the progress they make in rilling their hives 

 and in comb-building. 



Next comes the king of honey-producing 

 plants, the white clover, and it continues to 

 bloom through the month of June. It 

 stands pre-eminent as a honey-producing 

 plant, and its honey is praised for its snowy 

 whiteness and its delicate flavor. From the 

 middle of June till the middle of July the 

 linden blossoms, but as it is very rare in 

 Kentucky, the crop of honey gathered from 

 it is confined to certain localities in the 

 mountains and on the water-courses. It is 

 rich in white honey that has a pleasant bal- 

 sam flavor. During July and August the 

 sourwood, prickly ash and sumach blossom, 

 and as they come into bloom between the 

 spring and" fa 11 honey harvest, are valuable, 

 as they keep up brood-rearing, and when 

 abundant near the apiary, and the atmos- 

 pheric conditions are favorable to the secre- 

 tion of honey, they afford a surplus of nice 

 honey for the bee-keeper. 



In July the yellow-wood and coral-berry 

 or St. John's wort, add greatly to the crop 

 in localities where they are found. The 

 coral-berry continues to bloom through 

 August, and is a valuable honey-producing 

 shrub that grows in waste places. Its beau- 

 tiful red berries adorn our highways, and 

 are valuable as food for sheep and cattle. 

 The smart- weed furnishes forage for bees in 

 August and the early part of .September. 



The goldenrods and asters come in Sep- 

 tember and October, and continue till frost, 

 Where they are in abundance, bees often 

 fill their hives with the richest of honey, 

 and the bee-keeper gets a large surplus for 

 his share. 



Many cultivated plants are used for food 

 by man or beast, that afford rich bee-pastu- 

 rage, and I will take occasion to say that I 

 cannot recommend the cultivation of any 

 that cannot be utilized in some other way 

 besides for the honey they furnish. Quite 

 a number are valuable for seed crops or food 

 for domestic animals. The raspberry and 

 gooseberry are valuable as honey producing 

 shrubs and for their delicious fruit ; turnip, 

 rape, strawberry and buckwheat, all pay 

 both ways and should be cultivated exten- 

 sively by bee-keepers. White clover is 

 worth all the other varieties as a honey 

 plant, besides it is valuable for pasturage 

 and hay. I recommend its production and 

 cultivation. The various kinds of mustard 

 are worthy a cultivation for seed crop, as 

 well as bee forage. 



I have not attempted to catalogue the 

 honey producing plants, trees and shrubs in 

 full, but only such as are thought the most 

 valuable for production and cultivation by 

 the honey producer. I am aware that there 

 are many flowers that produce honey, be- 

 sides those mentioned ; some more, and 

 some less valuable to the apiarist ; but I 

 think that I have called attention to such as 

 are most worthy of our consideration and 

 cultivation. 



In locating an apiary for honey produc- 

 tion, one should have an eye to the amount 

 of bee forage in reach of the location ; for 

 no amount of labor and skill in the manipu- 

 lation of our bees will pay where it is 

 wanting. N. P. Allen, M. D. 



Smith's Grove, Ky. 



II. 11. Board man. Ohio, — My bees have 

 obtained a considerable quantity of 

 honey, and I can attribute it to no 

 source but the sap from the oak trees. 

 I have frequently observed my bees 

 working in large numbers on the twigs 

 and limbs of the oaks, and especially on 

 the smaller ones, but most frequently 

 on the twigs, which seem more than 

 usually covered with galls. (Mr. Board- 

 man here exhibited a small burr oak 

 limb which was thickly covered with 

 galls or small nut-like excrescences. 

 which give it a warty or knotty appear- 

 ance). 



Jlr. Muth, of Ohio, recommended 

 melilot or sweet clover to plant for the 

 bees. He thinks it will most admirable 

 till the gap between white clover and 

 basswood in the spring, and goldenrods 

 and asters in the fall. 



Mr. Coffinberry, of Illinois, thought 

 sweet clover could not be too highly 

 commended to bee-keepers. For sev- 

 eral years the subject of bee forage has 

 engrossed the attention of some of the 

 leading ariarists and scientists in the 

 country, and many were being forced 

 to the' conclusion— as all would be 

 eventually— that it will pay to plant for 

 honey. If, on an average of one year 

 in four the necessity of feeding to win- 

 ter through can be averted by a judici- 

 oue selection of self-seeding' plants, it 

 will have paid, and even if the seasons 

 of total dearth are less frequent, the 

 stimulation it gives to brood-rearing in 

 mid-summer, from the perpetual inflow 

 of honey into the hives, and the sub- 

 sistence it would afford after extracting 

 closely at the end of the white clover 

 and basswood season, thus keeping the 

 colonies strong to take advantage of 

 spontaneous fall bloom, will much more 

 than repay the trouble of planting. 

 The speaker would not recommend the 

 apiarist to confine themselves to a sin- 

 gle plant. During several years' experi- 

 ments in the Bee Journal Apiary, he 

 has formed a most favorable opinion of 

 mammoth mignonette (reseda grancli- 

 flora i, as it blooms early, late and con- 

 tinuously, from spring till winter, and 

 bees work on it in the morning and all 

 day long till night. He had in his gar- 

 den frequently observed bees working 

 on balsams or lady slippers. The plant 

 is strong and very nardy, and a profuse 

 bloomer ; it possesses the rare advant- 

 age of being disliked by cattle and 

 other animals ; even rabbits would not 

 eat it. He hoped bee-keepers would 

 test it thoroughly. Catnip and mother- 

 wort were well worth attention, and 

 every waste place should be well seeded 

 with them. They require but little en- 

 couragement, and the bees would prove 



