298 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



Nature kind ! laborer wise ! 



That roam'st along the Summer's ray, 

 Glean'st every bliss thy life supplies, 



And meet'st prepared thy wintry day ! 

 Go, envied, go — with crowded gates, 

 The hive thy rich return awaits ; 

 Bear home thy store in triumph gay, 

 And shame each idler of the day !' " 



.London Quarterly Review. 



K there is any plant whicli would justify cultivation 

 exclusively for bees, it is the borage {JSorago officinalis). 

 It blossoioB continually from June until severe frost, and, 

 like the raspberry, is frequented by bees even in moist 

 ■sveather. The honey from it is of a superior quality, and 

 an acre would support a large number of stocks. 



The golden-rod {Solidago) affords a late and very 

 valuable pasturage for bees, yielding, in some regions and 

 seasons, an important part of their Winter stores. Some 

 of the earlier-flowering varieties are of no value to bees ; 

 but those which blossom in September abound in honey 

 of a superior quality. 



The numerous species of asters, lining, in many dis- 

 tricts, the road-sides and the borders of fields, are almost 

 as valuable to the bees as the golden-rod. Where these 

 two plants abound, bees should not be fed untU they have 

 passed out of bloom, as light but populous stocks will 

 often obtain from them all the Winter stores they need. 



The following catalogue of bee-plants, which might 

 easily be enlarged, is taken from Nutt, an English 

 Apiarian : 



"Alder, almond, althea frutex, alyssum, araaranthus, apple, 

 apricot, arbutus, ash, asparagus, aspin, aster, balm, bean, beach 

 betony, blackberry, borage, box, bramble, broom, bugloss (viper's) 

 buckwheat, burnet, cabbage, caulifl^er, celery, cherry, chestnut, 

 chiokweed, clover, cole or coleseed, coltsfoot, coriander, crocus, 



