bee-keeper's manual. 243 



To the above may be added the sunflower, the dandy- 

 lion, the hollyhock, and Spanish broom; but above all, 

 as a source of pollen, is the sunflower. In its golden 

 heads, may constantly be seen the industrious workers, 

 covered with the yellow farina of this flower, and busily 

 engaged in kneading it upon the cavities of their legs. 

 Every bee-keeper should plant a few dozen seeds of this 

 flower around the border of his garden, or among his po- 

 tatoes. Should an occasional seed be dropped in the 

 potato field, when planting that vegetable, say at every 

 sixth hill, the crop of sunflowers would be valuable for 

 the seed to feed poultry, and be of great advantage to 

 the bees, and not lessen the potato crop in the least. 



The blossoms of mustard, turnips, and cabbage, the 

 privet, the holly, phillyrea, bramble, sweet fennel, nas- 

 turtiums, asparagus, crowfoot, dead nettle, vegetable 

 marrow, white lily, coltsfoot, borage, viper's bugloss, 

 mignonette, lemon thyme, teasel, furze, heath, sainfoin, 

 «&c., are much frequented by bees. 



Among the forest resources of the bee in this country, 

 the most conspicuous are the basswood and maple. 

 From the basswood in particular, a great supply of 

 honey is obtained ; and where this tree abounds, in con- 

 nection with a profusion of white clover, there is the 

 apiarian's true El Dorado. 



Common red clover, that seems so very inviting, is 

 perfectly useless to the honey-bee, as so many thistle 

 heads ; for the reason, that the probosis of the bee 

 cannot penetrate the nectaries of this flower, owing 

 to their great length. 



