29 
catnip, balm, sage, thyme, etc., when allowed to blossom, nearly all yield 
honey in June, July, or August. Where fields of them are grown for 
the seed the honey yield may be considerable from this source. 
Alfalfa furnishes in the West a large amount of very fine honey dur- 
ing June and July. Its importance there as a forage crop is well 
known, but how far eastward its cultivation may be profitably extended 
is still a question, and even should it prove of value in the East asa 
forage plant, its honey-producing qualities there would be still 
uncertain. 
Parsnips, when left for seed, blossom freely from June to August, 
inclusive, and are much frequented by honey bees. 
Peppermint, raised for its foliage, from which oil is distilled, is most 
frequently cut before the bees derive much benefit from it, but when- 
ever allowed to blossom it is eagerly sought after by them, and yields 
honey freely during July and August. 
Bokhara, or sweet clover, is in some sections of the country consid- 
ered a valuable forage crop. Animals can be taught to like it, and it 
is very valuable as a restorer of exhausted lime soils, while in regions 
lacking in bee pasturage during the summer months it is a very 
important addition. It withstands drought remarkably well and yields 
a large quantity of fine honey. 
Cucumber, squash, pumpkin, and melon blossoms furnish honey and 
some pollen to the bees in July and August. 
Eucalypti, valuable for their timber and as ornaments to lawn and 
roadside, are quick-growing trees adapted to the southern portions of 
the United States. They yield much honey between July and October. 
The carob tree, whose cultivation has been commenced in the South- 
west, is an excellent honey yielder in latesummer. It isan ornamental 
tree and gives, in addition to honey, another valuable product—the 
carob bean of commerce. 
Sacaline, a forage and ornamental plant of recent introduction, is a 
great favorite with bees. It blossoms profusely during August, is a 
hardy perennial, and thrives in wet and also fairly in dry situations, 
withstanding the ordinary summer drought of the Eastern States 
because of its deeply penetrating roots. 
Buckwheat is an important honey and pollen producer. Its blossoms 
appear about four weeks after the seed is sown, hence it may be made 
to fill in a summer dearth of honey plants. 
HOW TO OBTAIN SURPLUS HONEY AND WAX. 
Good wintering, followed by careful conservation of the natural 
warmth of the colony, the presence of a prolific queen—preferably a 
young one—with abundant stores for brood rearing, are, together with 
the prevention, in so far as possible, of swarming, the prime conditions 
necessary to bring a colony of bees to the chief honey flow in shape to 
59 
