84: BEE PASTUEAGE. 



ter in Wisconsin, that " hives have hicreased in weight 

 one hundred pounds while this tree was in bloom." I 

 think these statements are quite as large as can be credited. 

 I have no comparable experience. I have weighed hives 

 during the seasons of apple blossoms, buckwheat and clo- 

 ver, the best source of honey wherever I have kept bees, 

 ixwd three and one-half pounds is the greatest yield I ever 

 found in one day. As a shade tree, Basswood, or as some- 

 times called. Linden, ranks with the finest. It is hardy, 

 and bears transplanting better than most kinds. This 

 stately tree with its graceful clusters of fragrant flowers, 

 adorns village or country grounds, while the soft music of 

 the industrious bee, among the branches, is attractive to 

 the dullest eftr. The honey resources of the country might 

 be greatly increased by planting such trees. 



Sumach, [Rhus glabra), is rich in its quality and yield 

 of honey. The shrubs coming into bloom in succession, 

 the supply is protracted beyond the duration of one set of 

 blossoms. Mustard, {Sinapia nigra), is also a great fa- 

 vorite. Its cultivation is remunerative for its seed alone, 

 and when we add the advantage that it is to the bees, there 

 seems to be a sufficient inducement to cultivate it. 



I have now mentioned most of the honey-producing trees 

 and plants, which bloom before the middle of July. The- 

 course of these flowers is termed the first yield. In sec- 

 tions where there are no crops of buckwheat, it con- 

 stitutes the only full one. Other flowers continue to bloom 

 until cold weather. "Where white clover is abundant, and 

 the fields are used for pasture, it will continue to throw 

 out fresh flowers, sometimes, throughout the entire sum- 

 .mer, yet the bees consume about all they collect, in rearing 

 their brood, etc. Thus, it appears, that in some sections 

 the bees have only about six or eight weeks in which to 

 provide for winter. 



