OR, MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 439 



That beautiful and valuable honey-plant from Minnesota, 

 Colorado, and the Rocky Mountains, Cleome, or the Rocky 

 Mountain bee-plant (Cleome serrulata), (Fig-. 241), if self-sown, 

 or sown in the fall, blooms by the middle of July and lasts for 

 long weeks. Nor can anything^ be more gay than these bril- 

 liant flowers, alive with bees all through the long fall. While 

 this is a very valuable honey-plant in its native Colorado, it 

 gives little or no promise East. 



Fig. 243. 



Button-Ball. — Original. 



Now commence to bloom the numerous Eupatoriums, or 

 bonesets, or thoroughworts (Fig. 242), which fill the marshes 

 of our country, and the hives as well, with their rich, golden 

 nectar. These are precursors of that profusion of this com- 

 posite order, whose many species are even now budding, in 

 preparation for the sea of flowers which will deck the marsh- 

 lands of August and September. Wild bergamot (Monarda 

 fistulosa), which, like the thistles, is of importance to the api- 



