BEE PASTURAGE. 



61 



in raspberries will furnisli pasturage for three weeks to T."! or 100 colonies 

 of bees. Mustard for seed, and rape for pasture and seed, niaj- be made 

 to furnish much to the bees in early spring. Buckwheat honey is dark 

 and strong, but is relished by some, and when well ripened is good 

 winter food for bees, so that whenever this plant can be made to blos- 

 som at a time when the bees find nothing better and a crop of grain can 



also be harvested from it, a plenti- 

 ful supply should by all means be 

 sown; the clovers, white, alsike, 

 crimson, and mammoth or medium 

 red ma}' be sown for pasturage, 

 hay, forage, for purposes of green 

 manuring, or for seed, and honey 

 of fine quality obtained if a suf- 

 ficient number of blossoms are 

 allowed to appear. Alfalfa (Mtdi- 

 cago sativa). a most important honey 

 Fig. 48-SaciiaiiBe or giant knotweed (Polygonum producer as Well as perennial foraffe 



sachalinense). * 



crop, can be grown over a much 

 greater area of the United States than has heretofore been generally 

 supposed. Sainfoin {Onohrychis sativa) and serradella {OniitJiojms 

 sativus), both most excellent honey plants, have not received the atten- 

 tion they merit either North or South. Japan clover {Lesjyedeza striata) 

 is grown profitably in the South, and more even might be expected 

 from the introduction of sulla clover {Hedysarum 

 coronarium) there. The trial of both by bee keep- 

 ers in middle and northern regions is strongly 

 recommended. They should also try the dwarf 

 (quick-growing) varieties of cowpeas (riV/;<a sinen- 

 sis) extensively grown in the South for forage and 

 green manuring. Vetches are of recognized value 

 for the same purposes, especially the Eussian hairy 

 vetch (T76'm riJlosa). Sachaline {Folygonuni sacha- 

 linense) and flat peas [Lathyrus syJvestris) are vis- 

 ited by bees, and in certain situations maybe found 

 of value otherwise. Peppermint {Mentha piperita) 

 yields well in July and August. Parsnips (i\f6-^/;irt(a 

 sativa) when grown for seed are assiduously visited 

 by bees for honey during June, July, and August. 

 Gorse or furze ( Ulex eurojja'us) for forage may 

 prove valuable in some localities here, as it is highly esteemed in some 

 parts of Europe. Its odorous yellow blossoms, much freciuented by 

 bees, appear in May. Filbert bushes {Corylns avellana) will grow in 

 many portions of our countrj^, yielding, besides nuts, an abundance 

 of early pollen, even in February or March. The carob tree {(\ra 

 tonia siliq2ia) succeeds iu the Southwest, yielding a crop of economic 



Fig. 49. — Eussian or hany 

 vetch ( "TiVia villoma i . 



