370 Beekeeping 



it is certain that not all of the plants named above produce 

 such honey. Mountain laurel, yellow jessamine and rho- 

 dodendrons are abundant in the lower Appalachian Moun- 

 tains and there are more bees to a square mile in this section 

 than anywhere else in the United States. Assuredly much 

 nectar is gathered by bees from these plants, and if all the 

 honey from these sources were poisonous there would be an 

 epidemic of poisoning annually in this region. Clethra is the 

 source of much honey, eaten widely with immunity. If any 

 plant is ever the source of poisonous honey, this fact should 

 be determined and made known, but the vague rumors now 

 current are valueless. It should be remembered in this 

 connection that certain individuals have idiosyncrasies 

 toward certain foods and this may account for some of the 

 recorded cases of honey poisoning. In some rare individuals 

 the eating of honey from any source or thick sugar syrup 

 causes violent pains in the stomach. Until physiologists 

 agree as to the cause of this phenomenon it is unsafe to 

 speculate, but assuredly honeys should not be ranked as 

 poisonous because they cause distress in eccentric indi- 

 viduals. 



Plant honey-dew. 



By all odds, the main source of the sugars that bees get 

 is nectar from flowers. There are other sources which should 

 be mentioned, however, which occur more frequently than 

 is recognized by beekeepers. In the absence of floral nectar, 

 bees gather sugars from any available source, giving prefer- 

 ence to those which have attractive odors. Many species of 

 plants are provided with glands which secrete sweet liquids 

 and which are located outside the flowers (extra-floral nec- 

 taries). Examples of this are found on the leaves of cotton 

 {Gossypium hirsutum) and Hawaiian hau {Hibiscus or Par- 

 itium tiliaceum, on outside of flower bracts also). Various 

 acacias have glands on the stems. Other examples are 

 found on castor beans (Ricinus) and partridge-pea (Cham- 

 cecrista fasdculata) and other cases are mentioned in the 



