BEE PASTURAGE. 135 



charinus) yield a considerable quantity of honey, but 

 later than the soft maple. Turnips produce a very 

 copious supply of both honey and pollen, and if left 

 standing in the ground over winter, they bloom just 

 at a time to fill the recess between the fruit tree 

 flowers and the clover. This is also the case with 

 the cabbage family, all of which yield large quanti- 

 ties of honey. A field of either turnips or cabbage 

 at this early season, is of greater value to the bees 

 than the same quantity of either clover or buckwheat. 



I would here impress upon the minds of all bee- 

 keepers the importance of cultivating a field in tur- 

 nips each year. In the fall gather in all the large, fine 

 ones, either for marketing or for feeding sheep 

 and cattle during winter, for which they are very 

 valuable, and will well repay the expense of raising 

 them ; enough small ones will be left standing in the 

 ground over winter to make a rich field of pasturage 

 for the bees in the spring, leaving the ground in fine 

 condition for a crop of buckwheat, or to sow down in 

 wheat in autumn, or to again put down in turnips. 



The various kinds of blackberries, and the wild or 

 bird cherry (cerasus seratina), yield honey, and serve 

 to supply to some extent the recess above referred to. 

 We have also a species of kale, or wild turnip, 

 which if sowed very early in the spring will com- 

 mence to bloom toward the latter part of May, and 

 is very valuable. I can supply seed of this plant at 

 any time to persons desiring it. 



Raspberries of all kinds yield an immense amount 

 of honey, and continue blooming, giving a succession 



