244 AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 



il furnishes from one-third to one-half of Butte County, California's honey 

 crop, an average of about sixty tons. Concerning the plant he writes as 

 follows : 



"Star thistle begins to bloom about the first of July and continues 

 till frost, which usually comes between October 1 and November 1. 

 The yield of nectar is slow but continuous. If it is stopped by drought 

 it will start yielding nectar again after a rain. The plant has the fac- 

 ulty of existing in arid soils for long periods of drought, and when 

 apparently dried up, it will start to grow and blossom after a rain. 

 Some cattle growers find that thistle hay can be fed profitably when 

 cut and dried like other hay, if it is moistened before feeding. The 

 dampening of the fodder takes the sting out of the leaves and blos- 

 soms. 



"Star-thistle honey is heavy-bodied, white, almost cloying in its 

 sweetness as orange, and has a greenish yellow tinge, like olive oil. 

 It is considered by large buyers equal in quality to any white honey in 

 the State, and with the price at two cents a pound more than light 

 amber of the alfalfa type, and still rising, beemen in northern Cali- 

 fornia should worry." 



Richter lists Napa-thistle or tocalote (Centaurea melitensis) as yield- 

 ing light amber honey of good flavor and fair body in Sacramento County, 

 from May 15 to June 15. It is regarded as a bad weed and is abundant 

 everywhere in fields and pastures. Like the foregoing, it has been dissem- 

 inated with seed grain and grass seed. According to Richter, it does not 

 yield nectar in southern California. Scholl lists American knapweed (Cen- 

 taurea Americana) as not important in Texas. 



STICKLEAF, see Mentzelia. 



STICK-TIGHT, see Spanish Needle. 



STINKING CLOVER, see Rocky Mountain Bee Plant. 



STINKWEED, see Jackass Clover. 



STONECROP (Sedum pulchellum). 



Stonecrop is common from Virginia to Arkansas and south to Georgia. 

 It is abundant in many localities and is reported to be a valuable honey 

 plant in the South. 



STORK'S BILL, see Pin Clover. 



STRAWBERRY (Fragaria). 



The wild strawberries are seldom sufficiently abundant to be of much 

 value to the bees, but the cultivated varieties are grown in large planta- 

 tions and are the source of both pollen and nectar. They bloom in early 

 spring, for the most part, although some of the everbearing varieties con- 

 tinue to blossom through the summer. Strawberries, like most other 

 fruits are of principal value to stimulate early brood rearing. 



The bees are very important to the strawberry growers, as many va- 

 rieties of strawberries are not self-pollinating or are deficient in stamens. 

 The bees carry the pollen from the staminate blossoms to the pistils of the 

 incomplete flowers. 



STRINGY BARK, see Eucalyptus. 



