176 AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 



Rose mallow, swamp mallow, late July-early September. 



Burdock, July-November. 



Spanish needle, mid-August into October. 



Heartsease, smartweed or blackheart, August-September. 



Heath aster, white aster or St. Michaelmas daisy, late August-mid-Oc- 

 tober. 



Bushy goldenrod, late August-mid-October. 



Buckwheat, early August. 



Surplus Honey Regions 



We may divide the State of New Jersey into three sections on the 

 basis of surplus honey production. 



The first section includes all of the southern and middle counties and 

 the southern part of Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon. As a rule, 

 the surplus honey in this district comes from clover. There are, of course, 

 occasional places, such as low-lying land along large streams where a sec- 

 ond flow is harvested in late summer and early autumn. 



The second district includes all north of the first, with the exception 

 of Hudson County and a part of Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Union. In this 

 district there are generally two distinct, heavy honey flows, the first from 

 clover and the last from buckwheat and fall flowers, such as goldenrod, 

 aster, etc. 



The third division, which roughly includes the Passaic and Hacken- 

 sack Valleys, and the Raritan Valley below New Brunswick, rarely produces 

 any surplus honey except in the fall, and that comes from goldenrod, aste^ 

 and mallows. 



The presence or absence of a single kind of plant will often decide 

 whether the fall flow will be worth consideration. This principle applies 

 more particularly to the second district. Should the amount of buckwheat 

 sown be very small in some parts of this region the fall surplus would be 

 missing. In certain parts of this second district white sweet clover is 

 found in great abundance and furnishes surplus throughout the late sum- 

 mer and early fall. — Elmer G. Carr, Manual of Bee Husbandry. 



NEW JERSEY TEA or RED-ROOT (Ceanothus americanus). 



New Jersey tea grows from one to three feet high from c. dark red 

 root, hence the name "red-root." It is a shrubby plant with flowers in 

 white clusters. The leaves were used for tea during the revolutionary 

 war. It is common in woodlands from Ontario to Manitoba and south 

 to Arkansas, Texas and Florida. 



It is not often mentioned as a source of honey, but according to H. B. 

 Parks, is regarded as valuable in northwestern Missouri. (See Mountain 

 lilac.) 



NEW MEXICO— Honey Sources of. 



Alfalfa is the chief source of surplus honey in the irrigated regions 

 of New Mexico. There are some districts where the bloom of orchard 

 fruits is important, especially for spring stimulation. The desert flora 

 offers a wide variety of minor sources, with a few of surplus importance. 



