HONEY, AS FOOD AND MEDICINE, 27 
honey of its own peculiar flavor, which, if not gathered, is 
soon evaporated and lost. Trees and flowers of nearly every 
variety produce both honey and pollen; but there are three 
distinct honey harvests in each year. The spring harvest is 
at its height when the apple trees are in blossom. Although 
the willow, hazel, elder, soft maple and tiny spring flowers 
each produce honey and_pollen nearly a month before apple 
trees are in blossom, and they form for the bees an accepta- 
ble change from the spare winter diet and also stimulate 
breeding, yet the bees scarcely gather from these what they 
consume during the time they are in blossom. When the 
hard or sugar maple is in blossom, and the peach, pear, and 
cherry are rich in honey and pelle they extend an invita- 
tion which is never slighted by the provident bees. The 
apple tree is classed with the raspberry, yielding an excessive 
flow of excellent honey. The wild cherry is rich in honey. 
The locust tree, either the yellow or black, is a great pro- 
ducer of honey, and while in bloom the bees will swarm 
around it tothe neglect of other flowers. White clover is of 
great value everywhere, it continues to blossom about two 
months, yielding superior honey. Tulip trees, called by 
some whitewood, blossom soon after the appearance of 
white clover, and secretes much pure saccharine matter ; 
nearly one-fourth of a teaspoonful is often contained in one 
of its large bell-shaped flowers. The catnip, borage, straw- 
berry, the butterbush, blackberry, persimmon, melilot clover, 
sourwood, mignonette, hoarhound, motherwort, chestnut, 
and various kinds of garden flowers, are rich in bony and 
valuable when in sufficient quantities. About the mi dle of 
July the linn or basswood opens it ten thousand fragrant 
etals. Where this timber abounds the bees reap a rich 
1arvest. Mustard is their especial favorite. A month 
later buckwheat sends forth its blossoms, lasting nearly tive 
weeks, and: in favorable seasons this is the principal fall 
supply, besides enough honey wastes by evaporation to purify 
the air for some distance around. <A further supply is 
furnished by the golden rod, fireweed, smartweed, boneset, 
asters of various kinds, and the yellow Spanish needle. The 
. smartweed seems to be a summer as well as a fall plant, and, 
with the Spanish needle and boneset, yields a chief supply 
in the north-west. Golden rod and aster is produced chiefly 
in the Middle States; furnishing in some seasons immense 
supplies of honey. 
PREPARATION OF HONEY FOR THE MARKET. 
In no country on the face of the earth is honey produced, 
either in ancient or modern times, that can excel or even 
equal that produced in America. Nature’ has supplied this 
vast Continent with honey-sources as varied and plenteous 
as can be found anywhere in the world. And within the 
