378 





known since bees have been kept here. 

 Dnring these two seasons bees kept 

 within a mile or so of the streams, 

 hav^ made a living and some increase, 

 and in some instances some surplns 

 has been secured, while those out on 

 the prairie, distant from timber, fared 

 very badly ; many colonies, even of 

 Italians, starving to death during the 

 summer. 



The following list of honey-pla'nts of 

 southeastern Nebraska is made by me, 

 after a residence here of nearly 30 

 years, and a pretty thorough study of 

 the botany of the district. I have 

 omitted some species that are abun- 

 dant in the bluffs of the Missouri river, 

 and are common in the States east- 

 ward, but are rare or absent in other 

 parts of Nebraska. This list includes 

 very few plants except natives, as very 

 little has been done by waj' of plant- 

 ing for the bees. This list furnishes a 

 continuous succession of bloom (in 

 favorable seasons) from the last of 

 March until frost or stormy weather 

 closes the season in October. 



The first pollen is gathered from 

 soft maple {Acer rubra), followed 

 eloselj' by white elm, red elm, cotton- 

 wood, several species of willow, box- 

 elder, white ash, gooseberry, wild 

 plum {Primus ckicasa), dandelion (in 

 some places), apple and cherry, choke- 

 cherry, burr-oak, hickory {C'arya 

 amara), black and red raspberry, wild 

 grapes {Vitis cordijolia), black locust 

 (in a few places), and honey locust. 



This brings us up to the first of 

 June in average seasons. Very few of 

 these, perhaps, furnish much nectar 

 except the gooseberries and other 

 bloom (in favorable seasons), but all 

 produce pollen in great abundance ; 

 and if the weather is favorable for 

 it, and the bees have plenty of honey 

 in their hives, they build up very 

 rapidl}-, and are now ready to swarm, 

 or have ali'eady commenced. From 

 now on wc may expect some surplus, 

 provided the bees do not over-swarm, 

 and now is the time to put on the sur- 

 plus cases to prevent it. 



The honey-locust ought to, and in 

 favorable seasons will furnish some 

 surplus. So will the hackberry, Vir- 

 ginian-creeper {AmpelosiifquinqucJoUn) , 

 and a small species of willow that 

 blooms about this time, on which the 

 bees work for several days to the neg- 

 lect of everything else. 



Sumac {Rhun ^^rtira), common milk- 

 weed, pleurisy-root or buttertty weed, 

 and later several other species of 

 Asclepids furnish nectar in great abun- 

 dance. In some seasons of good qual- 

 ity, in others not so good. There is so 

 little white clover away from the 

 Missouri river that the bees scarcely 

 • notice it, and as a source of honey it 

 amounts to very little. Catnip, mother- 



wort, buckberry {Sipuphoricarpiis) , and 

 some seasons partridge-pea {Cassia 

 Chamaxrisia) all bloom now, and 

 later, two species of wild cucumber 

 bloom for a long time, and all yield 

 surplus of excellent quality, and in 

 great abundance. 



About the last of Julj' or first of 

 August, the plant incorrectlj' named 

 heart's-ease begins to bloom. This 

 plant (wliich is a Polygonwn, while 

 heart's-ease is a violet) is in some sea- 

 sons the principal source of our sur- 

 plus honey, and in others it is scarcely 

 visited by the bees. It grows in all 

 open waste places, in stubble fields 

 after harvest,and particularlj' luxuriant 

 in neglected corn fields. This plant 

 may fairly be ccmsidered our best 

 honey plant, and as it alwaj's comes 

 whether wanted or not, and blooms at 

 the same time, and yields honey under 

 the same conditions of weather that 

 buckwheat does, and yields a much 

 better quality of honej' than buck- 

 wheat. It does not pay to sow buck- 

 wheat, as it is too uncertain a crop to 

 sow for the grain. 



Of fall flowers yielding honey we 

 have several species of asters. One 

 with purple flowers must j'ield consid- 

 erable hone}", as it is much frequented 

 b}' the bees from September until 

 severe frost. These, with a species of 

 Ewpatorium, and one of Coreopsis are 

 all the species of Composilae that I 

 think are used to any great extent by 

 the bees. The golden-rods that are so 

 highly prized in some localities are 

 scarcel}- visited by the bees, and the 

 same may loe said of the nianj' species 

 of sun-flowers that brighten our land- 

 scapes through the autumn months. 



The species tliat I have mentioned 

 comprise the bulk of the honey-plants 

 of southeastern Nebraska, though I 

 have omitted some that in some locali- 

 ties and in some seasons undoubtedly 

 yield some lioney. In some instances 

 the plants tliemselves do not occur in 

 sufficient numbers to be of economic 

 importance, while in others though 

 plentiful, they are little sought by the 

 bees. 



Of all tlie great wealth and variety 

 of bloom that covers and beautfies our 

 wild prairies from May until Novem- 

 ber, including at least 15 species of 

 Leyuminosae, and more than that num- 

 ber of Composilae, not one, so far as I 

 have been able to discover after years 

 of close observation, are of anj' value 

 as honey-plants. Our honey-produc- 

 ing plants grow in and around the 

 margins of the timber, on the streams, 

 or in the sloughs for short distances 

 from timber, and in fields and waste 

 jilaces on farms. There is one plant 

 growing in patches about the margins 

 of tlie timber, and in sloughs near the 

 creeks, tliat as a honey-jiroducer prob- 



ably surpasses any other plant in this 

 portion of Nebraska, but on account of 

 its jieculiar halnt of blooming, it is of 

 very little value as a source of honey. 

 The plant I refer to is lilauca biennis, 

 of the evening primrose family. It 

 Ijlooms from the latter part of August 

 until hard frost, and blooms in the 

 evening after the bees have all gone 

 home, and the flowers wither and dry 

 up in the morning usually before it is 

 warm enough for tlie bees to fly. The 

 flowers secrete nectar in great abun- 

 dance ; sufficient in some observed in- 

 stances to flow down the sliles and 

 hang in drops on the stigmas. 



As some of the readers of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal may contemplate a 

 removal to Nebraska, I will add a few 

 words on bee-keeping in Nebraska. 

 There are verj' few large apiaries here, 

 though quite a large number of per- 

 sons keep a few colonies — from one to 

 a dozen, and a few as high as 30 or 40 

 — but I do not think that large apiaries 

 would be profitable except possibly on 

 the Missouri river, where there is 

 plenty of white clover and some bass- 

 wood. 



I think that tlie country might be 

 very easily overstocked, as nearly all 

 the honey must be gathered along the 

 streams. > The high winds which pre- 

 vail here through a great part of the 

 honey season greatly interferes with 

 the gatliering of honey, and must at 

 times totally prevent long flights in 

 search of stores. While as I have said 

 large apiaries might not be jirofitable, 

 a few colonies in connection with some 

 other business, and properly cared for, 

 might pay well for the trouble. All 

 kinds of hives arc used here, though I 

 know but one man that uses the old 

 box-hive, and he never gets any sur- 

 plus honey, but depends for his supply 

 of honey on some of his colonies dying 

 out in the winter, leaving him a legacy 

 of dirty honey mixed with bee-bread 

 and moth larva?. 



Artificial pasturage for bees has not 

 yet been provided to any great extent. 

 Some few have sown a little white and 

 Alsike clovers. The Alsike has not so 

 far proved a success, and the white 

 clover is disliked for pasture on ac- 

 count of its causing horses to slobber, 

 and is thought to be too insignificant 

 for a meadow-grass, still the bee-keep- 

 ers are sowing some, and it is spread- 

 ing, and will bak plenty in time ; but 

 neither white nor Alsike clover if cut 

 for hay, will lie of much value for 

 honej'. 



Some have sown mustard, catnip 

 and motherwort in waste places, with 

 much satisfaction, but it is d(uibtful if 

 it will pay to use good farm land for 

 anj' crop that is only good for honey. 

 My opinion is that if any plant will pay 

 for good land, catnip and motherwort 



