February, 1916. 



-^1^^^^-^ 



American Hee Journal t 



S. 50 pounds to the colony would not 

 be remarkable. — Illinois. 



7. I have produced better than 100 

 pounds average of comb — Illinoi.s. 



Frank Coverdale, of Iowa, the sweet 

 clover man, has his liOO colonies of 

 bees in one apiary. He harvested a 

 carload of comb honey in 11)15, most ot 

 which was from sweet clover. He has 

 170 acres of sweet clover on his own 

 place. 



Taken all in all these approximate 

 and actual yields are encouraging. 

 Even if we reduce the yield to that of 

 the lowest guesser, 50 pounds would 

 be no mean crop when added to what 

 we already have, even if we had to do 

 without it some years. 



general characteristics of value. 



In the Central West, the white clover 

 crop ends the spring flow and there is 

 a lull until the fall crop. This lull may 

 be filled with sweet clover. As Miss 

 Emma M. Wilson, of Marengo, 111., 

 writes : "There has never been a time 

 when we have had to feed bees to keep 

 them going through the season since 

 sweet clover became important, al- 

 though we may have had to feed in the 

 spring or for winter. The advantage 

 shows more in poor than in good sea- 

 sons. It fills in the gap when other 

 things fail." 



Another thing mentioned by one or 

 two correspondents is that if sweet 

 clover is cut for hay before it blooms 

 in spring, the second crop blooms later 

 (not co-incident with white clover) and 

 continues to bloom until frost. Atmos- 

 pheric conditions seem to be a little 

 better, also in the late summer, and the 

 honey yield is noticeable. 



CONCLUSION. 



Proper growth of the plant and 

 proper atmospheric conditions are the 

 prime requisites for obtaining the best 

 honey crops with sweet clover. Warm, 

 sultry weather with plenty of moisture 

 in the ground for the plants tends 

 towards the heaviest yield. 



Sweet clover will not prove as good 



a honey yielder for the Central West, as 

 alfalfa is at present for the Rocky 

 Mountain States, principally because 

 we cannot control moisture. But when 

 sweet clover is grown generally 

 throughout any section of the country, 

 that section may be assured of a dis- 

 tinct addition to the honey flora, with 

 some good crops of this honey alone, 

 while absolute failures, with bees starv- 

 ing, though not absolutely provided 

 against, will be much more rare than 

 formerly. 

 Hamilton, 111. 



No. 14.— The Honey-Producing 

 Plants 



I 



BY FRANK C. PELLETT. 



N this number we turn aside from 

 the consideration of plants of the 

 northeastern States and will men- 

 tion a few of those familiar to the bee- 

 keepers of the great southwest. 



YIICCA. 



Over vast areas of the arid West there 

 is little for the bees. A few plants 

 withstand the long continued periods 

 of drouth even where there is no irri- 

 gation, and these add to the total pro- 

 duction of the apiaries in the irrigated 

 regions. Among the attractive plants 

 may be mentioned the yucca, also called 

 Spanish bayonet, Spanish dagger, Ad- 

 am's needle, mountain queen and Ro- 

 man candle. There are about a dozen 

 species, mostly from Dakota west to 

 the Pacific and southward. They are 

 common in Mexico and Central Amer- 

 ica. They are also to be found in the 

 sandy sections alongthe Atlantic coast 

 from North Carolina to Florida and 

 Louisiana. 



When in bloom the plant is very 

 ornamental. A single tall flower stalk 

 contains many large, white or cream 

 colored flowers. In many localities 

 where the plant does not grow wild, it 

 is grown for ornament as in Fig. 6(3, 



FIG.68-THE PRICKLY PEAR AS AN ORNAMENTAL PLANT 



Fig. 6g,— Flower of Prickly Pear 



which shows Hon. Eugene Secor ad- 

 miring a beautiful specimen that grows 

 on his grounds. 



In "Honey Plants of California," 

 Richter lists yucca luhifpUe as an im- 

 portant source of nectar, which in 

 localities where it is abundant yields 

 surplus. In that State its blooming 

 period is June and July. 



EUCALYPTUS. 



There are about 150 different species 

 of eucalyptus trees, most of which are 

 native to Australia and Tasmania, 

 where they are the most characteristic 

 and important timber trees. Many of 

 them secrete resinous gums, hence are 

 called "gum trees." A number of com- 

 mercial products are derived from them. 

 They have been widely introduced into 

 California, and, to some extent, also 

 into Florida, Texas and other southern 

 States. The various species are known 

 as sugar gum, blue gum, mahogany 

 gum, red gum, stringy bark, white iron- 

 bark, red box tree, and various similar 

 names. Richter lists 21 species as 

 yielding honey in California. Accord- 

 ing to this author there is a great varia- 

 tion in the quality of honey from the 

 different species. While some species 

 seem to yield water-white honey of 

 good quality, others produce an amber 

 product of low value. The blue gum, 

 Eiicalyttiis globulus, is said to produce 

 "Honey amber, of acid flavor, heavy 

 body and granulating within a few 

 months. The blue gum is very con- 

 stant in nectar secretion, even in spite 

 of unfavorable weather, and since it is 

 of wide distribution, considerable quan- 

 tities of honey come from this source. 

 On account of the pronounced flavor 

 of eucalyptus honey there is little or 

 no demand for it in retail trade." 



On the other hand, he describes 

 white ironbark, Eucaly/'tus leucoxylon, 

 " a great honey producer, with a beau- 

 tiful flavor much like vanilla e.xtract." 



Almost all of the honey seems to be 

 gathered from the sources which pro- 



