the sage ranges
soon give place to other crops (Dec. 15, 1911):
“If I should predict that thirty years hence the sage ranges of
California would be almost a thing of the past there would doubtless
be criticism of my views; but I firmly believe that we shall face
such a condition, for emigration to this part of California is
increasing rapidly. Hillsides are yielding to the plow, where twenty
years ago it would have been thought almost impossible.”
Some writers give two hundred pounds per colony as a fair average in a
good sage year, so that with even one good year in three it comes well
up with the yield of many plants more constant in their production.
SAINFOIN or ESPARCET (Onobrychis sativa).
Sainfoin is grown to a limited extent in Canada, and although given
numerous trials in various parts of the United States, has not, till
the present, succeeded in establishing itself successfully. It is a
splendid forage crop, somewhat similar to alfalfa, and is an important
source of nectar in Italy and other parts of Europe.
Several years ago it was given an enthusiastic endorsement as a honey
plant for America by John Fixter, at that time apiarist at the Central
Experiment Farms at Ottawa, Canada. A test plot at the Farms proved so
attractive to the bees that it attracted much attention on the part of
eastern beekeepers. He reported that it yielded nectar in the morning
and that the bees began work upon it fully an hour before they did on
alsike or white clover. A further advantage was stated to be that the
first bloom came between fruit bloom and white clover and the later
bloom at a time when there was a dearth from other sources. On plots
side by side he reported that there would be something like a hundred
bees on the sainfoin to ten on the white clover.
In spite of the glowing accounts of its value and a general attempt to
boom the plant, it failed to succeed. It should be remembered, however,
that there was a general failure with alfalfa when first attempts were
made to grow it in America, and it would seem worthy of further trial
to see whether there are not sections better adapted to its growth.
The following article by C. P. Dadant, reprinted from the American Bee
Journal, page 790, 1904, will give some information about the value of
the plant in European countries:
“Sainfoin, otherwise called esparcet, is widely cultivated in Europe,
especially in France. Its name, “sainfoin,” is French, and literally
means “healthy hay”--sain-foin. It is a perennial, gives a splendid
hay crop, and in some sections of the European continent it is a
first-class honey-producer.
“The small province of France, formerly called “Gatinais,” is
the leading producer of sainfoin honey. According to the best
authorities, the honey of Gatinais has the reputation of being of
the whitest color and sweetest taste, and is said to be in no way
surpassed by white clover honey.
“Gaston Bonnier, the eminent professor who was President of the
International congress of beekeepers at Paris in 1900, says in his
book, the ‘Cours Complet d’Apiculture,’ that sainfoin honey is one of
the best appreciated grades. He ranks it next only to the honey of
the Alpine hills of eastern France and Switzerland.
“From immemorial times the honey crops of Gatinais have been
considered as leading in the amount of production, and this was all
credited to the sainfoin, which is grown there in immense quantities,
somewhat as alfalfa is grown in the irrigated plains of the West. It
was in Gatinais that the custom of inverting hives began, in order
to secure the largest possible quantity of honey from the bees,
regardless of future consequences. For that reason the beekeepers
of Gatinais were compelled to replenish apiaries every season with
bees brought from away, as their only aim was to secure the largest
possible quantity of sainfoin honey during the short period of the
bloom, and many of their bees perished the following winter.
“Although sainfoin has already been tried in the United States with
unfavorable results, I believe it is worth while to try it again,
especially in the countries where alfalfa succeeds so well. It might
prove a useful honey plant.
“We must, however, not close our eyes to the fact that honey plants
do not yield honey in the same proportion in all localities. White
clover, which is the source of so large a crop of white honey in this
country, is absolutely useless as a honey producer in some other
countries. Edouard Bertrand, the editor of the Revue Internationale,
told me positively that there never had been any white clover honey
harvested in Switzerland by any of his friends, although it is quite
common in the Swiss meadows.”
SALAD-TREE, see Red-Bud.
SALAL (Gaultheria shallon).
Salal is an evergreen shrub, one to five feet high, common from central
California north to Washington. It grows abundantly in the redwood
forests commonly covering the ground. The flowers occur in racemes
three to six inches long and are pink or pinkish white.
It blooms with salmon-berry, wild blackberry and chittam, so the honey
is seldom secured unmixed.
SALIX, see Willow.
SALMON BERRY or THIMBLE BERRY (Rubacer parviflorus).
The salmon berry or Thimble berry, also known as flowering raspberry,
shown at Figure 124, is a well known honey plant on the Pacific Coast.
It occurs along the coast from Alaska to Mexico. It also occurs in the
mountains as far south as Colorado and New Mexico. It is a shrub with
erect stem and red fruit. It is known to some extent in Ontario west to
Dakota.
Salmon berry is frequently mentioned as a source of honey in the
Pacific Northwest, especially in Washington, Oregon and British
Columbia.
[Illustration: Fig. 124. Salmon berry, or thimble berry.]
SALT CEDAR (Tamarix gallica).
Scholl’s Bulletin lists the salt cedar as a source of honey in Texas.
“Common European shrub which seems to have escaped in many places in
Texas.” (Coulter). “On roadsides, in thickets and waste places in
warmer parts of southern United States, naturalized from southern
Europe.” (Small.) The author has reports of this plant being common in
the vicinity of Corpus Christi, Texas. Reported also as a honey plant
in places in California.
SANDVINE, see Bluevine.
SAPINDUS, see Wild China.
SASKATCHEWAN--Honey Sources of.
The sources of nectar, in the order of their importance, are fireweed,
wolfberry, prairie flowers, alsike and white clover and Siberian
pea-tree. Willows and maples for early brood rearing are important.--F.
W. L. Sladen.
SASSAFRAS (Sassafras officinale).
Sassafras is an exceedingly well-known tree in the Southwestern States.
It is known occasionally as far north as Ontario and Massachusetts
southward to southeastern Iowa, eastern Kansas and south to the Brazos
Valley in Texas. It is a conspicuous feature of the old fields of the
southern plantations. It has spicy aromatic bark and mucilaginous
buds and leaves which many people enjoy chewing. Oil of sassafras is
distilled from the roots.
The flowers are small, yellow and inconspicuous, but are attractive to
the bees. The writer has found occasional reports of bees working on
sassafras in the Southern States. At Buffalo, Texas, it is reported as
blooming about two weeks. H. B. Parks reports that it yields well in
Missouri. The blooming period is early and short, hence its principal
value is for spring brood rearing. It was blooming with willow on March
20, 1918, in Leon County, Texas, when the author visited that section,
and the bees were apparently getting considerable nectar from sassafras
at that time.
SATUREJA, see Wild Pennyroyal.
SAW PALMETTO, see Palmetto.