AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 



47 



when white clover and basswood are in bloom, bees will forsake the 

 borage for them. As cold weather begins to come, they swarm to the 

 borage. It is a good honey plant, when there are no plants of greater 

 importance in bloom." — Fisk Bangs, American Bee Journal, page 84, 

 1878. 



"In Practicher Wegweiser, page 280, Herr Willhelm says that in 

 response to the general cry, 'Sow borage,' he has been sowing it for 

 years and now has it in abundance. How the bees do hum upon it! 

 But, alas! now that he has it in such abundance that it shows its char- 

 acter in the surplus honey, he finds it such as no customer wants, and 

 says it is as black as a certain 'gentleman' with whom beekeepers do 

 not generally care to have dealings. The task of getting it now rooted 

 out is a difficult one." — American Bee Journal, page 103. 1908. 



BOX ELDER (Negundo aceroides or Acer negundo). 



The box elder, or ash-leaved maple, is a near relative of the maples, 



Blossoms of the bo.x elder 



and is sometimes included with them. Fig. 29 shows the staminate blos- 

 soms of box elder. As in the willows, the stamens are borne on one plant 

 and the pistils on another. 



The box elder is found from New England and Southern Canada west 



