FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



123 



one would care to see. It died root and branch the second 

 winter; even the young plants that had come from seed 

 the previous summer. It was on the lowest ground I 

 had, very rich, and much like prairie. 



When the boom for Chapman's honey-plant (echin- 

 ops spherocephalus) was on, I was among the first to get 

 it, and I succeeded in having a large patch. Bees were 

 on it in large numbers, but close observation showed that 

 a great proportion of them were loafing as if something 

 about the plant had made them drunk. I concluded I did 

 not get nectar enough from it to pay for the use of the 

 land, to say nothing of cultivation. 



One year I raised half an acre of sunflowers, and I 

 have tried other things, but have given them up. 



Fig. 39.— Hive-Stand. 

 APPLE-BLOOM. 



Quite likely if a second crop of apple-bloom came a 

 month or two later than the usual time, I might get some 



