BEE PASTURAGE. 
61 
Fig. 48 
tg&<Jf?S^ 
»r giaut Kn"t 
tachaline nse). 
il (Polygonum 
in raspberries will furnish pasturage for three weeks to 1~> or 100 colonies 
of bees. Mustard for seed, and rape for pasture and seed, may 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 may 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 [Medi- 
co go sativa . a most important honey 
producer as well as perennial forage 
crop, can be grown over a much 
greater area of the United States than has heretofore been generally 
supposed. Sainfoin {Onobryeliis sativa) and serradella (Ornithopus 
sativus). both most excellent honey plants, have not received the atten- 
tion they merit either Xorth or South. Japan clover {Lespedeza striata \ 
is grown profitably in the South, and more even might be expected 
from the introduction of sulla clover (Hedysarum 
coronarium) there, the latter a great honey pro- 
ducer. Chicory, even on poor soil, is a good honey 
and pollen plant. Northern bee keepers should try 
the dwarf (quick-growing) varieties of cowpeas 
( Yigna sinensis) extensively grown in the South for 
forage and green manuring. Vetches are of recog- 
nized value for the same purposes, especially the 
Russian hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa). Sacaline ( Poly- 
gonum saehaiinense) and fiat peas (Lathyrns sylves- 
tris) are visited by bees, and in certain situations 
may be found of value otherwise. Peppermint 
{Mentha piperita) yields well in July and August. 
Parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) when grown for seed 
are assiduously visited by bees for honey during 
June. July, and August. Gorse or furze (Ulea 
europams) for forage may prove valuable in some localities here, as it 
is highly esteemed in some parts of Europe. Its odorous yellow bios 
soms. much frequented by bees, appear in May. Filbert bushes ( 'orylus 
avellana) will grow in many portions of our country, yielding, besides 
nuts, an abundance of early pollen, even in February or March. The 
carob tree (Ceratonia sili<iu<< succeeds in the Southwest, yielding a 
Fig. 49 — Russian or hairy 
vetch ( Vicia ril 
