The American Apicuf!^iST 





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A JOUKN'AL FOK THK NOVICE AND KXI'KKT, \ ' ', ^ jl ^ , \ 



Devoted to Best Races of Bees, Best Hives, Best Impleili|^t3 and Best 



Methods of Management to make Beekeeping a Sii^cess. { 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY. HENRY ALLfe^; Mannger. 



VOL. VI. 



WENIIAM, MASS., OCTOBER, \i 



No. 10. 



Corns po It i)^it«. 



Honey Resources. 



J. S. BiDDLE. 



As the honey season in almost every 

 section of tliis country is aljout over, the 

 observant l)eekeeper has acquainted him- 

 self with tlie resources of his locality, and 

 from a close and practical knowledge he 

 will know what is the most reliable source 

 and where it can be improved. 



In this short article the writer will not 

 attempt a description of every honey 

 plant and tree, but only the most impor- 

 tant, as they come in along the honey sea- 

 son ; to notice every honey producing plant 

 and tree even in this partof tlie continent 

 would form too lengthy an article, I fear, 

 for formal pul)lication. 



There is rarely a flower with golden 

 tints or that imparts its fragrance on the 

 air that the cheerful bee does not frequent 

 its labyrinth and tind some luscious nec- 

 tar there. 



This article being intended only as a 

 description of the honey resources, the 

 pollen and propolis resources will conse- 

 quently not be described ; they form a sep- 

 arate subject and afford considerable of 

 interesting thought alone. 



E'er the gloomy winter has made its 

 exit and withdrawn its glittering frosts 

 and crowning caps of snow from hill and 

 mountain top, the willow (Salix) bursts 

 forth in blossoms of orange hue, as the 

 advance agent of vegetation, proclaiming 

 in harmonious accent, with tlie early warb- 

 ling songster, tliat welcome summer is 

 nigh; from it the bee steals its first lus- 

 cious meal, thougii the willow is not a 

 great honey yielding species, yet blossom- 

 ing so early makes it of special value. 

 There are, at least, one-half dozen differ- 

 ent varieties. 



The sugar maple (Acer saccharinum) 

 yields an abuntiant supply of delicious 

 nectar, and its blossoms adorning the tree 

 in graceful fringes will seemingly be al- 

 most alive with bees. 



15 



Of the fruit trees that afford a honey 

 harvest to the industrious bee, we notice 

 the peach, apricot, cherry, plum, pear and 

 apple. The latter exceeds them all in abun- 

 dance of nectar, and if the weather is fav- 

 orable in tlie apple blossoming season 

 they will till their empty cells. 



The tulip tree (Liriodeiidrou) commonly 

 called poplar. A peculiarity of tiiis tree 

 is its blossoms expanding in succession, 

 thus making one of the greatest honey 

 producing trees of America. A large sup- 

 ply of fine flavored honey is often taken 

 from it alone. 



The linden (Tilia), known as linn or 

 basswood, yields an abundance of fine fla- 

 vored honey; from my own observation 

 there is no other resource from which 

 bees can gather as much in the same length 

 of time as from this tree, and in some lo- 

 calities it is alone the honey resource, and 

 an abundance is stored from it. 



Many of our homes could be greatly 

 adorned and benefited if, around our 

 dwellings, along the roadsides and lanes, 

 we would plant a number of these trees : 

 the tulip, linden and maple that grow so 

 majestic and adorn themselves with clus- 

 ters of fragrant blossoms, making them 

 an ornamental shade tree. Then we have 

 the flowering magnolias of diflerent vari- 

 eties and yellow wood {Vergilia lueta) 

 with its long racemes of wliite, sweet 

 scented flowers. All of these would great- 

 ly beautify our homes, add to their value 

 and hugely increase the honey resources 

 of the country. Here is the American lo- 

 cust tree yielding a large quantity of honey 

 at a time when other bee forage is scarce. 

 It comes in, however, before the tulip 

 and linden. The chestnut adds greatly 

 to the honey resources. Many persons 

 (those that have given the subject some 

 attention) suppose that the product the 

 bees gather from off the chestnut is a 

 honey dew that has fallen there ; such is 

 not the fact. According to later investi- 

 gation, it is found to be an exudation from 

 the tree itself and not like the honey dew 

 that falls at diflerent times and in various 

 places. I have been informed by reliable 

 authority that it has fallen upon men while 



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