08 BEES. 



groves is their sole and sufficient excuse for being 

 The arbutus, lying low and keeping green all winter, 

 attains to perfume, but not to honey. 



The first honey is perhaps obtained from the flow- 

 ers of the red maple and the golden willow. The 

 latter sends forth a wild, delicious perfume. The 

 sugar maple blooms a little later, and from its silked 

 tassels a rich nectar is gathered. My bees will not 

 label these different varieties for me as I really wish 

 they would. Honey from the maple, a tree so clean 

 and wholesome, and full of such virtues every way, 

 would be something to put one's tongue to. Or that 

 from the blossoms of the apple, the peach, the cherry, 

 the quince, the currant, — one would like a card of 

 each of these varieties to note their peculiar qualities. 

 The apple-blossom is very important to the bees. A 

 single swarm has been known to gain twenty pounds 

 in weight during its continuance. Bees love the 

 ripened fruit, too, and in August and September will 

 suck themselves tipsy upon varieties such as the sops- 

 of-wine. 



The interval between the blooming of the fruit-trees 

 and that of the clover and the raspberry is bridged 

 over in many localities by the honey locust, What 

 »a delightful summer murmur these trees send forth 

 at this season. I know nothing about the quality 

 of the honey, but it ought to keep well. But when 

 the red raspberry blooms, the fountains of plenty 

 are unsealed indeed ; what a commotion about the 

 hives then, especially in localities where it is ex- 

 tensively cultivated, as in places along the Hudson. 

 The delicate white clover, which begins to bloom 

 about the same time, is neglected ; even honey it- 

 self is passed by for this modest, colorless, all but 



