March 1, 1916 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



189 



adulterated with, and stopped using it! I offered to buy it 

 at the same price they paid me. While she went to ask the 

 landlord about selling it, the hired girl said they would not 

 sell it— the man told her to leave it off the table because the 

 boarders ate it so greedily! 



When the landlady returned she talked about anything 

 but selling their can of honey, and asked me to come again in 

 a week or two, when thej would probably want another can. 

 But 1 am tired of the 5-gallon-can deals. If they had bought 

 it by quarts they would have used three times 20 quarts by 

 this time, and I would have $5 per can instead of $4.20 ana 

 the loss of my can; better satisfaction, and especiallx. no 

 granulation. 



I ached to build up a market there by my brother-in-law's. 

 It would be my delight to stay and sell out a nice little load 

 of honey every day. Mow it pleased those people to get 

 something wholesome! Nearly every one warmly invited 

 me to come again. 1 gave them much logic along the lines of 

 apiculture and health, which they freely grasped and looked 

 forward to learn more. After a man 1 ought a jar I was more 

 courteous to him than ever. The longer you can cause a 

 purchaser to stand around your wagon with a jar of honey, 

 under his arm the better. Remember that people like to buy 

 honey, but do not like to have it sold to them. It is hard 

 to be obliged to forsake people after such delightful chance 

 acquaintance -hip. But I must do it. Los Angeles is too large 

 a citv. 1 have my market at Florence awaiting the delivery 

 of the same goods. 



Although at my brother-in-law's I sold enough to make 

 wages, still 1 drove from 10th to 28th Streets (Florence is 

 80th Street), a distance of l'i miles and return. It was like 

 Mr. Root going to Xenia — "hit the road in the high place-." 

 So I hit the demand for honey only in the high places. 1 

 could have sold it within a distance of a few blocks. In fact, 

 there are 150 houses in the same block in which my brother- 

 in-law lives. In a few.years' time I could induce every family 

 in that block to use honey regularly. We sold to every family 

 at Florence. It took four or live years to "fetch" some of 



them We did not give up because a family refused honey 

 once We kept the stone a-tuming, and in time the COI 

 grind wore away all obstructions. We laid our nlans for a 

 long job. __ . 



One of the apparently hopeless cases at Florence consisted 

 of the old people and three sons-in-law, living separately. 

 They moved there from a pan of the United Slate- where 

 there wa- not much honey produced, but much pork and 

 molasses. Honey went particularly against their "grain." 

 I'h, \ -aw us -elf to. others until they got a hired man from 

 a honey-eating family. This hired man would have honey if 

 he had' to pay for it' out of hi- own purse. So they bought 

 honey for the' "hired man." The 5-year-old boj took a liking 

 to the "hired man's honey"; and when the hired man went 

 away the child begged for honey. The mother also began to 

 suspicion that honev was good. We got them all. 



Honey is easv of digestion, and better digestion improved 

 the tone of their 'stomachs. A healthy stomach reviles sugar, 

 glucose, meat, grease and pastry sooner than a stomach which 

 is not so health v. It may not receive so much injury as a 

 poor stomach, but it gives more pain, and pain is what the 

 consumer is most likelv to iudge by. The longer they con- 

 tinue on the nutritious food, the farther they get from being 

 able to return to the less nutritious, and the butcher, the 

 baker and candvman all seem to be striving to get the con- 

 sumer into his coffin. Any bee-man who half understands 

 his job can see that he has the consuming public at his mercy. 

 It is simple "come to honey, or go on dragging out your 

 miserable lives." Gab and appearance count for a whole lot, 

 but quality is the "drawing card." 



Take the cap off the jar, and while they are tasting with 

 a lead-pencil, tooth-pick or knife-blade, lay the open jar down 

 on the step and roll it over once or twice and take it up again 

 before the honev runs out. If you waste no time and make 

 no fumbles you may learn to do it with quite thin honey. But 

 I did not need to hurry, and purposely made a few fumbles, 

 and they took me for a very ordinary sort of "mossback," 

 and needing a Utile money. Chatsworth, Calif. 



Preliminary List of Honey-Yielding Plants of Texas 



It is well known that a successful bee-keeper must know 

 his honey-yielding flora upon which he depends. The bee- 

 keepers' attention has been called to this, time and again, so 

 much so that it is hardly necessary for me to dwell upon that 

 subject. It is a fact, however, that, to be successful, a bee- 

 keeper must know something about botany as well as keeping 

 bees. Entirely too many bee-keepers are not botanist enough. 



Below will be found a list of plants of Texas, of which I 

 have collected specimens for an herbarium of Texas honey- 

 yielding flora, since 1899. Every specimen was taken upon 

 seeing bees visiting it, and my observations upon most of the 

 plants extend over a period of several years. Besides those 

 given in the list there are about 80 specimens of my collection 

 which have not yet been identified. As soon as this has been 



done, these, and new ones, will be added. It is also my inten- 

 tion to give, every month, as far as possible, a more complete 

 list, with fuller descriptions, and the value and distribution 

 of the plants blooming in each month. By following these 

 references the bee-keeper should be enabled to acquaint him- 

 self quite well with the honey-yielding plants that may come 

 within his range. 



For convenience, the list has been largely arranged after 

 Coulter's arrangement of Families in his "Botany of Western 

 Texas," as this was mainly used for reference. My thanks 

 are due Prof. Hilje Ness, formerly Professor of Botany, and 

 Mr. Wilmon Newell, formerly Apiarist, of Texas A. and M. 

 College ; and Prof. John H. Schaffner, Associate-Professor of 

 Botany, Ohio State University, for valuable help received. 



Honey-Yielding Flora of Texas— with the Family to which they belong, their Botanical 

 and Common Name, their Importance and Time of Blooming. 



BBRBRRID.E. Barberry Family. 



Berber!* trifoliata — Moric. 



Triple-leafed Barberry. 



Honey and abundant pollen; very 



early in the season; good for early 



brood-rearing. January, February. 



PAPAVERACE.E. Poppy Family. 



Argemone platyeeras — Link and Otto. 



Prickly Poppy. 

 Unimportant for honey, but an abund- 

 ance of pollen during- the dearth of 

 summer. May, July. 



Pupaver rhoeas — L. 

 Poppy. 

 Cultivated in flower-gardens; not im- 

 portant. • 



CRUCIFER.E. Mustard Family. 



Brassiea nigra — (L. ) Koch. 

 Black .Mustard. 

 Bees sometimes busy on it. June, July. 

 Brassiea rapa — L. 

 Common Turnip. 

 Bees gather honey and pollen from 

 the blossoms. Juno, July. 



Greggia camporiuni — Gray. 

 Greggia. 

 Very early, but not abundant; honey 

 and pollen; helps early brood-rearing. 

 February. 



Lepicliiian virgin icum — L. 

 Pepperwort. Pepper Grass. 



Not important; some pollen. Summer. 



RESEDACE.E. Mignonette Family. 



Reseda odorata — L. 



Mignonette. 

 Honey-yield good, but plants not 

 plentiful; pollen. Cultivated. June, July. 



PORTII.ACACE.E. Purslane Family. 



Portulaea grnndiflorn — Hook. 



Portulaca. 



Honey-yield good, as it comes in the 



dearth when few others are in bloom; 



also an abundance of pollen. Cultivated. 



June to frost. 



TAMAHISCIM: E. Tamarix Family. 



Taiuurix gallioa — L. 



Tamarisk. Salt cedar. 

 Bees work on it, but scarce. Culti- 

 vated. May, June. 



MALVACEi:. Mallow Family. 



Calllrhoe digita — Nutt. 

 Fringed Poppy Mallow. 

 Honey-yield not Important ; some pol- 

 len. May, .i 



Gossypinm herbai ■ — L. 



Cotton. 

 One of the main sources for surplus 



in the State, throughout the "cotton 

 belt"; honey-yield good, and white 

 honey of good quality; white pollen. 

 Also nectar-glands on ribs of the 

 leaves, and on bracts of the buds, 

 blooms and bolls. Cultivated exten T 

 sively. June to frost. 



Hibiscus syriaciis — L. 



Shrubby Althea. Rose-of-Sharon. 

 Bees work busily on it sometimes, 

 but unimportant; honey and pollen; 

 Cultivated, but few. May, September. 



Malvavtsous drunimnndii — Torr and 

 Gray. 

 Spanish Apple. 

 Unimportant. Summer to fall. 

 Slda angustifolia — Lam. 

 Bees found on it; pollen. Spring to 

 fall. 



Sida spiuosa — L. 

 Some honey and pollen. Xot Import- 

 ant. Summer. 



TILIACK E. Linden Family. 



Tllla americana — I.. 



in Linden. Basswood. 

 Vields large quantities of excellent 

 "din source in the tim- 

 of east Texas. May, June. 



