1 1 6 Trails to Woods and Waters 



first spring wild flowers. Her keen sense of 

 smell probably takes her far afield in the early 

 spring before flowering has really begun. The 

 lilac, and all the cultivated flowers she spies 

 out, but it is not until the new grass is a few 

 inches high, and the heads of the white clover 

 appear that the honey flow can be said to have 

 begun. 



From then on, the honey-bee is a free- 

 booter. All the floral world is hers, and she 

 claims her own wherever she finds it. Dis- 

 turb this robber and sacker of your orchards 

 and fields if you dare. She will defend her 

 right to all trees, shrubs and plants that bloom 

 and you will not long dispute titles with 

 her. 



If the honey-bee could only gather honey 

 from the red clover! This is the bee-keeper's 

 zenith of hope, but the long heads of the red 

 clover, which contain much more of the deli- 

 cious sweet than do the shorter heads of the 

 white, are not for the honey-bee. Nature has 

 made her with too short a tongue to reach this 

 treasure, so the bumble-bee and the butterfly 



