790 
SUNFLOWER 
height of the honey flow the bees gather 
pollen during the morning hours, before the 
sun has stimulated the nectaries. Later in 
the day little pollen is brought in. 
In Georgia there are several species of 
sumac, which are valuable, but the most im¬ 
portant is Rhus copallina , common names 
of which are dwarf sumac, and mountain 
sumac. This species extends from Maine 
to Florida and Texas and westward to Min¬ 
nesota. In a few localities in north Geor¬ 
gia it is the main source of marketable 
honey. In this State it blooms in August. 
In Texas in favorable seasons, depending 
upon rain, it also yields a surplus. In 
southern California Rhus laurina may yield 
one or more extractings of an amber-col¬ 
ored honey with a strong flavor. 
SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus ).— 
An extensive American genus embracing 
60 or more species. The common sunflower 
grows wild thruout the West, especially 
from Minnesota to Texas on the prairies 
and waste lands lying between the Rocky 
Mountains and the Mississippi River. In 
Nebraska it becomes a “veritable herba¬ 
ceous tree,” and completely takes possession 
of large waste areas 10 to 25 or more acres 
in extent. The tall plants also grow along 
the roadsides and about cities and towns. 
This species is likewise common in Califor¬ 
nia, and one year M. H. Mendleson of Ven¬ 
tura extracted a carload of wild sunflower 
honey, but the yield had never before been 
so large. According to Richter, the honey 
is amber-colored, with a characteristic fla¬ 
vor not disliked by many. Scholl says that 
in Texas bees gather much propolis both 
from the flowers and leaves. The stems 
yield a textile fiber, the seeds oil, and the 
flowers a yellow dye. Many other species 
of sunflower are exceedingly common both 
in the West and South. The Jerusalem ar¬ 
tichoke (H. tuberosa ) is a good honey 
plant, and bees visit the flowers in myriads. 
In Contra Costa County, California, there 
are acres of this plant growing wild. The 
tubers are used as a vegetable. 
“WILD SUNFLOWER OF FLORIDA.” 
This name is rather loosely applied by 
beemen of Florida to various species of 
Compositae that grow over the southern 
half of the peninsula, including Gaillardia 
lanceolata, Helianthella, Coreopsis , and 
burr-marigold. South of a line drawn thru 
Stewart and Osprey, the one on the east 
coast and the other on the west, there are 
thousands of acres of these beautiful 
plants, which resemble the Spanish needles 
and Chrysopsis of the North. They extend 
as far north as Osceola, but beemen of the 
southern third of the State are most 
enthusiastic over them. The “savannas” 
about the edges of the Everglades seem to 
be their best habitat, while they are not 
common on high pine land. The blooming 
period is in September and October. The 
yield is rather unreliable, and nectar is 
secreted only during very dry falls. A 
fair crop can be counted on about every 
two or three years; a “bumper” about 
once in five years. The honey is amber, 
fairly good body and rather mild; but it 
is, after all, a fall-flower crop, and by no 
means ranks with the best honeys. It is 
fine for putting the colonies in good condi¬ 
tion for the close of the year. 
SUPERSEDURE OF QUEENS. — Su- 
persedure is the replacing of an old or 
failing queen with a young one and is one 
of the natural impulses under which queen- 
cells are built. A colony in a large hive or 
hollow tree may not east a swarm or be 
deprived of their queen by accident for 
several seasons. But every queen grows 
old and must be superseded. Cells built 
under the supersedure or swarming impulse 
are more uniform in size and better fed 
than any others. One can usually tell un¬ 
der which impulse the cells are built. If 
under the supersedure impulse, the queen 
will not lay fast enough to keep up with 
the hatching brood. 
SUPERS.—See Comb Honey, Appli¬ 
ances for; also Hives. 
SWARMING.—The term “swarming” is 
applied to the act of a family of bees 
leaving their home to establish a new home 
elsewhere. In the broadest sense the term 
includes not only reproduction of colonies 
by normal swarming when the colony di¬ 
vides itself by part of the bees leaving, but 
also swarming out from various causes 
when the entire colony migrates. The term 
is sometimes applied to the division of 
