ROBBING. 



388 ROCKY-MOUNTAIN BEE-PLANT. 



'\ 



them would have been ruined. We had got 

 very nervous and fidgety, and,when we found 

 the whole performance repeated the next day, 

 we began to think bee culture a very trying 

 l)ursuit. Well, in due course of time we fig- 

 ured out that there was no robbing at all, but 

 that it was just the young bees taking their 

 afternoon playspell. 



ROCKY - MOUNTAIN BEE - PLANT 



( Cleome integrifolia). This is a beautiful plant 

 for the flower - garden, to say nothing of 

 the honey it produces. It grows from two 

 to three feet in height, and bears large clus- 

 ters of bright pink flowers, as shown in the 

 cut. 



A near relative of the Spider-plant, it 

 grows naturally on the Rocky Mountains 

 and in Colorado, where it is said to furnish 

 large quantities of honey. Although it suc- 

 ceeds easily under cultivation we can not 

 learn that it has ever been a pecuniary suc- 

 cess in our locality. With this, as well as 

 all other plants, it must be borne in mind 

 that a fair test would require acres instead 

 of little patches in the garden. 



The engraving was copied from a larger- 

 sized picture, in Prof. Cook's " Manual of 

 the Apiary." During the season of 1879 we 

 had a number of the plants growing in our 

 honey-garden. It was, however, so much 

 inferior in looks, as well as in the amount of 

 honey produced, to the spider-plant, that 

 we did not take the pains to save any of 

 the seed. The two plants very much resem- 

 ble each other, but the latter is a much 

 stronger and finer-looking plant, and has a 

 rank luxuriance of growth that the Rocky- 

 Mountain bee-plant la'^k'^. 



The Michigan Agricultural College exper- 

 imented, in 1891, with several acres of the 

 plant, for the sole purpose of testing its 

 honey-producing qualities. They found it 

 exceedingly difficult, however, to get a good 

 stand of plants. In fact, we dc) not know how 



KOCKY-MOUNTAIN BE -PLANT. 



a perfect stand can be obtained without 

 transplanting; and as this makes the ex- 

 pense equivalent to a field of cabbages or 

 strawberries, of course the honey produced 

 (lid not come anywhere near paying ex- 

 penses. 



ROYAL JELLY. See Anatomy of the 

 Bee ; also Queens. 



