VARIETIES AND PECULIARITIES OF BEES. 1233 



X. Plants Adapted to the Production of Honey. 



Aside from aititic'«.l feeding, the practice of which will hardly be 

 adopted and cannot be advised among fanners, or those who do not make 

 bee-keeping a special business, the prevalence of honey-l)earing plants- 

 must be specially considered, in deciding upon the number of hives 

 vvhich may be profitably kept. It is generally supposed that garden 

 flowers are a prolific source from which bees get their stores ; such, howv 

 ever, is not the case. In the West those annuals or perennials prolific in 

 honey are, many <»f them, spicous, and of great vahie aside from this use. 

 Of the clovers, the Alsike, the White, and the Sweet clover are eminenl 

 for their bee-feeding qualities. The last named is of no value except 

 as bee i)asturage. 



Bee-keepers have l)eeii accused of purposely sowing this fragi'ant weed 

 for this purpose, much to the annoyance of farmers, and it cannot 1)6 

 deni(Kl that it has l)ecome largely prevalent wh( re bee-keeping is estab- 

 lished as a distinct industry. These plants bloom in June and »Iuly. 

 while red clover is not available as bee food until the second groAjfth is 

 in blossom, after harvesting the first crop for hay. The earliest bU)om 

 will come from dandelion, the strawberry, and other wild and cultivated 

 plants, and the observing bee-keeper must be governed by the prevalence 

 of bloom, in estimating how many swarms may find forage during April! 

 and May — a most trying time for bees. In May and June the sumac 

 and the white sage are valuable i-i California, while in the South the 

 cotton plant is a prolific source of hoi'.ey from June until frost ; and 

 during this time, in various parts of the country, mustard, rape, the 

 milk weeds, and St. John's wort; yield abundant stores of honey. In 

 July, corn is the great honey-producing plant all over the West ; in 

 August, and thence until frost, buckwheat is the great honey producer ; 

 and during the later season, the vast array of wild flowers will be avail- 

 able, among them asters, golden-rod, the wild sunflowers, beggar-ticks, 

 Spanish needles, tick seed, etc. 



In all forest regions the bees feed upon the bloom of shrubs and trees, 

 and in every locality upon orchard trees and bushes. The latter furnish 

 abundance of blooms, the apple especially, and the best time to change 

 swarms, or divide them, is when orchard trees are in full bloom. 



The first trees to give bloom in the spring, are the red and white ma,* 

 pies, the aspens and willows. South of 40 degrees the red bud (Judas 

 tree) is prolific in its bloom. May gives us alder, sugar maple, haws, 

 crab-apple, and nearly all fruit trees and bushes. Late in May and early in 

 June we have the barberry, grape, white wood (tulip tree), sumac, and 

 during June the wild plum, raspberry and blackberry; July will give 



