178 The Honey-Makers 



This elaboration of nectar takes place in some flowers 

 with amazing rapidity, so that if the blossoms are protected 

 from the approach of insects, in a few hours they will look 

 as if they had been dipped in honey. 



There is a very beautiful plant, Cleome Integrifolia, grow- 

 ing wild in the west, and known as the Rocky Mountain 

 Bee Plant, which yields an extraordinary quantity of honey, 

 and a near relative of this, commonly known as the Spider 

 Plant, a native of South America, is not only one of the 

 most beautiful of garden flowers, but one of the most 

 remarkable of honey-producers. 



The lovely pink flower clusters with their airy petals and 

 long and slender filaments yield five gallons of nectar to 

 the acre daily, and continue to bloom freely for three 

 months. So vigorous is the life of these plants that the 

 nectary can easily be seen filling up after it has been 

 licked out by a bee, and the nectar is often elaborated in 

 such abundance that it streams out on the ground. 



However, it is not necessary to go so far afield for plants 

 yielding large store of nectar, as the flowers in our gardens, 

 the nasturtiums, the honey-suckles, and many others, pro- 

 duce an amount that is readily observable, and all know 

 of the drop hidden at the bottom of each floret of clover. 



Both red and white clover yield a surprising amount of 

 honey of superior delicacy, and one bee-keeper reports 

 having obtained sixty-six pounds of clover honey in three 

 days from one hive. 



Linden or lime-tree nectar is poured forth in such in- 

 viting abundance that during the period of bloom the trees 

 resound like enormous bee-hives, for every bee within fly- 

 ing distance is on hand to fill its little " bottle," as Butler 

 calls its honey-sac, and even on moonlight nights the trees 

 have been known to breathe forth the hum of industry. 



The viper's bugloss, or " blue thistle," which is not a 



