198 HOW TO KEEP BEES 



ornamental trees and it gives a great amount of 

 dark, rich honey. In New York it blossoms in May 

 and June and, like the locusts, is a great help to the 

 bees after the fruit-bloom is over. This is a common 

 tree in the woods of the South and is not rare in 

 Northern forests. It should be planted even more 

 generally than it is at present, for the sake of the 

 bees. 



The basswood, of all honey-producing trees, is 

 the most important and most beloved by the bees. 

 It blooms in July and only for a brief season; there- 

 fore, it is important that the colonies be strong and 

 able to make the most of these few precious days of 

 harvest. Basswood honey has a strong flavour 

 when first gathered. But after it is ripened and 

 sealed it has a delightful flavour. The way our 

 forests have been stripped of basswood during the 

 past twenty-five years is nothing less than heart- 

 rending to the bee-keeper; for to him this tree ranks 

 next to the white clover in importance. Mr. Root 

 had a single colony take forty-three pounds of honey 

 in three days from basswood, and Mr. Doolittle had 

 a colony take sixty pounds in the same period. 

 The tree is beautifulp and might well be ,used for 

 shade along roadsides and also in ornamental plant- 

 ing. It grows rapidly; young trees, transplanted 

 from the woodland, blossom in five or six years 

 thereafter. No bee-keeper should allow the bass- 

 wood to be cut on his premises; and he should grow 

 as many young trees as possible. 



Other honey-producing trees of note are the sour- 



