MILKWEED 



75 



attractive to the honey-bee, it is widely reported as a source of 

 honey. Monarda punctata is the best of the horsemints for honey. 

 Milkweed (Asclepias). — The milkweeds, also called butter- 

 fly weeds and silkweeds, are widely distributed on both hemis- 

 pheres. About eighty-five species are recorded. Although the 



Fig. 39. — The horsemints are valuable over a large scope of country. 



milkweeds secrete considerable nectar and in favorable seasons 

 considerable honey is the result, they are not generally favored 

 by the bee-keepers because of the fact that bees sometimes become 

 entangled in the pollen masses and are lost as a result, Kenoyer, 

 in his studies of the relation of wild bees to plant pollenation, 

 found that wasps frequently had these pollen masses clinging to 

 their feet. While it sometimes happens that a considerable num 



