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time, all through July and August, is certainly true; but it is not a 

 very pushing plant, and the seeds will not germinate unless exposed to 

 the weather for months. Thus it is necessary to plant in August or 

 September of the previous year if we expect a fair stand of this plant. 

 When this is done, unless the land is very free from grass and weed 

 seed, the latter will get the start, and our Oleome will be choked out. 

 Thus I think we have proved that Cleome is only suitable for planting 

 in waste places, when from its beauty and excellence as a honey plant 

 it rivals even the Sweet Clover. 



There seems little doubt but that we should secure much honey from 

 this plant were we to take the necessary pains to secure a full stand of 

 acres of vigorous plants. But this can be done only at large expense, 

 too large to ever pay in actual practice. 



RAPE. 



Knowing from the study of small plats, that have been grown here 

 for years, that the Rape (Brassica campestris var. colza) and the mus- 

 tards seemed especially attractive to the bees, and knowing that the 

 former was regarded very highly by many farmers for pasture, especially 

 for sheep, it was thought advisable this season to sow several acres of 

 ground to this plant. Part of the land was light sand and another part 

 clay loam. As the plant blooms in about four weeks from seeding, we 

 sowed it the middle of June. 



We are likely to have a severe drought at this time, and this year was 

 no exception. The seed failed to germinate well, especially on the sand. 

 By the middle of July both fields were in full bloom, yet the bees did 

 not swarm on the flowers, as we had hoped they would, nor did the 

 honey product seem affected by the near presence of the rape. I am 

 not sure that we gained any special advantage from it. If we did it 

 was not perceptible. The weather for nearly all the time was very cool. 



I do not believe it will ever pay to sow rape specially for honey. If 

 it is sown for pasture, as recommended in England and Ontario, there 

 will be but little bloom, and so, even in favorable years, the beekeeper 

 would receive but small advantage. If grown for seed there would be 

 a profusion of bloom, and in favorable seasons the honey product would 

 be without doubt greatly augmented. 



It is certainly wise for the apiarist to encourage and even urge the 

 planting in his neighborhood of any and every useful honey plant, as 

 Eape, Alsike, Clover, and Buckwheat. Often from unfavorable weather 

 they will not afford nectar, still they may bridge the whole distance 

 between failure and success. 



SWEET CLOVER. 



Bee-keepers have long known that Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba), 

 though often failing to secrete nectar, is still erne of our first honey 

 plants. It not only yields in favorable seasons very abundantly, but 



