FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 123 



which it seems to have a great Hking. It has a long sea- 

 son. 



Goldenrod (Fig. 52) grows in abundance in several 

 varieties, and while other insects may be seen upon it in 

 great numbers, a bee is seldom seen upon it. ^luch the 

 same may be said of the asters (Figs. 53 and 54). In 

 some other places both these plants are said to be well 

 visited by the bees. 



The summer of 1002 was very wet, and for the first 

 time in my observation heartsease (Fig. 55) was busily 

 worked upon by the bees. Probably it was not plenty 

 enough before. At any rate it has now become a honey- 

 plant of importance. In some localities heartsease is, I be- 

 lieve, the chief honey-plant, producing amber honey. 

 But I tJiiiik it yields very light honey here. 



CUCUMBERS. 



I think the white clover crop, for some reason, is 

 more unreliable than it was years ago. Some years there 

 is a profusion of clover bloom, but there seems to be no 

 nectar in it. As some compensation, I think there is 

 more fall pasturage than formerly. One reason for this 

 is that two pickle factories are located at IMarenisro, and 

 my bees have the run of one or two hundred acres of 

 cucumbers. And yet I must confess that I am not at all 

 sure what cucumber honey is. Sometimes the honey 

 stored at the time of cucumber bloom is objectionable in 

 flavor, and sometimes the flavor is fine. Two or three 

 years the bees at the Hastings apiary stored in the fall 

 some fine honey, remarkable for whiteness, and Fve no 

 idea what it was gathered from unless it was heartsease. 

 On the w^hole I am in a poor honey region, and would 

 have sought a tetter one long ago but for ties other than 

 the bees. 



ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE. 



I have made some effort to increase the pasturage for 

 my bees. Of spider-plant I raised only a few plants. It 



