PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING 29 



grown quite extensively in some parts of the state and afford a not 

 unimportant source of honey^ of a fine flavor. All of these sources, 

 however, come at a time to render them of not much consequence 

 as sources of surplus honey. They serve, however, to build up the 

 colonies for the more extensive yields which follow. 



Usually by the time raspberries bloom the bees are quite strong 

 and in localities where these are abundant, either in the mountain 

 canyons or in districts where raspberries are grown extensively, 

 honey of a very fine flavor may be obtained. Mints of all kinds are 

 usually abundant honey yielders. The cleone or spider plant, found 

 growing wild along the roads and popularly called, in Colorado, the 

 Rocky Mountain bee plant, yields honey of a good quality. 



By far the greatest yields of honey in the state come from the 

 clovers. Chief among these is alsike clover, grown extensively for 

 hay. This usually begins to bloom about the middle of June, in the 

 Gallatin Valley, continuing until about the tenth of August. The 

 main yield comes in July and we registered a gain of eleven pounds 

 by an average colony in a single day, giving a net gain of some 

 six pounds after evaporation had been accomplished by the bees over 

 night. Alsike clover honey is of a very light and clear grade, some* 

 what heavier than white clover, that is, having more body. 



Alfalfa, or lucern is an extensively grown forage crop and fur- 

 nishes a light honey of a high grade. In some parts of the State this 

 is the main yield and where three or four crops are had, if allowed 

 to bloom well before cutting, can be made to last over a consider- 

 able portion of the summer. White clover is working in in the more 

 settled valleys and is found along the road side, in the corners of 

 fields and along the creek bottoms. Where white clover and alsike 

 clover bloom at the same time the bees seem to show a decided 

 preference for the latter. A striking instance was noted when the 

 campus at the College was white with the blossoms of white clover 

 one could cross it most anywhere and hardly find a bee upon it. 

 About a quarter of a mile south of the campus there were some quite 

 extensive fields of alsike clover and these were covered with bees 

 flying clearly in the direction of the colonies on the station farm. 



In some parts of the State, notably in the Flathead basin, there 

 is a considerable yield of an amber colored honey of a muddy ap- 

 pearance from sweet clover or melilot. This clover is a biennial 

 and grows to the height of four or five feet, blossoming the second 



