AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 225 



"The magazine 'L'Al)eille de I'Aube,' in its August number quotes 

 the different assertions which were made upon the subject since then 

 in Europe. 



"Mr. Bonnier came back with the assertion that the bees were 

 only hunting pollen, for, according to him, there is no nectar in roses. 



"Joan Ruppin, of Fountenay-Aux-Roses, saw his bees take pollen 

 on the roses, but never any nectar. 



"A. Martinet saw the bees often on the crimson ramblers and on 

 other similar roses, never on the double flowers. 



"Mr. Pitrat believes they find both nectar and pollen on the simple 

 flowers. 



"Louis Rosseil, Consul of Belgium in Athens, says that in the Island 

 of Eubia, the bees work upon fields of roses and produce a whit^ honey 

 much esteemed." — American Bee Journal, October, 1912. 

 Beekeepers in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and on the Pacific 

 Coast report that their bees get honey from roses. 



ROSIN WEED, see Cup Plant, also Gum Weed. 

 ROYAL PALM, see Palm. 

 RUBUS, see Raspberry. 

 RUDBECKIA, see Coneflower. 

 RUSSIAN OLIVE, see Oleaster. 



SABAL, see Palmetto. 



SAGE (Salvia). 



When sage is mentioned, we of the east are likelj^ to think of the 

 common garden sage (Salvia officinalis), which for at least three centuries 

 has been cultivated for its aromatic leaves. Of this there are several 

 varieties, some with broad and some with narrow leaves. The garden 

 sages are good honey plants, but seldom sufficiently abundant to amount 

 to much as honey producers. The honey from the garden sage is said to 

 be nice and white like that from catnip or motherwort. 



The name sage is derived from its supposed power to make people 

 wise by strengthening the memory, for which it was used in ancient medi- 

 cme. 



There are upwards of five hundred species of sages, widely distributed 

 in the temperate and v/armer regions of both hemispheres. Probably most 

 of the species yield honey, although but few are known to be important, 

 kayment mentions the wild sage (Salvia verbenacea) as introduced into 

 Australia from Europe, but now yielding honey during the dry months 

 of the year. (Money in bees in Australasia.) There are more than two 

 hundred species knowm to occur in Mexico and Central America and it is 

 very probable that when beekeeping is developed on a commercial scale in 

 those countries, the sages will be found to be very important honey plants. 



