THE INTRODUCTION OF HONEY - PRODUCING 
PLANTS. 
By D. L. Van Dine, 
Secretary, Hawaiian Bee-Keepers' Association, Honolulu. 
The source of our floral honey is, in the main, the flowers of 
algeroba. Our algeroba forests are, on the whole, well stocked 
with bees and although the bees do elaborate honey from the 
flowers of lantana, guava, oi, the ilimas, ohia, rice, pili, palm 
trees, citrus, and various ornamental trees, vines, and plants as 
well as certain weeds and shrubs, we must admit that our floral 
honey is limited in amount and in many instances this limit has al- 
ready been reached. To increase greatly our production of floral 
honey we must introduce nectar-producing plants. Outside of the 
possibility of increasing the output of floral honey, the introduc- 
tion of bee plants that will flower at a season when the algeroba 
is not in flow will prove of great importance to the bee-keeping 
interests. A bloom of even small amount preceding the algeroba 
flow would stimulate the brood, while plants that would yield 
nectar after the main flow has passed would mean that all of the 
crop could be extracted. 
On my return from the trip to Washington in the interests of 
marketing Hawaiian honey, I spent some ten days in California 
investigating the honey-producing plants of that country with the 
idea of securing desirable plants for introduction into Hawaii. I 
arrived at Riverside from Southern Texas on June 1st and there 
met Mr. J. M. Rankin, Special Agent in Apiculture of the United 
States Department of Agriculture. In company with Mr. Ran- 
kin, who had spent over a year studying the bee plants of Cali- 
fornia, I covered the territory from Riverside to San Francisco 
and gained much information that I believe will prove of great 
value to the Hawaiian bee-keepers. I want to say that all ex- 
penses of the California work, with the exception of my own liv- 
ing expenses, w r ere paid by the Office of Apiculture at Washing- 
ton. 
Following is a list of the principal bee plants of California : 
The Sages (Artemesia) — black, white and button (purple). 
The black sage is the most important bee plant in California. The 
sages are all large yielders and are dry-land plants. The honey is 
white in color and mild in flavor. 
Alfalfa ( 10 varieties). 
Phacelia tancetifolia. Blooms during May and June. Common 
on waste, barren land. Good yielder and the best of the Phacelias. 
Gives a dark, highly flavored honey. P. congesta, observed only 
in rocky places. P. parryi, only a fair honey plant in Southern 
