346 



October, 1915. 



American Hee Journal 



known as lion's tail. 



Figure 17 shows the blossoms and 

 leaves, and Fig. 48 a clump of the 

 plants. 



GERMANDER OR WOOD SAGE. 



The germander, Teucrium caiia 

 dense, also known as wood sage, is 

 found in open woodlands and thickets 

 from Nova Scotia to Nebraska, and 

 south to Florida and Texas. It is com- 



FIG.47-MOTHERWORT IN BLOOM 



mon in the central States, and is much 

 sought by the bees. The blooming 

 period is long. This season (1915) the 

 bees have been working on this plant 

 in the writer's wild garden for nearly 

 two months, and at this writing (Sep- 

 tember) are still visiting it. Appar- 

 ently the plant does not secrete nectar 

 very freely, yet it is an excellent plant 

 to keep the bees at work when they 

 might otherwise be robbing. The 

 writer does not recall ever having seen 

 a locality where it was sufficiently abun- 

 dant to amount to very much by itself, 

 though it is a valuable addition to the 

 other honey-producing flora. Figure 



49 shows the blossom and leaves which 

 bear some resemblance to catnip. 



VERVAIN OR VERBENA. 



There are about 16 species of ver- 

 benas iri North America, and several 

 of them are widely distributed. Figure 



50 shows the blue vervain, J'erbena 

 heistata, which is found from Nova 

 Scotia to Quebec and Manitoba, south 

 to Arkansas, New Mexico and Califor- 

 nia, and on the east south to Georgia. 

 This particular species is usually found 

 in lowlands, along streams, etc. Rich- 

 ter, in his "Honey Plants of Califor- 

 nia," mentions another species. Verbena 

 pi-oslrata, as yielding considerable 

 honey in some localities in that State. 

 In Iowa the hoary vervain, I'erberia 

 stricta, is v ;ry common in upland pas- 

 tures, especially over the north half of 

 the State, and reports of surplus honey 

 from this source are not uncommon. 



Mr. SchoU reports Veibena xutlia as 

 yielding sparingly in Texas. While in 

 the main the vervains can hardly be 

 regarded as important honey plants, in 

 limited localities some species are very 



valuable sources of nectar. Mr. S. W. 

 Snyder, secretary of the Iowa Beekeep- 

 ers' Association, reports the blue ver- 

 vain as quite valuable in his locality, 

 some years furnishing a surplus. 



MILKWEED. 



The milkweeds, Asclepias, are a large 

 family of plants common to the tem- 

 perate and tropical regions of many 

 parts of the world. North America 

 alone has 55 recognized species. These 

 plants are also known as butterfly 

 weeds and silkweeds. The blossoms 

 are borne in large ball-shaped clusters 

 as shown in Fig. 51. The seeds are 

 attached to silken parachutes on which 

 they are carried by the wind. It is 

 these silky attachments that give rise 

 to the name "silkweed." Remarkable 

 yields of honey are sometimes reported 

 from milkweeds. An average yield of 

 100 pounds per colony from this source 

 is occasionally reported through the 

 bee journals. 



Much has been written about the en- 

 tangling of bees in the pollen masses 

 of milkweed. It frequently happens 

 that bees thus entangled are unable to 

 free themselves and die as a result. 

 Some species of milkweed is included 

 in nearly every list of honey plants 

 which the author has consulted. Ap- 

 parently it may be regarded as of some 

 value almost everywhere. The honey 

 is said to be light in color and of good 

 quality. 



DOGBANE {Apocynum). 



When not in bloom the dogbane re- 

 sembles the milkweed, and is generally 

 called milkweed. There are several 

 species found in Europe, temperate 

 Asia and North America. In the United 

 States there are two common species, 



J-ICi.48-CLUMP OK MOTHERWORT IN A BARNYARD 



FIG. 49-GERMANDER OR WOODSAGE 



