424 CULTIVATED FLOWERS USELESS TO BEES. 



which reason the honey of Germany bears in our markets 

 the most inferior price. 



It was the opinion of Huber, that the radii of the circle of 

 the flight of the bee extend beyond one mile, but the trans- 

 lator of Huber has in the promulgation of that opinion fallen 

 into the same error as the adherents of Schirach. It cer- 

 tainly stands in the original of Huber as eine Meile ; but 

 then a mile of Huber is equal to nearly four English, and 

 thus is Huber made to disseminate an error from the 

 culpable ignorance of the translator, which is a gross im- 

 peachment of his own judgment. 



It cannot for a moment admit of a doubt, that all positions 

 are not equally favourable to the culture of the bee, and we 

 wish to impress it strongly on the mind of every keeper of 

 bees, that it is a hopeless task to attempt to support an 

 apiary by artificial means ; that is, by the sowing and plant- 

 ing of a few flowers and shrubs in the immediate vicinity 

 of the bees, from which they are known to collect their 

 honey and farina. The bee in general despises all cultivated 

 flowers, and will pass by them with disdain to luxuriate on 

 the common furze, the broom, the willow, the hawthorn, or 

 the blackberry of our common hedges. We do not hereby 

 mean to dissuade the bee-master from cultivating in his 

 garden and grounds those shrubs and flowers from which 

 the bees derive their nourishment ; but a hedge of furze 

 and broom, or a field of wild mustard or white clover, com- 

 monly called cow-grass, is higher appreciated by the bees, 

 than all the flowers which bloom in a garden ; in fact, the 

 most commonly cultivated flowers of our gardens, such as 

 the rose, the pink, the carnation, the dahlia, the chrysanthe- 

 mum, the hyacinth, the auricula, the polyanthus, &c. are 

 all despised by the bee, and passed by as utterly unworthy 

 of its notice. 



The knowledge of the particular produce of a country, its 

 localities, and the greater or less extent of its cultivation, 



