232 MANUAL or THE APIART. 



It does not secrete well in wet weather, but in favorable 

 weather it is hardly equalled. 



Okra or gumbo, Hibiscus esculentus, (Fig. 85), also blooms 

 in June. It is as much sought after by the bees in quest of 

 honey, as by the cook in search of a savory vegetable, or one 

 to give tone to soup. 



Sage, Salvia officinalis, horehound, Marrubium vulgare, 

 motherwort, Zeonurus cardiaca, and catnip, Nepetacataria, 

 which latter does not commence to bloom till July, all furnish 

 nice white honey, remain in bloom a long time, and are very 

 desirable, as they are in bloom in the honey dearth of July 

 and August. They, like many others of the mint family 

 (Fig. 86), are thronged with bees during the season of bloom. 



Pig. 86.— -MnJ. 



The first and last are of commercial importance, and all may 

 well be introduced by apiarists, wherever there is any space 

 or waste ground. 



The silk or milk-weed furnishes abundant nectar from 

 June to frost, as there are several species of the genus 

 Asclepias, which is wide-spread in our country. This is the 

 plant "which has large pollen masses which often adhere to 

 the legs of bees (Fig. 87), and sometimes so entrap them as 

 to cause their death. Prof Riley once very graciously advised 



