THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 1Z 



Others. The magazine is pubHshed exckisively in their in- 

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 An order for subscriptions accompanied by a check that costs 

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BOOKS AND WRITERS 



It has been estimated that there are nearly eighteen hun- 

 dred species of American plants which afford food for the 

 bees. A large number, of course, are of small importance and 

 serve merely to keep the bees busy when the plants which yield 

 the main supply of nectar are out of bloom. Among the plants 

 most important to the apiculturist are white clover, alsike 

 clover, buckwheat, basswood, sweet clover, cotton, alfalfa, 

 raspberry, milkweed, goldenrod, mesquite, cat-claw, and cat- 

 nip. When the honey flow is good, the bees perform almost 

 incredible labors. Cases are recorded in which single hives 

 have gathered 72 pounds of honey in four days and a single 

 colony is reported to have gathered 251 pounds of honey in 

 twenty-one days. Nectar, however, is not the only substance 

 that bees derive from flowers. The pollen is gathered from 

 many species and the bees are just as likely to suffer from a 

 lack of pollen as from a lack of nectar. For the apiarist to be 

 successful, therefore, he must know considerable about the 

 plants of his region. It is possible for a hive to secure enough 

 nectar to carry on their affairs from almost any region, but if 

 the bees are to return a profit to their owner, the item of bee 

 pasture is an important one. In view of these facts, Frank C. 

 Pellett, one of the editors of the American Bee Journal, has 

 brought together in an interesting book all the honey plants 



