HONEY PLANTS.
As bees do not make honey, but only gather it, and as honey is mainly
derived from certain flowers, it of course follows that the apiarist's
success will depend largely upon the abundance of honey-secreting
plants in the vicinity of his apiary. True it is that certain bark
and plant lice secrete a kind of liquid sweet--honey of doubtful
reputation--which, in the dearth of anything better, the bees seem
glad to appropriate. I have thus seen the bees thick about a large
bark-louse which attacks the tulip tree, and thus often destroys one
of our best honey trees. This is an undescribed species of the genus
_Lecanium_. I have also seen them thick about three species of plant
lice. One, the _Pemphigus imbricator_, Fitch, works on the beech
tree. Its abdomen is thickly covered with long wool, and it makes a
comical show as it wags this up and down upon the least disturbance.
The leaves of trees attacked by this louse, as also those beneath the
trees, are fairly gummed with a sweetish substance. I have found that
the bees avoid this substance, except at times of extreme drouth and
long protracted absence of honeyed bloom. It was the source of no
inconsiderable stores during the terribly parched autumn of Chicago's
great disaster. (See Appendix, page 286).
Another species of _Pemphigus_ gives rise to certain solitary plum-like
galls, which appear on the upper surface of the red elm. These galls
are hollow, with a thin skin, and within the hollows are the lice,
which secrete an abundant sweet that often attracts the bees to a feast
of fat things, as the gall is torn apart, or cracks open, so that the
sweet exudes. This sweet is anything but disagreeable, and may not be
unwholesome to the bees.
Another aphis, of a black hue, works on the branches of our willows,
which they often entirely cover, and thus greatly damage another tree
valuable for both honey and pollen. Were it not that they seldom are
so numerous two years in succession, they would certainly banish from
among us one of our most ornamental and valuable honey-producing
trees. These are fairly thronged in September and October, and not
unfrequently in spring and summer if the lice are abundant, by bees,
wasps, ants, and various two-winged flies, all eager to lap, up the
oozing sweets. This louse is doubtless the _Lachnus dentatus_, of Le
Baron, and the _Aphis salicti_, of Harris.
Bees also get, in some regions, a sort of honey-dew, which enables them
to add to their stores with surprising rapidity. I remember one morning
while riding on horse-back along the Sacramento river, in California, I
broke off a willow twig beside the road when, to my surprise, I found
it was fairly decked with drops of honey. Upon further examination I
found the willow foliage was abundantly sprinkled by these delicious
drops. These shrubs were undisturbed by insects, nor were they under
trees. Here then was a real case of honey-dew, which must have been
distilled through the night by the leaves. I never saw any such
phenomenon in Michigan, yet others have. Dr. A. H. Atkins, an accurate
and conscientious observer, has noted this honey-dew more than once
here in Central Michigan.
Bees also get some honey from oozing sap, some of questionable repute
from about cider mills, some from grapes and other fruit which have
been crushed, or eaten and torn by wasps and other insects. That bees
ever tear the grapes is a question of which I have failed to receive
any personal proof, though for years I have been carefully seeking
it. I have lived among the vineyards of California, and have often
watched bees about vines in Michigan, but never saw bees tear open
the grapes. I have laid crushed grapes in the apiary, when the bees
were not gathering, and were ravenous for stores, which, when covered
with sipping bees, were replaced with sound grape-clusters, which in
no instance were mutilated. I have thus been led to doubt if bees
ever attack sound grapes, though quick to improve the opportunities
which the oriole's beak and the stronger jaws of wasps offer them.
Still, Prof. Riley feels sure that bees are sometimes thus guilty,
and Mr. Bidwell tells me he has frequently seen bees rend sound
grapes, which they did with their feet. Yet, if this is the case, it
is certainly of rare occurrence, and is more than compensated by the
great aid which the bees afford the fruit-grower in the great work of
cross-fertilization, which is imperatively necessary to his success, as
has been so well shown by Dr. Asa Gray and Mr. Chas. Darwin. It is true
that cross-fertilization of the flowers, which can only be accomplished
by insects, and early in the season by the honey-bee, is often, if
not always, necessary to a full yield of fruit and vegetables. I am
informed by Prof W. W. Tracy, that the gardeners in the vicinity of
Boston keep bees that they may perform this duty. Even then, if Mr.
Bidwell and Prof. Riley are right, and the bee does, rarely--for surely
this is very rare, if ever--destroy grapes, still they are, beyond any
possible question, invaluable aids to the pomologist.
But the principal source of honey is still from the flowers.
WHAT ARE THE VALUABLE HONEY PLANTS?
In the northeastern part of our country the chief reliance for May is
the fruit-blossoms, willows, and sugar maples. In June white clover
yields largely of the most attractive honey, both as to appearance and
flavor. In July the incomparable basswood makes both bees and apiarist
jubilant. In August buckwheat offers a tribute, which we welcome,
though it be dark and pungent in flavor, while with us in Michigan,
August and September give us a profusion of bloom which yields to no
other in the richness of its capacity to secrete honey, and is not
cut-off till the autumn frosts--usually about September 15.
Thousands of acres of golden rod, boneset, asters, and other autumn
flowers of our new northern counties, as yet have blushed unseen,
with fragrance wasted. This unoccupied territory, unsurpassed in its
capability for fruit production, covered with grand forests of maple
and basswood, and spread with the richest of autumn bloom, offers
opportunities to the practical apiarist rarely equaled except in
the Pacific States, and not even there, when other privileges are
considered. In these localities, two or three hundred pounds to the
colony is no surprise to the apiarist, while even four or five hundred
are not isolated cases.
In the following table will be found a list of valuable honey-plants.
Those in the first column are annual, biennial or perennial; the
annual being enclosed in a parenthesis thus: (); the biennial enclosed
in brackets thus: []; while those in the second column are shrubs or
trees; the names of shrubs being enclosed in a parenthesis. The date of
commencement of bloom is, of course, not invariable. The one appended,
in case of plants which grow in our State, is about average for Central
Michigan. Those plants whose names appear in small capitals yield very
superior honey. Those with (_a_) are useful for other purposes than
honey secretion. All but those with a * are native or very common in
Michigan. Those written in the plural refer to more than one species.
Those followed by a † are very numerous in species. Of course I have
not named all, as that would include some hundreds which have been
observed at the college, taking nearly all of the two great orders
Compositæ and Rosaceæ. I have only aimed to give the most important,
omitting many foreign plants of notoriety, as I have had no personal
knowledge of them:
========================================
DATE. | Annuals or Perennials.
========================================
April |Dandelion.
April and May |Strawberry. (_a_)
May and June |*White Sage, California
May and June |*Sumac, California.
May and June |*Coffee Berry, California
June to July |WHITE CLOVER. (_a_)
June to July |ALSIKE CLOVER. (_a_)
June to July |*[SWEET CLOVER.]
June to July |*Horehound. [Weed.]
June to July |Ox-eyed Daisy--Bad
June to July |Bush Honeysuckle.
June to August |*Sage.
June to August |Motherwort.
June to frost |*(Borage.)
June to frost |*(Cotton.) (_a_)
June to frost |Silk or Milk Weeds.
June to frost |(Mustard)†
June to frost |*(Rape.) (_a_)
June to frost |St. John's Wort.
June to frost |(MIGNONETTE.) (_a_)
July |(Corn.) (_a_)
July |*(Teasel.) (_a_)
July to August |*Catnip. (_a_)
July to August |Asparagus. (_a_)
July to August |*(Rocky M't. Bee Plant)
July to frost |Boneset.
July to frost |Bergamot.
July to frost |Figwort.
August |(Buckwheat.) (_a_)
August |(Snap-dragon.)
August to frost|(GOLDEN ROD.)†
August to frost|Asters.†
August to frost|Marsh Sun-Flowers.
August to frost|Tick-Seed.
August to frost|Beggar-Ticks.
August to frost|Spanish Needles.
========================================
DATE. | Shrubs or Trees.
========================================
March and Ap'l |Red or Soft Maple.(_a_)
March and Ap'l |Poplar or Aspen.
March and Ap'l |Silver Maple.
March and Ap'l |*Judas Tree.
May |(Shad-bush.)
May |(Alder.)
May |Maples-Sugar Maple (_a_)
May |Crab Apple.
May |(Hawthorns.)
|{ Fruit Trees--Apple,
May. |{ Plum, Cherry, Pear,
|{ etc. (_a_)
May |Currant and Gooseberry. (_a_)
May |*(Wistaria Vine-South)
|{ (Chinese Wistaria
May |{ Vine--South.)
May and June |(Barberry.)
May and June |(Grape-vine.) (__a)
May and June |Tulip-tree.
May and June |(Sumac.)
June |Wild-Plum.
June |(Black Raspberry.) (_a_)
June |Locusts.
June |(RED RASPBERRY.) (_a_)
June |(Blackberry.)
June to July |*Sour-wood--South.
July |(Button Bush.)
July |BASSWOOD. (_a_)
July |(Virginia Creeper.) (_a_)
July to August |*Pepper-tree, Cal'a.
July to Sept |*(St. John's Worts.)
August |(Late Sumac.)
August to Sept.|*Red Gum, California.
DESCRIPTION WITH PRACTICAL REMARKS.
As this subject of bee pasturage is of such prime importance, and as
the interest in the subject is so great and wide-spread, I feel that
details with illustrations will be more than warranted.
[Illustration: Fig. 75.--_Maple._]
We have abundant experience to show that forty or fifty colonies of
bees, take the seasons as they average, are all that a single place
will sustain to the greatest advantage. Then, how significant the
fact, that when the season is the best, full three times that number
of colonies will find ample resources to keep all employed. So this
subject of artificial pasturage becomes one well worthy close study and
observation. The subject, too, is a very important one in reference to
the location of the apiary.
It is well to remember in this connection, that two or three miles
should be regarded as the limit of profitable gathering. That is,
apiaries of from fifty to one hundred or more colonies, should not be
nearer than four or five miles of each other.
[Illustration: Fig. 74.-_Willow._]
APRIL PLANTS.
As we have already seen, the apiarist does not secure the best results,
even in the early spring, except the bees are encouraged by the
increase of their stores of pollen and honey; hence, in case we do
not practice stimulative feeding--and many will not--it becomes very
desirable to have some early bloom. Happily, in all sections of the
United States our desires are not in vain.
Early in spring there are many scattering wild flowers, as the
blood-root (_Sanguinaria canadensis_), liver-leaf (_Hepatica
acutiloba_), and various others of the crowfoot family, as also many
species of cress, which belong to the mustard family, etc., all of
which are valuable and important.
The maples (Fig. 73), which are all valuable honey plants, also
contribute to the early stores. Especially valuable are the silver
maples (_Acer dasycarpum_), and the red or soft maples (_Acer rubrum_),
as they bloom so very early, long before the leaves appear. The bees
work on these, here in Michigan, the first week of April, and often
in March. They are also magnificent shade trees, especially those
that have the weeping habit. Their early bloom is very pleasing,
their summer form and foliage beautiful, while their flaming tints
in autumn are indescribable. The foreign maples, sycamore, _Acer
pseudo-platanus_, and Norway, _Acer platanoides_, are also very
beautiful. Whether superior to ours as honey plants, I am unable to say.
The willows, too (Fig. 74), rival the maples in the early period of
bloom. Some are very early, blossoming in March, while others, like the
white willow (_Salix alba_) (Fig. 74), bloom in May. The flowers on one
tree or bush of the willow are all pistillate, that is, have pistils,
but no stamens, while on others they are all staminate, having no
pistils. On the former, they can gather only honey, on the latter only
pollen. That the willow furnishes both honey and pollen is attested
by the fact that I saw both kinds of trees, the pistillate and the
staminate, thronged with bees the past season. The willow, too, from
its elegant form and silvery foliage, is one of our finest shade trees.
[Illustration: Fig. 15.--_Judas Tree_]
In the south of Michigan, and thence southward to Kentucky, and even
beyond, the Judas tree, or red-bud, _Cercis canadensis_ (Fig. 75),
is not only worthy of cultivation as a honey plant, but is also
very attractive, and well deserving of attention for its ornamental
qualities alone. This blooms from March to May, according to the
latitude.
The poplars--not the tulip--also bloom in April, and are freely visited
by the bees. The wood is immaculate, and i& used for toothpicks. Why
not use it for honey-boxes?
[Illustration: Fig. 76.--_American Wistaria._]
MAY PLANTS.
In May we have the grand sugar maple, _Acer saccharinum_ (Fig. 73),
incomparable for beauty, also all our various fruit trees, peach,
cherry, plum, apple, etc., in fact all the Rosaceæ family. Our
beautiful American Wistaria, _Wistaria frutescens_ (Fig. 76), the
very ornamental climber, or the still more lovely Chinese Wistaria,
_Wistaria sinensis_ (Fig. 77), which has longer racemes than the
native, and often blossoms twice in the season. These are the woody
twiners for the apiarist. The barberry, too, _Berberis vulgaris_ (Fig.
78), comes after fruit blossoms, and is thronged with bees in search
of nectar in spring, as with children in winter, in quest of the
beautiful scarlet berries, so pleasingly tart.
[Illustration: Fig. 77.--_Chinese Wistaria._]
[Illustration: Fig. 78.--_Barberry._]
In California, the sumac, the coffee berry, and the famous white sage
(Fig. 79), keep the bees full of activity.
[Illustration: Fig. 79.--_White Sage._]
[Illustration: Fig. 80.--_White or Dutch Clover._]
JUNE PLANTS.
With June comes the incomparable white or Dutch clover, _Trifolium
repens_ (Fig. 80), whose chaste and modest bloom betokens the
beautiful, luscious, and unrivalled sweets which are hidden in its
corolla tube. Also its sister, Alsike or Swedish, _Trifolium hybrida_
(Fig. 81), which seems to resemble both the white and red clover. It is
a stronger grower than the white, and has a whitish blossom tinged with
pink. This forms excellent pasture and hay for cattle, sheep, etc.,
and may well be sown by the apiarist. It will often pay apiarists to
furnish neighbor farmers with seed as an inducement to grow this par
excellent honey plant. Like white clover, it blooms all through June
into July. Both of these should be sown early in spring with timothy,
five or six pounds of seed to the acre, in the same manner that red
clover seed is sown.
[Illustration: Fig. 81.--_Alsike Clover._]
[Illustration: Fig. 82.--_Melilot Clover._]
[Illustration: Fig. 83.--_Borage._]
Sweet clover, yellow and white, _Melilotus officinalis_ (Fig. 82), and
_Melilotus alba_, are well named. They bloom from the middle of June to
the middle of July. Their perfume scents the air for long distances,
and the hum of bees that throng their flowers is like music to the
apiarist's ear. The honey, too, is just exquisite. These clovers are
biennial, not blooming the first season, and dying after they bloom the
second season. Another disagreeable fact, they have no value except for
honey. They are said to become pernicious weeds if allowed to spread.
The other clovers--lucerne, yellow trefoil, scarlet trefoil, and
alfalfa--have not proved of any value with us, perhaps owing to
locality.
Borage, _Borago officinalis_ (Fig. 83), an excellent bee plant, blooms
from June till frost, and is visited by bees even in very rainy
weather. It seems not to be a favorite, but is eagerly visited when all
others fail to yield nectar.
[Illustration: Fig. 84.--_Mignonette._]
[Illustration: Fig. 85.--_Okra._]
Mignonette, _Reseda odorata_ (Fig. 84), blooms from the middle of June
till frost, is unparalleled for its sweet odor, furnishes nectar in
profusion, and is well worthy cultivation. It does not secrete well in
wet weather, but in favorable weather it is hardly equalled.
Okra or gumbo, _Hibiscus esculentus_, (Fig. 85), also blooms in June.
It is as much sought after by the bees in quest of honey, as by the
cook in search of a savory vegetable, or one to give tone to soup.
Sage, _Salvia officinalis_, horehound, _Marrubium vulgare_, motherwort,
_Leonurus cardiaca_, and catnip, _Nepeta cataria_, which latter does
not commence to bloom till July, all furnish nice white honey, remain
in bloom a long time, and are very desirable, as they are in bloom in
the honey dearth of July and August. They, like many others of the mint
family (Fig. 86), are thronged with bees during the season of bloom.
[Illustration: Fig. 86.--_Mint._]
The first and last are of commercial importance, and all may well be
introduced by apiarists, wherever there is any space or waste ground.
The silk or milk-weed furnishes abundant nectar from June to frost, as
there are several species of the genus Asclepias, which is wide-spread
in our country. This is the plant which has large pollen masses which
often adhere to the legs of bees (Fig. 87), and sometimes so entrap
them as to cause their death. Prof. Riley once very graciously advised
planting them to kill bees. I say graciously, as I have watched these
very closely, and am sure they do little harm, and are rich in nectar.
Seldom a bee gets caught so as to hold it long, and when these awkward
masses are carried away with the bee, they are usually left at the door
of the hive, where I have often seen them in considerable numbers. The
river bank hard by our apiary is lined with these sweet-smelling herbs,
and we would like even more.
[Illustration: Fig. 87.--_Pollen of Milk-weed._]
[Illustration: Fig. 88.--_Black Mustard._]
Black mustard, _Sinapis nigra_ (Fig. 88) white mustard, _Sinapis
alba_, and rape, _Brassica campestris_ (Fig. 89), all look much alike,
and are all admirable bee plants, as they furnish much and beautiful
honey. The first, if self-sown, blooms July 1st, the others June 1st;
the first about eight weeks after sowing, the others about four. The
mustards bloom for four weeks, rape for three. These are all specially
commendable, as they may be made to bloom during the honey dearth of
July and August, and are valuable plants to raise for the seed. Rape
seems to be very attractive to insects, as the flea beetles and the
blister beetles are often quite too much for it, though they do not
usually destroy the plants till after they have blossomed. I have
several times purchased what purported to be Chinese mustard, dwarf and
tall, but Prof. Beal, than whom there is no better authority, tells
me they are only the white and black, and certainly, they are no whit
better as bee plants. These plants, with buckwheat, the mints, borage
and mignonette, are specially interesting, as they cover, or may be
made to cover, the honey dearth from about July 20th to August 20th.
[Illustration: Fig. 89.--_Rape._]
The mustards and rape may be planted in drills about eight inches
apart, any time from May 1st to July 15th. Four quarts will sow an
acre.
[Illustration: Fig. 90.--_Tulip_]
In this month blooms the tulip tree, _Liriodendron tulipifera_
(Fig. 90)--often called poplar in the South--which is not only an
excellent honey producer, but is one of our most stately and admirable
shade-trees. Now, too, bloom the sumacs, though one species blooms in
May, the wild plum, the raspberries, whose nectar is unsurpassed in
color and flavor, and the blackberry. Corn, too, is said by many to
yield largely of honey as well as pollen, and the teasel, _Dipsacus
fullonum_ (Fig. 91), is said, not only by Mr. Doolittle, but by English
and German apiarists, to yield richly of beautiful honey. This last,
too, has commercial importance. The blackberry opens its petals in
June, and also the fragrant locust, which, from its rapid growth,
beautiful form and handsome foliage, would rank among our first shade
trees, except that it is so tardy in spreading its canopy of green, and
so liable to ruinous attack by the borers, which last peculiarity it
shares with the incomparable maples. Washing the trunks of the trees in
June and July with soft soap, will in great part remove this trouble.
[Illustration: Fig. 91.--_Teasel._]
[Illustration: Fig. 92.--_Cotton._]
Now, too, our brothers of the South reap a rich harvest from the
great staple, cotton (Fig. 92), which commences to bloom early in
June, and remains in blossom even to October. This belongs to the
same family--Mallow--as the hollyhock, and like it, blooms and fruits
through the season.
JULY PLANTS.
Early in this month opens the far-famed basswood or linden, _Tilia
Americana_ (Fig. 93), which, for the profusion and quality of its honey
has no superior. The tree, too, from its great spreading top and fine
foliage, is magnificent for shade. Five of these trees are within two
rods of my study window, and their grateful fragrance, and beautiful
form and shade, have often been the subject of remark by visitors.
[Illustration: Fig. 93.--_Basswood._]
Figwort, _Scrophularia nodosa_ (Fig. 94), often called rattle-weed, as
the seeds will rattle in the pod, and carpenter's square, as it has
a square stalk, is an insignificant looking weed, with inconspicuous
flowers, that afford abundant nectar from the middle of July till
frost. I have received almost as many for identification as I have of
the asters and golden-rods. Prof. Beal remarked to me a year or two
since, that it hardly seemed possible that it could be so valuable.
We cannot always rightly estimate by appearances alone. It is a very
valuable plant to be scattered in waste places.
[Illustration: Fig. 94.--_Figwort._]
That beautiful and valuable honey plant, from Minnesota, Colorado, and
the Rocky Mountains, cleome, or the Rocky Mountain bee-plant, _Cleome
integrifolia_ (Fig. 96), if self-sown, or sown early in spring, blooms
by the middle of July, and lasts for long weeks. Nor can anything be
more gay than these brilliant flowers, alive with bees all through the
long fall. This should be planted in fall or spring, in drills two feet
apart, the plants six inches apart in the drills. The seeds, which grow
in pods, are very numerous, and are said to be valuable for chickens.
Now, too, commence to bloom the numerous eupatoriums, or bonesets, or
thoroughworts (Fig. 97), which fill the marshes of our country, and
the hives as well, with their rich golden nectar--precursors of that
profusion of bloom of this composite order, whose many species are
even now budding in preparation for the sea of flowers which will deck
the marsh-lands of August and September. Wild bergamot, too, _Monarda
fistulosa_, which, like the thistles, is of importance to the apiarist,
blooms in July.
[Illustration: Fig. 95.--_Button Bush._]
[Illustration: Fig. 96.--_Rocky Mountain Bee-Plant._]
The little shrub of our marshes, appropriately named button-bush,
_Cephalanthus occidentalis_, (Fig. 95), also shares the attention
of the bees with the linden; while apiarists of the South find the
sour-wood, or sorrel tree, _Oxydendrum arboreum_, a valuable honey
tree. This belongs to the Heath family, which includes the far-famed
heather bloom of England. It also includes our whortleberry, cranberry,
blueberry, and one plant which has no enviable reputation, as
furnishing honey, which is very poisonous, even fatal to those who eat,
the mountain laurel, _Kalmia latifolia_. Yet, a near relative of the
South _Andromeda nitida_, is said to furnish beautiful and wholesome
honey in great quantities. The Virginia creeper also blooms in July.
I wish I could say that this beautiful vine, transplendent in autumn,
is a favorite with the honey-bee. Though it often, nay always, swarms
with wild bees when in blossom, yet I never saw a honey-bee visit the
ample bloom amidst its rich, green, vigorous foliage. Now, too, the
St. John's wort, _Hypericum_, with its many species, both shrubby and
herbaceous, offers bountiful contributions to the delicious stores of
the honey-bee. The catnip, too, _Nepeta cataria_, and our cultivated
asparagus--which if uncut in spring will bloom in June--so delectable
for the table, and so elegant for trimming table meats and for banquets
in autumn, come now to offer their nectarian gifts.
[Illustration: Fig. 97.--_Boneset._]
AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER PLANTS.
The cultivated buckwheat, _Fagopyrum esculentum_, (Fig. 98), usually
blooms in August, as it is sown the first of July--three pecks per
acre is the amount to sow--but by sowing the first of June, it may be
made to bloom the middle of July, when there is generally, in most
localities, an absence of nectar-secreting flowers. The honey is
inferior in color and flavor, though some people prefer this to all
other honey. The silver-leaf buckwheat blooms longer, has more numerous
flowers, and thus yields more grain than the common variety.
Now, too, come the numerous golden-rods. The species of this genus,
_Solidago_ (Fig. 99), in the Eastern United States, number nearly
two-score, and occupy all kinds of soils, and are at home on upland,
prairie and morass. They yield abundantly of rich, golden honey, with
flavor that is unsurpassed by any other. Fortunate the apiarist who can
boast of a thicket of Solidagoes in his locality.
[Illustration: Fig. 98.--_Buckwheat._]
[Illustration: Fig. 99.--_Golden-Rod._]
[Illustration: Fig. 100.--_Aster._]
The many plants usually styled sun-flowers, because of their
resemblance to our cultivated plants of that name, which deck the
hill-side, meadow and marsh-land, now unfurl their showy involucres,
and open their modest corollas, to invite the myriad insects to sip
the precious nectar which each of the clustered flowers secretes. Our
cultivated sun-flowers, I think, are indifferent honey plants, though
some think them big with beauty, and their seeds are relished by
poultry. But the asters (Fig. 100), so wide-spread, the beggar-ticks,
_Bidens_, and Spanish-needles of our marshes, the tick-seed,
_Coreopsis_, also, of the low, marshy places, with hundreds more of
the great family Compositæ, are replete with precious nectar, and with
favorable seasons make the apiarist who dwells in their midst jubilant,
as he watches the bees, which fairly flood the hives with their rich
and delicious honey. In all of this great family, the flowers are small
and inconspicuous, clustered in compact heads, and when the plants are
showy with bloom, like the sun-flowers, the brilliancy is due to the
involucre, or bracts which serve as a frill to decorate the more modest
flowers.
I have thus mentioned the most valuable honey plants of our country.
Of course there are many omissions. Let all apiarists, by constant
observation, help to fill up the list.
BOOK ON BOTANY.
I am often asked what books are best to make apiarists botanists. I am
glad to answer this question, as the study of botany will not only be
valuable discipline, but will also furnish abundant pleasure, and more,
give important practical information. Gray's Lessons, and Manual of
Botany, in one volume, published by Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Co.,
New York, is the most desirable treatise on this subject.
PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS.
It will pay well for the apiarist to decorate his grounds with soft and
silver maples, for their beauty and early bloom. If his soil is rich,
sugar maples and lindens may well serve a similar purpose. The Judas
tree, too, and tulip trees, both North and South, may well be made to
ornament the apiarist's home. For vines, obtain the wistarias.
Sow and encourage the sowing of Alsike clover and silver-leaf buckwheat
in your neighborhood. Be sure that your wife, children and bees, can
often repair to a large bed of the new giant or grandiflora mignonette,
and remember that it, with cleome and borage, blooms till frost.
Study the bee plants of your region, and then study the above table,
and provide for a succession, remembering that the mustards, rape
and buckwheat may be made to bloom almost at pleasure, by sowing
at the proper time. Don't forget that borage and the mustards seem
comparatively indifferent to wet weather. Be sure that all waste places
are stocked with motherwort, catnip, asters, etc. (See Appendix, page
289).
The above dates are only true for the most part in Michigan and
Northern Ohio, and for more Southern latitudes must be varied, which by
comparison of a few, as the fruit trees, becomes no difficult matter.