MILKWEED 75 
attractive to the honey-bee, it is widely reported as a source of 
honey. 
Milkweed (Asclepias).—The milkweeds, also called butter- 
fly weeds and silkweeds, are widely distributed on both hemis- 
pheres. About eighty-five species are recorded. Although the 
Fig. 39.—The horsemints are valuable over a large scope of country. 
milkweeds secrete considerable nectar and in favorable seasons 
considerable honey is the result, they are not generally favored 
by the bee-keepers because of the fact that bees sometimes become 
entangled in the pollen masses and are lost as a result. Kenoyer, 
in his studies of the relation of wild bees to plant pollenation, 
found that wasps frequently had these pollen masses clinging to 
their feet. While it sometimes happens that a considerable num- 
