One of the first spring flowers, the trillium, of which there are
several species, is attractive to the bees. It is commonly known by the
name of wake robin, or birthroot. As it blooms so early, it is seldom
that the bees find many good days for flying, and such early spring
flowers can never be regarded as important except for the purpose of
stimulating brood rearing.
TROPICAL LILAC (Duranta plumiere). GOLDEN DEWDROP.
The tropical lilac is a hedge plant cultivated in Florida and
California and other southern localities. W. K. Morrison lists it in
Gleanings (Aug. 1, 1905), as extremely attractive to the bees and as
blooming for some time. Probably not sufficiently abundant in America
to be important anywhere.
TRUMPET WEED, see Boneset.
TULIP-POPLAR or TULIP TREE (Liriodendron tulipifera).
The tulip-tree, also known as yellow poplar, is a very large tree,
often growing to a height of 100 to 140 feet, and a diameter of 6 to 9
feet. It is found from southern New England west to southern Michigan
and south to the Gulf States, east of the Mississippi. It is also found
to a limited extent in southeastern Missouri and eastern Arkansas. It
blooms in April and May and produces a light amber honey of good flavor.
According to Buchanan, the honey yield from this source is heavy and
the tree is an important addition to the nectar-secreting flora of
Tennessee and nearby States. The showy flowers are shown at Figure 137.
[Illustration: Fig. 137. Blossoms of tulip-poplar.]
The possibilities of this source of nectar are not properly
appreciated. Since it blooms so early in spring, few colonies of bees
are sufficiently strong to gather the crop possible from tulip-poplar.
The skilled beekeeper, who can bring his colonies through the winter
in good condition, gets large yields of honey from this source. In the
vicinity of Washington, D. C., it is the principal source of surplus,
and strong colonies often store an average of 100 pounds. In many cases
the bees build up on tulip-poplar only to become strong after the flow
is over. In locations where this tree is common, too much care cannot
be taken to get strong colonies early in spring to take advantage of
this flow.
TUPELO-GUM (Nyssa).
There are four species of the tupelo-gum trees, which should not be
confused with the gums of the Pacific Coast, which are eucalyptus (See
Eucalyptus). The tupelo-gum, or cotton-gum (=Nyssa aquatica=) (Fig.
138), is a very large tree common to the swamps from southeastern
Missouri and southern Illinois east to Virginia and south to Florida
and Texas. It grows to a height of more than 100 feet and yields
enormous quantities of nectar.
The pepperidge, or highland black-gum (=Nyssa sylvatica=) sometimes
called sour-gum, yellow-gum, tupelo, or stinkwood, grows in moist
upland woods from Ontario and New England to Michigan and south to
Florida and Texas. It reaches a height of 150 feet and a diameter of
four feet, under favorable conditions.
The water-gum, or Southern black-gum (=Nyssa biflora=), also called
water tupelo, has a swollen base and, when growing in the water,
produces erect roots which rise to the surface. It is found from North
Carolina to Florida and west to eastern Texas. It is sometimes regarded
as a variety of the pepperidge or black-gum.
The ogeche plum or wild lime-tree (=Nyssa Ogeche=), called white
tupelo, is much smaller than the other gum-trees, growing to a height
of forty to sixty feet. It is common to the swamps of Georgia, Florida
and South Carolina.
The first named species is very common in the swamps of Alabama and
Florida, where it often grows with the bald cypress on the banks of the
Alabama, Tombigbee and Appalachicola Rivers. A. B. Marchant averaged
82 pounds of surplus honey per colony from tupelo for a seventeen-year
period on the Appalachicola River in Florida. During part of this time
he kept as many as 500 colonies to the yard. In 1904, he took 250
thirty-gallon barrels from 750 colonies, an average of about 120 pounds
per colony.
The tupelos are the source of much honey in Arkansas, east Texas and
other Southern States, as well as in Alabama and Florida. Beekeepers
complain that in many of the best tupelo locations there is a shortage
of summer pollen, so that it becomes necessary to move the bees away
when the tupelo flow is over.
The tupelo honey is of good quality, and, when unmixed, will not
granulate. Bottlers like to use tupelo honey for blending with other
grades to retard granulation. It is of good body and mild flavor, and
finds a ready sale at better prices than most southern honey brings.
[Illustration: Fig. 138. Blossoms of the tupelo gum.]
TURKEY MULLEIN (Eremocarpus setigerus).
The turkey mullein is also known as coyote weed, wooly white drought
weed, and yerba del pescado. The latter, according to Jepson, is the
Spanish-Californian name, derived from the custom of the Indians to
use the heavy-scented herbage of this plant to stupefy fish in small
streams, to catch them by hand. He gives the range as dry open areas
from the plains or the Sacramento and San Joaquin, Sierra Nevada
foothills to the low hills and valley fields of the Coast Ranges. It
grows mostly in stubble fields following the grain harvests, contesting
for survival with the blue curls.
From Western Honeybee we quote as follows:
“Turkey mullein is a different appearing plant (from blue curls), but
grows under exactly similar conditions. Its insignificant pale green
or white flowers yield a thick amber honey, of biting, astringent
flavor, often in considerable quantities.
“I have known a beekeeper in San Diego County to market eight tons of
this honey. It is fit only for manufacturing purposes. The foliage of
turkey mullein is white, wooly, and exhales a pungent odor.” October,
1914.
TURNIP (Brassica).
Where turnips are grown for seed in large acreage, surplus honey may be
expected from this source. The late J. S. Harbison said of them:
“Turnip blossoms are eagerly sought by the bees, and afford so rich
pasturage during March and April as to make it a profitable crop, if
but for this purpose alone.”--Beekeeper’s Directory.
TURPENTINE WEED, see Blue Curls.
U
ULEX, see Gorse.
UMBRELLA TREE, see Wild China.
UTAH--Honey Sources of.
Most of the surplus honey which goes to market from Utah is from sweet
clover and alfalfa. Salmon-berry, clover, dandelion, willows and the
desert flowers add something to the output of the apiary.
V
VACCINIUM, see Blueberry.
VARNISH TREE or TREE OF HEAVEN (Ailanthus glandulosa).
This tree is met by a great variety of names, varnish tree, tree of
heaven and Chinese sumac being common. The tree is a native of China
and has been extensively cultivated as a shade tree in America. It
spreads easily and is quite generally naturalized. Scholl lists it as a
source of honey and pollen in Texas. Richter regards it as a wonderful
yielder in California, where it produces an abundance of ill-tasting
honey. It is reported as a honey producer in Georgia and is to be
found in many States from east to west in greater or less abundance.
The disagreeable odor of the staminate flowers is a well-known
characteristic of the tree. In appearance it looks much like a very
large sumac.
In the vicinity of Paris, France, the ailanthus, also called ailanthe,
yields honey which must be removed before other honeys are harvested,
as it spoils the taste of the honey of other plants.
VERBENA, see Vervain.
VERMONT--Honey Sources of.
The willows furnish first nectar in Vermont. Fruit blossoms, dandelions
and maples also furnish nectar in abundance in early spring. White and
alsike clover, together with goldenrod, furnish the principal surplus
honey. Sumac, laurel, asters and less important plants also furnish
some honey.
VERNONIA, see Ironweed.
[Illustration: Fig. 139. Bloom of the purple vervain.]
VERVAIN (Verbena).
There are about 16 species of verbenas in North America, and several
of them are widely distributed. Figure 139 shows the blue vervain
(=Verbena hastata=), which is found from Nova Scotia to Quebec and
Manitoba, south to Arkansas, New Mexico and California, and on the
east, south to Georgia. This particular species is usually found
in low lands, along streams, etc. Richter, in his “Honey Plants of
California,” mentions another species, =Verbena prostrata=, as yielding
considerable honey in some localities in that State. In Iowa the
hoary vervain (=Verbena stricta=), is very common in upland pastures,
especially over the north half of the State, and reports of surplus
honey from this source are not uncommon.
Mr. Scholl reports =Verbena xutha= as yielding sparingly in Texas.
While in the main the vervains can hardly be regarded as important
honey plants, in limited localities some species are very valuable
sources of nectar. Mr. S. W. Snyder, former Secretary of the Iowa
Beekeepers’ Association, reports the blue vervain as quite valuable in
his locality, some years furnishing a surplus.
VERVENIA, see Phacelia.
VETCH (Vicia).
There are about a dozen species of vetch native to America and two or
three varieties widely cultivated for forage. They yield some honey,
and there are reports from beekeepers to the effect that their bees
work upon vetch freely. However, there is little to indicate that
they are an important source of nectar. Richter lists spring vetch
as a source of honey, but does not indicate that it yields surplus
in California, where it is grown as a cover crop. Some species have
extra-floral nectaries.
Some of the group are regarded as good honey plants in Europe.
VINEGAR-WEED, see Blue Curls, also Tarweed.
VINE MAPLE (Acer circinatum).
Vine maple is common on the Pacific Coast from Humboldt County,
California, north to Washington. There are numerous reports of vine
maple as an abundant source of early nectar in Oregon and Washington.
The honey is amber and of excellent quality, but it blooms so early
(April) that the bees are usually not in condition to store much
surplus. (See Maple). In exceptional seasons as high as 50 pounds of
surplus have been gathered by a single colony from vine maple.
VINE MILKWEED (Enslenia albida).
The vine milkweed is a smooth perennial climbing herb, with small
whitish flowers. It is common along streams from southern Pennsylvania
and the Ohio Valley south to north Georgia and west to Texas.
It is reported as a good honey plant in the vicinity of Buffalo, Texas.
H. B. Parks states that it is a valuable bee plant, if sufficiently
common.
VIPER’S BUGLOSS, see Blueweed.
VIRGINIA--Honey Sources of.
Willows, fruit blossoms, red-bud and maples furnish early nectar and
pollen. These are followed by dandelion, which is abundant. Persimmon,
clover, locust, chinquapin, tulip-poplar, holly, laurel, basswood,
tupelo and asters are sources of later nectar. Sourwood is found in
some sections and produces an abundance of the finest honey.
VIRGIN’S BOWER, see Clematis.
VIRGINIA CREEPER (Parthenocissus quinquefolia).
The Virginia creeper, also known as American ivy or woodbine, is a
common climbing vine in thickets and woods from New England to Quebec
and Manitoba. Dakota and Colorado and south to the Gulf from Florida to
western Texas.
[Illustration: Fig. 140. Virginia creeper, or American ivy.]
While the bees seek it eagerly at times and the vines fairly hum with
them, it can hardly be regarded as of importance to the beekeeper.
This plant is often confused with poison ivy, but the two plants can
easily be distinguished by the difference in habit of growth, and by
the five leaflets in the creeper, as shown in Figure 140, while the
poison ivy has only three leaflets to each leaf.
[Illustration: Fig. 141. Blossoms and leaf of Virginia waterleaf.]
VIRGINIA WATERLEAF (Hydrophyllum virginicum).
The Virginia waterleaf does not bloom until after the fruit blossoms
are gone, and so has less competition for attention than some other
plants that come into bloom during the same period. It blooms
abundantly and grows luxuriantly in moist woods. The bees have been so
eager for the blossoms of this plant in the writer’s wild garden and
in the surrounding woods for several years past, that he has come to
regard it is quite a valuable honey plant, although nowhere so listed
as far as can be learned. Figure 141 shows the blossom and leaf of this
plant, while Figure 142 shows masses of the plants in bloom. Apiaries
in the vicinity of woodlands should find this plant of considerable
value, judging from the writer’s limited observation.
[Illustration: Fig. 142. Masses of Virginia Waterleaf in the author’s
wild garden at Atlantic, Iowa.]