66 PASTURAGE. 



The purple heath, or where the wild thyme grows, 

 And yellow load them with the luscious spoil." 



THOMSON. 



That flowers impart a portion of their flavour 

 to honey, seems to be generally admitted, though 

 probably not so much as some have imagined. It 

 is not to be supposed that the bee confines it- 

 self, in this country at least, to a few particular 

 flowers, it ranges through a great variety ; ex- 

 cellent honey has been produced where the bees 

 had little access to any flowers but those of nettles 

 and other weeds. 



Still however the balm of Pontus, the thyme of 

 Hymettus, and the rosemary of Narbonne, are ge- 

 nerally supposed, from their aromatic flowers, to 

 give its peculiar excellence to the celebrated 

 honey of those places. 



It should seem therefore that rosemary might 

 prove of importance in the neighbourhood of an 

 apiary, by improving the quality and increasing 

 the quantity of honey in certain seasons, viz. 

 if the weather were very hot and dry, when it 

 blossomed ; for it never affords much honey in 

 this country, excepting in such a season. It blos- 

 soms the earliest of aromatic herbs, and should 

 of course be planted in a southern aspect. 



Having said thus much upon the power which 

 flowers possess of imparting a peculiar flavour to 



