1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



87 



in their pollen baskets, and away they 

 go for home. 



I saw somewhere, not long ago, the 

 claim made that skunks cabbage pro- 

 duced honey , while the editor of one of 

 our bee papers claims that it has been 

 several times mentioned as a honey 

 plant. I think there must be a mis- 

 take somewhere, for after a careful 

 examination for many years, I have 

 never been able to find a bee leaving 

 this plant having any honey in her 

 sack. So good authority as our la- 

 mented M. Quinby, in his " Mysteries 

 of Bee-keeping," page 781, says, 

 speaking of skunks cabbage with other 

 pollen-bearing flowers : " These afford 

 only pollen," and I find Mr. Quinby 

 more nearly correct than the most of 

 our writers on bee-keeping. It grows 

 on moist soils, more particularly 

 around swamps, and after blossoming 

 puts out large cabbage-like leaves, 

 which, if broken, smell very much 

 like the animal from which it derives 

 its name. Its time of blossoming 

 is from March 25th to April 20th, 

 according to the earliness or lateness 

 of the season , and is always eagerly 

 sought after by the bees. A stroll in 

 early spring, on the first pleasant days, 

 to see where our bees get their first 

 pollen, is always one of pleasure, and 

 if rightly used may be made one of 

 profit, by posting ourselves regarding 

 our location as to its being valuable or 

 otherwise for bee-keeping. 



The next pollen-bearer is the pussy 

 willow, of which there are several 

 kinds, which put out their blossoms 

 quite irregular. Some are a month 

 earlier than others, and some of the 

 buds on the same bush are ten days 

 later than others. The kind which 

 seems to attract the bees most is the 



black willow, upon which the kilmar- 

 nock is budded, and another which 

 produces a long cone-like flower simi- 

 lar to the black willow. From these 

 two kinds the bees obtain large quan- 

 tities of pollen, but as far as I can 

 ascertain, no honey. The flowers are 

 of a rich orange color, and consist of a 

 center, out of which spring hundreds 

 of little thread-like filaments, upon 

 which the pollen is supported. It is 

 very interesting to watch the bees at 

 work on these flowers, as you can see 

 their motions so plainly, for the tree 

 or bush does not grow so high but 

 what some of the lower limbs are about 

 on a level with the eye. It naturally 

 grows on low swampy guound, but 

 with a little culture to start with will 

 grow readily on dry ground or upland 

 They grow readily from cuttings put 

 in the ground in early spring as does 

 all of the willow tribe. 



The above are often set down as 

 " honey plants," but according to 

 Quinby, and my own observation, 

 they produce no honey. To be sure 

 the bee is continually poking her pro- 

 bocis into the blossoms, the same as 

 she does when taking honey, but after 

 killing several bees and dissecting 

 them, I have been unable to find the 

 least bit of honey in their sacks. This 

 way, if used when the bees are at 

 work on any of the honey-bearing 

 flowers, never fails to reveal honey 

 accumulated in their sacks. 



Th-^ golden willow and the white wil- 

 low give us our first honey. Neither 

 of these last mentioned willows give 

 any pollen that I ever could discover, 

 for none of the bees at work on it ever 

 have any pollen in their pollen bask- 

 ets. When these willows are in bloom 

 and the weather is warm, the bees 



