HONEY PLANTS 125 



wheat does yield nectar in tremendous 

 amounts, but an acre or two would be only 

 a drop in the bucket for the average api- 

 ary. One must realize that a colony of 

 bees contains many thousands of individ- 

 uals, each of whom ranges over an ex- 

 tensive territory and carries home only 

 an infinitesimal amount of honey mak- 

 ing material. 



Consequently any honey plant must be 

 one that not only produces quantities of 

 nectar but which also occurs in sufficient 

 numbers to provide the necessary bulk of 

 nectar. Comparatively few flowers do 

 fulfil those two conditions although a 

 great many serve to supply the bees with 

 moderate amounts of nectar and thus help 

 to tide them over the lean portions of the 

 summer. 



Throughout the East white clover has 

 long been the leading honey plant. At 

 one time the jdeld from white clover prob- 

 ably exceeded that from any other plant, 

 but with changing conditions it has be- 



