THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



115 



village. It is considered by some a 

 great nuisance, but to me it has a 



charm peculiarly its own. In 1888 it 

 gave me a ton of honey, which may in 

 part at least account for our friend- 

 ship. It is not killed by our winter's 

 cold, and looks as though it might be 

 preparing itself for another ton of 

 honey in 1891. Hoarhound continues 

 in bloom foi a considerable time, de- 

 pending, of course, upon the season as 

 to the length of duration 



By the first of April the red daisy 

 begins to bloom and cont nuesfortwo 

 months. There is not a great deal of 

 this plant in or right close to town, 

 yet there is an abundance of it within 

 two miles, and my bees have gathered 

 quite a hit <>f honey From this source 

 in the last few years. It is dark, very 

 thick and unusually heavy bodied. 

 Personally, I do not fancy the flavor, 

 vet, many prefer it to other kinds. 

 One of Prof. A. J. Cook's students, 

 (Prof. F. A. Gulley), sampled it to- 

 gether with a half dozen other varie- 

 ties that I had at the National Horti- 

 cultural Association, at Austin, last 

 February, and pronounced it the 

 finest honey he had ever eaten in 

 Texas. So much for taste. 



About the first of May, (sometimes, 

 of course, a little earlier and some- 

 times a little later, owing to the season) 

 our famous horse-mint begins to bloom 

 and continues for a period of about 

 six weeks. It is one of the best honey 

 producing plants that we have. It 

 varies in height from eight inches to 

 three feet, owing to the fertility of the 

 soil and amount of rain we have. It 

 yields honey more freely when rain is 

 plentiful. It seems to have no special 

 choice of location, but abounds upon 



the hills, in the valleys, on rough 

 rocky land, in the rich alluvial soils, 

 on the road sides and in our very door 

 yards. Our prairies are a waving mass 

 of beautiful flowers, when it is as 

 abundant as in 188<S. 



The horse-mint is very light in 

 color,of good body and the best flavor 

 of any honey I ever tasted. The plants 

 look quite promising for a fine crop in 

 1891. It, like the hoarhound, is not 

 hurt by the winter's cold. 



Shumac is abundant near town and 

 blooms about the middle of August. 

 Then comes in our fall flowers, of 

 which there are quite a number. 

 Wild sage is plentiful some seasons, 

 but I do not think that it yields much 

 honey. Bees work very freely upon 

 ice-weed, which is quite plentiful near 

 the creek and also in fence rows, es- 

 pecially near rock fences. Upland or 

 red elm usually blooms about the mid- 

 dle of September, and yields both 

 honey and pollen freely for a few 

 hours early in the morning. There 

 are a number of them in my yard, and 

 almost before good daylight I can 

 hear the bees roaring, and there seems 

 to be a full swarm upon each tree 

 gathering the precious nectar that is 

 soon evaporated if not gathered im- 

 mediately. By 10 a. m. all is quiet 

 about the elms until the next morning. 

 The broom-weed is another plant that 

 is very abundant and sometimes 

 yields considerable honey, which is 

 dark, very thick and hard to extract: 

 It has a rosin smell and taste, and is, 

 when first extracted, (if it is pure), 

 inclined to be ropy. The rosin taste 

 and also the ropy quality, will to a 

 great extent disappear after it granu- 

 lates, e.-pecially if much of the sur- 



