294 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. [Ch. vi. 



CO produce a good honey harvest. There is an old say- 

 ing, that a country which produces the finest wool also 

 yields the best honey ; and a pastoral district is decidedly 

 better than one under tillage. The principle of the 

 matter is, that the bees are best suited with a long dry 

 season — an early spring, a hot summer, and a late 

 autumn. As not one of these blessings can be com- 

 manded by the apiarian, his art must be applied to 

 providing some mitigation of the injury suffered by the 

 bees when the season is short or wet. For early springs 

 the crocus, the blue hepatica, and the violet all afford 

 . good supplies of pollen and honey, and, if cultivated 

 near the apiary, will be of great service when the wild 

 flowers are backward. All varieties of the willow and 

 poplar furnish early supplies of honey, as well as of the 

 propolis to be presently described ; the blossoms of the 

 gooseberry and currant are very useful for the bees in 

 May. Wet, when it enters flowers of any kind, prevents, 

 the tongue of the bee from reaching the secret source of 

 honey. On this account it is well to know, as does the 

 bee, that the drooping blossoms of the raspberry escape 

 the effect of the showers, and honey is gathered from 

 them when other flowers are drenched within as well as 

 ■\vithout. For a similar reason borage {Borago officinalis) 

 is valuable for bees, and also because that plant con- 

 tinues to flower until the frosts set in. The honey both 

 from raspberry blossoms and borage is very superior. 

 Mr. Langstroth says, that "the precipitous and rocky 



