November, 1916. 



373 



American Vae Journal 



Vul- 



can only say that each year I am get- 

 ting to be more of the opinion that it 

 would pay us to always give the two 

 shakes. 

 Markham, Ont. 



No. 22.— The Honey-Producing 

 Plants 



BY FRANK C. PELLETT. 

 {Ph(>toErat>hi bv the author.) 



ALL three of the pictures illustrating 

 this article were taken by the 

 writer during his recent visit to 

 Ontario. Figure 91, the first one shown 

 is the common hound's tongue, Cyno- 

 glossiim oflicinale, a weed introduced 

 from Europe. It is named from the 

 shape and texture of the leaf. The 

 writer had not previously met with this 

 plant, although it is recorded as of 

 rather infrequent occurrence in some 

 parts of Iowa. It was referred to as a 

 good honey plant on several occasions 

 during the stay in the province, but no 

 definite information as to the extent of 

 its value or the quality of the honey 

 yielded could be obtained. The speci- 

 men shown in the picture was growing 



in the woods near Guelph. It was also 

 found growing in open fields. Memoir 

 54 of the Canadian Geographical Sur- 

 vey gives its habitat as " open ground 

 near dwellings, cultivated fields and 

 open woods." The plant seems to be 

 more abundant in the north from New 

 England to Quebec and Ontario, al- 

 though it is sometimes found as far 

 south as Alabama and Georgia and is 

 recorded as far west as Kansas. It is 

 said to be common throughout the 

 State of Maryland in "dry forests and 

 waste situations." The writer will wel- 

 come correspondence from beekeepers 

 who can give information in regard to 

 the quality of honey stored from this 

 source or whether it ever secretes nec- 

 tar in sufficient abundance to be of 

 special value. 



WILD RASPBERRY. 



The wild black raspberry, Jiubus occi- 

 dentalis, is a very common plant in the 

 woods of the northeastern States. 

 Mohr gives its natural range as New 

 England to Quebec and Ontario, Min- 

 nesota, Nebraska, Colorado and Ore- 

 gon, south to Ohio and West Virginia, 

 and along the mountains of Georgia." 



There are several species of wild 



raspberries, but probably all are good 

 honey producers. Raspberry honey is 

 produced extensively in northern 

 Michigan where the plant is abundant 

 on cut over lands. It blooms following 

 the tree fruits and is usually ahead of 

 the white clover. In localities where 

 it is plentiful it is a most valuable 

 honey plant and phenomenal yields 

 have sometimes been reported from 

 this source. A good raspberry loca- 

 tion is very desirable. Beekeepers who 

 chance to be near large plantations of 

 raspberries cultivated for market are 

 equally fortunate. The honey is said 

 to be white and of a superior quality. 

 Figure 92 shows a luxuriant growth of 

 wild raspberry as it is found in many 

 localities in Ontario. 



HAWTHORN. 



Figure 93 pictures a hawthorn tree 

 in full bloom. The picture does not 

 do justice to the masses of white flow- 

 ers with which the tree was covered. 

 This is an eastern species, Crati^gus 

 func/ata, which occurs from Quebec 

 to Ontario and south to Georgia. It 

 was about the middle of June when 

 this picture was taken and the bees 

 were working on these trees every- 

 where we went. Clover had not begun 

 to yield to any extent and the thorn 

 was a great boost to the bees wherever 

 it was plentiful. 



There are many different species of 

 hawthorn, or haw, some of which oc- 

 cur in Europe and Asia as well as in 

 North America. On this continent 

 some species are common from Canada 

 to Mexico and west to the treeless 

 plains. Scholl reports the whitethorn, 

 CrattFgus spatltidata, as valuable for 

 both honey and pollen in Texas, where 

 it blooms in April. There are about 25 

 species of these trees within the United 

 States, and all may be regarded as val- 

 uable sources of honey where they are 

 sufficiently plentiful. In general they 

 may be regarded as similar to the tree 

 fruits in quality and quantity of nectar. 

 Five species are known to occur in 

 Ontario. 



Atlantic, Iowa. 

 Copyright: 1Q16. by Frank C. Pellett. 



FIG. M.-A HAWTHORN TREE IN BLOOM 



Beekeeping in Ontario 



BY GEORGE F. KINGSMILL. 



ELSEWHERE in this number ap- 

 pears an article dealing with some 

 of Ontario's most prominent bee- 

 keepers. Space permits mentioning 

 the names of but few. yet there are 

 many beekeepers in Ontario having 

 honey production as their chief means 

 of support. Hundreds of others keep 

 bees as a sideline, and many others have 

 their colonies for their hobbies. It is 

 concerning the hundreds of farmer bee- 

 keepers, with honey as a sideline, that 

 I want to write especially. 



Their apiaries are dotted all over the 

 province, from the most southern part 

 of Essex to the waters of James Bay 

 some hundreds of miles north, and 

 from the eastern counties Glengarry 

 and Stormont to the western boundary, 

 a few hundred miles west. 



Practically all parts of the province 

 have suitable acreages for bee-pastur- 

 age, some of which are, of course, 

 much better than others. Especially 



