PRINCIPAL SOURCES. 879 
All the varieties of willow abound in both pollen and 
honey, and their early blossoming gives them a special 
value. 
“First the gray willow’s glossy pearls they steal, 
Or rob the hazel of its golden meal, 
While the gay crocus and the violet blue, 
Yield to their flexiblé trunks ambrosial dew.”—Evans. 
The sugar-maple (Acer saccharinus) yields alarge supply 
of delicious honey, and its blossoms, hanging in graceful 
fringes, will be alive with bees. 
In some sections, the wild gooseberry is a valuable help 
to the bees, as it blossoms very early, and they work eagerly 
on it. 
Of the fruit trees, the apricot, peach, plum, cherry and 
pear, are great favorites; but none furnishes so much honey 
as the apple. 
The dandelion, whose blossoms furnish pollen and honey, 
when the yield from the fruit trees is nearly over, is worthy 
of rank among honey-producing plants. 
Fig. 121. 
BLOSSOM OF TULIP TREE. 
The tulip tree (Liriodendron) (Fig. 121), is one of the 
