HONEY PLANTS 131 



it secretes large amounts of nectar be- 

 cause the flower tubes are so deep that the 

 bees can not reach the nectar content. 

 Consequently we lose tremendous amounts 

 of honey every season simply because the 

 bees are not built to red clover measure. 

 Eor a long time it was the dream of cer- 

 tain bee-breeders to develop a race of long- 

 tongued bees that would be able to har- 

 vest this crop of honey from red clover. 

 Such a development would be of very great 

 advantage to the industry but so far it has 

 never been brought about. Some seasons. 

 due to hot dry weather, the flowers of the 

 red clover are so stunted in size that the 

 bees appear to be able to reach the nectar 

 and this fact has no doubt helped to sup- 

 port the claim made in some quarters that 

 a long-tongued bee had actually been 

 produced. 



Crimson clover, another forage plant of 

 value, has been considered an important 

 honey-yielding plant. It is planted late 

 in summer and produces flowers early the 



