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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



December 



American Bee Journal (June 21, 1906) 

 concerning the sage as follows: 



"Chief among the honey-bearing mints are 

 the incomparable sages of California. These 

 are not excelled even by the clovers or linden. 

 The honey is white, delicate of flavor, and 

 must ever rank among the best in appearance 

 and quality. Not only this, but the quantity is 

 often phenomenal. This comes from the fact 

 that flowers are borne in long racemes or 



compact heads, and as the separated flowerets 

 do not bloom all at once, but in succession, the 

 plants are in bloom for weeks. The sages, 

 then, are marvelous honey producers, first, be- 

 cause of the generous secretions of each flow- 

 eret, and second, because of the immense num- 

 ber of these flowerets and the long period of 

 uioom." 



At another time Mr. Cook wrote 

 that the honey from all the sages is 

 so much alike that it would be indis- 

 tinguishable. (American Bee Journal, 

 Aug. 3, 1905). 



Richter, in his Honey Plants of 

 California, speaks of the white sage, 

 Salvia apiana, Jep., as "very common 

 on the dry plains toward the foot- 

 hills, and ascending these to about 

 3,000 feet." 



Writing in Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture, P. C. Chadwick describes a jour- 

 ney which he made in the San Ber- 

 nardino mountains with the intent 

 to find out the highest elevation at 

 which bloom could be found in suf- 

 ficient quantities to support bees. Up 

 to an elevation of 7,000 feet he found 

 white sage in abundance, and all alive 

 with bees. (Western Honey Bee, 

 Sept., 1914.) Richter gives its range 

 as common from Santa Barbara 

 county southward, blooming from 

 April to July. '"As abundant as the 

 Ijlack sage, but not as good a yielder, 

 nor has the honey as fine a flavor." 



Black sage. Salvia mellifera Greene, 

 also known as ball sage, or button 

 sage, is generally credited as being 

 the principal source of sag; hnncy, 

 most of the honey which goes 

 to market under name of white sage, 

 being produced from this plant. Quite 

 probably it is the best honey plant 

 on the Pacific Coast. Richter says of 

 it: "As a general rule every fifth 

 year an excellent crop is obtained, 

 and every third or fourth year a total 

 failure is experienced, the flow be- 

 ing dependent upon winter rai/ns, 

 with warm spring quite free from 

 cold winds and fog. When in bloom 

 a certain amount of warm weather is 

 required before it produces nectar." 



The range of black sage is given as 

 "Mt. Diablo, Los Trampas Ridge, near 

 Hayward, San Mateo county. Glen- 

 wood and Brieta, southward to 

 Southern California. April-May." 

 Jepson. "Coast ranges and ascend- 

 ing to 5,000 feet in the San Bernar- 

 dino mountains. March to June. San 

 Diego County, February to May." 



Mr. J. E. Pleasants, of Orange, Cali- 

 fornia, writing in American Bee Jour- 

 nal (June, 1914), describes the peculi- 

 arities of the sages, as follows : 



"The black sage is king of them all. When 

 climatic conditions are favorable I think black 

 sage can be relied upon to produce more 'gilt 

 edge' than any other plant in the West, and 

 lor body and flavor it is hard to excel. It 

 blooms for weeks. The blossom is small and 

 inconspicuous, but what a flow of nectar ii 

 can yield. 



"The white sage is a much prettier plant. 

 Its soft, giey leaves and tall blossom spikes 

 make it quite showy, while its pleasing aro- 

 matic odor breathes the very essence of wild 

 perfumes. But this queenly plant is much 

 more inconstant than its plainer sister. Some 



years it produces a good harvest, others very 

 light. 



"The silver, or purple sage, which has sil- 

 very leaves and brilliant light purple blossoms, 

 is usually a good producer, but is much re- 

 stricted as to locality." 



The purple sage Salvia leucophylla, 

 also called white-leaved sage, or silver 

 sage, is reported as a good yielder, al- 

 though not as abundant as either of 

 the foregoing species. The Richter 

 catalogue gives the range as occa- 

 sional in the foothills of the Santa 

 Monica and San Fernando mountains, 

 April to July, and from San Luis 

 Obispo to San Diego counties and not 

 extending inland beyond the coast 

 ranges. 



Sah'ia amabilis, loving sage, is re- 

 ported from Santa Barbara March- 

 June, but probably not important. 



Salvia carduacca, thistle or annual 

 sage. "Inner coast range valleys, and 

 throughout the San Joaquin valley, 

 Southern California, June." Jepson. 

 "A well-known honey plant." Richter. 



Salvia ^columbariac, annual sage. 



"Throughout the coast ranges, Sierra 

 Nevada and Southern California, on 

 hill and mountain slopes." Jepson. 



Salvia sonomensis,, Greene, creeping 

 sage. "Montana species at middle 

 altitudes. Ramona mountains west 

 of Calistoga, Mt. Shasta, Calaveras 

 and Mariposa counties, San Diego 

 County. May." Jepson. "Also June, 

 Sierra foothills from Sierra to Inyo 

 counties, main source of honey in 

 many districts." Richter 



Concerning the regularity of yield 

 from sage, Mr. P. C. Chadwick wrote 

 in Gleanings in Bee Culture (Jan. 1, 

 1911), as follows: 



"South of the Tehachapi Mountains lies 

 practically the entire sage of our State, not- 

 withstanding eastern people and many of our 

 westerners term every form of small growth 

 on the vast slopes of the Rocky Mountains 

 "sage brush.' 'There is no denying that the 

 button (or black) sage is, of all honey plants, 

 our chief surplus producer. Neither does it 

 average a crop more often than every other 

 year, regardless of rainfall; for it seems neces- 

 sary, from its semi-arid nature, to be dried 

 out or rested before it comes back to its prime 

 yielding condition. I have seen it return 



BLACK SAOL, 



THK FINEST HONEY PLANT ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 

 (Photograph Dy Homer Mathewson.) 



