Does It Pay to Plant for Honey. 



This has often been a subject for dis- 

 cussion in conventions, and has been 

 commented upon pro and con in our bee 

 papers, but is as far from being a set- 

 tled question as when first promulgated. 

 After the poor yields of the last 2 years, 

 we are confirmed in the opinion that it 

 will not only pay to plant with a special 

 view to the honey product, but, also, 

 that honey will not become a staple, 

 with a fixed and permanent value, and 

 quotable as are other staples, until more 

 attention is given to providing forage 

 for the bees, that the product may not 

 depend wholly upon the favorableness 

 of the season for white clover, bass- 

 wood, or any other bloom of spontane- 

 ous growth. With but a few acres of 

 honey plants, judiciously selected, and 

 proportioned to the extent of the api- 

 ary, never would we hear the doleful re- 

 ports of *' bees starving," " feeding to 

 prevent starvation," "starved out in 

 winter;" but, instead, in good seasons 

 for spontaneous bloom, the burden of 

 the song would be one of gladness, and 

 in poor seasons it would be one of con- 

 tent. 



We are aware that not all who keep 

 bees have ground enough and to spare 

 to cultivate for bee plants; but in the 

 immediate vicinity of every apiary, and 

 within easy flight of every colony of 

 bees in America, is waste land enough, 

 growing up in unsightly brambles, fen- 

 nels, burdocks, thistles, rag-weeds, mul- 

 leins, etc., which, once seeded with suit- 

 able plants, would become a profitable 

 source of revenue, and resound with 

 the merry hum of millions of bees, in- 

 stead of remaining a slothful reproach 

 to the corporation allowing their 

 growth, and a summer's plague to the 

 neighboring inhabitants. And when 

 we reflect that many of the very best 

 honey plants require but little, or no 

 cultivation, after the seeds are scat- 

 tered, the reproach for its neglect be- 

 comes greater. That some may be 

 found who complain against the occu- 

 pation of commons with honey plants 



is no argument against it. The poorest 

 honey plant is more agreeable than 

 sand-burrs; catnip growing never so 

 thickly is preferable to fennels ; sweet 

 clover (melilot), growing higher than 

 the fence-tops, is preferable to rag- 

 weeds and wild hemp, and as fragrant 

 as the rose ; and even horsemints, moth- 

 erworts, etc., would be more sightly 

 than most weeds growing spontane- 

 ously. 



Of course, judgment might be exer- 

 cised in the selection of seeds for plant- 

 ing. We would not advise the planting 

 of one kind of seeds exclusively, unless 

 well satisfied that kind was the very best 

 adapted to the locality, but rather select 

 a kind which filled a space already ex- 

 isting in the indigenous bloom. If 

 white clover is plentiful, and fall flow- 

 ers usually bloom profusely, then any 

 of the mints maybe profitably scattered 

 to fill the gap. If basswood is the main 

 bloom relied upon, then some of the 

 earlier nectar-yielding trees or plants, 

 such as Judas tree, crab-apple, haw- 

 thorn, fruits of all kinds, hoarhound, 

 sage, motherwort, etc., can be planted. 

 Any of the goldenrods, asters, sunflow- 

 ers, buckwheat, etc., will well repay a 

 little trouble. Mammoth mignonette 

 {Reseda odorata) will well repay all 

 trouble and expense incurred in its cul- 

 tivation for an all-summer yield of 

 honey. It blooms early, continuously, 

 and till late in the season, and being 

 supplied with deep-penetrating and 

 wide-branching roots, stands drought 

 well, and is not injured by frequent 

 rains. 



But whether white clover is plenty or 

 scarce ; whether you are located in a 

 basswood grove or miles from one ; 

 whether beautiful goldenrods and asters 

 surround you or are far remote, by all 

 means plant the barren, waste places 

 with Bokhara or sweet clover [Melilotus 

 alba). Its white, modest bloom glad- 

 dens the eye in June, and the sweet fra- 

 grance of its flowers lingers till frost 

 destroys it. If your soil is sandy, the 

 sweet clover will thrive upon it; if the 

 soil is heavy, it is suited to this splendid 



