PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W T FALCONER MANFG CO 



VOL. VI. 



Mf\Y, 1896. 



NO. 5. 



A Flower Garden for Bees. 



BY BKSSIK I.. rUTNAM. 



The old custom of niakiug becsaud 

 poultry "pick thoir own living" is 

 now regarded as unprofitable ; and 

 pasturage for l)ees is one of the ques- 

 tions of major importance to the pro- 

 gressive apiarist. While there are 

 several standard plants upon which to 

 depend for the main supply, the mul- 

 titude of those which yield a smaller 

 quantity, — in many instances smaller 

 because of the limited number of in- 

 dividual plants, — is not fully appre- 

 ciated, the value of these auxiliaries 

 underestimated, and a source which 

 might easily be rendered of no mean 

 importance permitted to remain unde- 

 veloped. 



Flowers are now regarded as a nec- 

 essary adjunct of the farmhouse, — a 

 sort of index regarding the degree of 

 refinement of its occupants. And 

 why not, in making selections during 

 the coming season, include a liberal 

 supply of such as the bees can enjoy ? 

 The returns will really be three-fold. 

 You will have the pleasure afforded 

 by the flowers themselves, the enjoy- 

 ment of seeing the busy little insects 

 at work, and finally the fruits of their 

 harvest. 



One of the most beautiful and in- 

 teresting annuals which the writer has 

 recently grown is Cassia Chaiiuecriste, 

 the Partridge Sensitive Pea, a native 

 of sandy fields southward, and one of 

 the indigenous plants now included in 

 the catalogues of a few of the leading 

 seedsmen. This plant was selected 

 for ornament alone, but the crowd of 

 bees which thronged about it so long 

 as a blossom remained soon gave suffi- 

 cient evidence regarding its utility. 

 The foilage is pinnate, resembling 

 that of the acacia or sensitive plant. 

 While not sensitive to the touch like 

 the latter, the leaflets close together at 

 the close of day to re-open w'ith the ris- 

 ing of the sun. Pressed specimens can 

 only be secured in good shape by tak- 

 ing the portfolio to the garden, for the 

 leaflets close as firmly shortly after 

 being plucked as though taking their 

 nocturnal rest. The flowers are more 

 than an inch in diameter and of a 

 bright yellow, the two upper petals 

 being handsomely marked at the base 

 with purple. 



A distant relative of the cassia and 

 a plant whose pea-shaped flowers at 

 once proclaim it as one of the legumes 

 has the three-fold virtue of being a 

 dainty contribution to the flower vase, 



