58 SOURCES OF NECTAR 
The California apiarists of some sections report valuable 
honey crops from the lima beans which are raised in large 
acreage in that State. 
The Clovers.—In the markets of the world, honey from this 
family of plants stands supreme, both in quantity and quality. 
The combs are capped white, so that the product is of fine 
appearance and the quality is of the best. Honey from either 
white, alsike, sweet or other clover, or from alfalfa, is sure of 
a market at a fair price in almost any season. When the markets 
are glutted, the clover honeys are among the first to move, so 
that the apiarist seldom need fear being unable to dispose of his 
product. While there are seasons of short secretion, the clovers 
are, perhaps, as nearly sure to yield as any plants of wide 
distribution. 
White Clover (Trifolium repens).—The most valuable honey 
plant in America. It ranges from Canada to the Gulf, and from 
the Atlantic west to Nebraska and Texas. Reaches its greatest 
value as a honey producer in the northern States. Perennial, 
with somewhat creeping stems. A fine pasture plant, common 
along roadsides and in pastures everywhere. 
Alsike Clover (T. hybridum).—Alsike, or Swedish clover, 
resembles white clover in some respects, although much larger 
and better suited for culture as a forage crop. It yields honey 
freely of about the same quality as white clover. This plant suc- 
ceeds on land where red clover will not do well, and when sown 
with a mixture of other grasses makes a very good meadow. 
When sown with timothy and red clover the resulting hay crop is 
much heavier than where timothy and red clover are sown alone. 
Red Clover (T. Pratense).—Red clover would be a magnifi- 
cent honey plant if the bees were onlv able to reach the nectar. 
The corolla tubes are too long for the length of the honey-bee’s 
tongue. Occasionally a case is reported when a crop is supposed 
to be gathered from this source. If so, conditions must either 
serve greatly to reduce the length of the corolla tubes, or the 
nectar must be so abundant as to fill the tubes to a height within 
