114 BEE CULTURE. 
from sweet clover. Sow the seed in the fall, or in winter on 
the snow, or harrow in with the spring rains. 
There are several varieties of the mustard (Sinapis) which 
furnish honey. These have been extensively cultivated for 
the seeds alone, and always have a commercial value. The 
length of season for bloom is quite extended, and where a 
dearth of honey pasturage prevails, bees will work on them 
vigorously. They bloom during July and August. 
Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is familiar to every 
northern bee-keeper. Its value cannot be too highly estima- 
t 
Fie. 85.—Buckwheat in Bloom. 
ted. Its grain always commands ready sale in market, and 
the honey, though dark and strong, is highly prized for man- 
ufacturing and other purposes. It furnishes an excellent 
winter food for the bees, and when well ripened will enable 
the producer to avail himself of all the white grades of honey 
stored earlier in the season. In early morning the bees work 
on the buckwheat with great enthusiasm, and gather honey 
from it rapidly ; but during the middle and latter part of the 
day they entirely neglect it, unless the weather be quite 
cloudy and humid. In the Southern States, we have been 
