HONEY PLANTS 
511 
flowers; wind-pollinated. Honeydew is found on 
the foliage of many species. In California enough 
honeydew is gathered from blue or rock oak ( Quer - 
cus Douglasii) to winter bees. 
Olive (Olea europaea ).—The flowers are wind- 
pollinated and do not yield nectar. A beekeeper 
located near 5,000 olive trees in California reports 
that bees store no honey from the bloom. 
Pigweed (CKenopodium ).— Goosefoot. White 
mfealy garden weeds, with small greenish sessile 
flowers in large clusters, wind-pollinated. Also am¬ 
aranth; also called pigweed (Amaranthus retro- 
flexus) ; coarse wind-pollinated weeds in cultivated 
ground; flowers in large clusters, of some value for 
pollen. 
Poppy (Papaver ). — The poppies are very large 
showy pollen flowers visited by honeybees. The 
scarlet color does not repel bees, as has been re¬ 
ported. 
Plantain (Plantago ). — Partly pollinated by wind 
and partly by insects. Very common, nectailess 
weeds, often visited by bees for pollen. 
Poplar (Populus). —Aspens. Small purplish 
flowers, wind-pollinated; pollen abundant, forcibly 
expelled from the anthers; valuable; nectar-glands 
at base of leaf-stalks. Honeydew sometimes occurs 
on the foliage. It should be distinguished from 
the tulip tree (Liriodendron Tulipifera). 
Prickly Poppy (Argemone ). — Large yellow or 
white pollen flowers. A. platyceras in Texas blooms 
in June, and honeybees gather large quantities of 
its pollen. 
Ragweed (Ambrosia ). — Small green flowers pol¬ 
linated by the wind; valuable in the fall for their 
abundant supply of pollen. Two common species 
are Roman wormwood (A. artemisiifolia) and great 
ragweed (A. trifida). \ 
Rockrose (Helianthenvurm canadense). — Large, 
solitary, yellow pollen flowers; common in the east¬ 
ern States. 
Roses (Rosa ). — These handsome well-known 
flowers are nectarless, but yield much pollen which 
is gathered by honeybees and many wild bees. The 
sweetbrier rose in Europe and the Cherokee rose 
in northern Georgia are reported to yield nectar. 
Rushes (Juncaceae). — Small, green, lily-like flow¬ 
ers ; wind-pollinated. 
Sagebrush (Artemisia). — Wind-pollinated herbs 
and shrubs, which produce a large amount of pol¬ 
len. Thousands of acres are covered with sagebrush 
in Utah and Nevada. 
St. John’s-wort (Hypericum ).—Small yellow pol¬ 
len flowers; common; attractive to bees after pol¬ 
len. 
Sedges (Cyperaceae). — A large family of grass¬ 
like plants; flowers small, green, wind-pollinated. 
The so-called “tule honey” has been reported to be 
gathered from species of Scirpus growing along the 
Sacramento River, California; but this is undoubt¬ 
edly a mistake. 
Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare ).—Pollen very abun¬ 
dant ; a grass. 
Tick-trefoil (Desmodium). ■ — Flowers resemble 
those of the field-pea, or vetch; many species are 
nectarless, and do not appear to be visited by hon¬ 
eybees, tho the pollen is gathered by bumblebees. 
Sometimes listed as honey plants. 
Walnut ( Juglans ).—'Large trees with small wind- 
pollinated flowers. Valuable for stimulating early 
brood-rearing in the spring. 
Many handsome garden exotics, as pelargonium 
and hybrid petunias, are nectarless. 
PLANTS THAT YIELD NECTAR. 
A honey plant may be defined as a plant 
which secretes nectar, accessible to honey¬ 
bees, in quantities sufficiently large to be 
of practical importance to beekeepers. 
This, of course, implies that in some lo¬ 
cality it is a common plant. If a list of all 
plants secreting nectar were desired, it 
would be easy to enumerate thousands of 
species; but very few of them are of prac¬ 
tical importance in bee culture. Many are 
rare, others grow in the deep recesses of 
forests and swamps, while still others yield 
so little nectar that the larger bees pass 
them by unheeded. The bunchberry ( Cor - 
nus canadensis) is very common in open 
woodlands; but the small flowers contain 
so little nectar that bumblebees ignore 
them entirely, and honeybees visit 
them only occasionally. They are left to 
flies, beetles, and the smaller bees. Then 
there are many flowers adapted to moths, 
butterflies, bumblebees, and humming birds, 
which have the nectar so deeply concealed 
that it cannot be reached by honeybees. 
Many a beginner in beekeeping has fondly 
imagined that his flower garden would sup¬ 
ply his bees with a rich harvest, wholly un¬ 
conscious that the gaudy exotics of cultiva¬ 
tion are often nearly or quite nectarless. 
In the following list the more important 
honey plants in North America, so far as 
known at present, either wild or cultivated, 
have been briefly described. 
Acacia.—There are about 300 species of Acacia 
in Australia and 150 in other parts of the world. 
Some 60 species have been introduced in Califor¬ 
nia. Half a million trees have been planted in 
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The species 
consist of herbs, shrubs, vines, and stately trees, 
and are well adapted to semiarid regions. In Texas 
catsclaw and huajilla yield a large surplus of ex¬ 
cellent White honey, but many, of the species are 
chiefly valuable for pollen which is produced .in 
great quantities. The small yellow or white flowers 
are in globular heads or oblong clusters. The Aca¬ 
cias are often called wattles. See Catsclaw, Hua¬ 
jilla, Huisache, and Silver Wattle. 
Agave.—A large genus of over 100 species found 
chiefly in Mexico. The plant consists of a rosette 
of fleshy leaves from the center of which there 
grows a stalk bearing many densely clustered flow¬ 
ers. See Century Plant. 
Agarita (Berberis trifoliata ).—The trifoliate bar¬ 
bary is valuable in southeast Texas for both nectar 
and pollen. The bright yellow flowers open in Feb¬ 
ruary. Common in waste places and in open 
woodlands. 
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa ).—A very valuable honey 
plant in irrigated sections west of the Missouri 
River. Honey white to light amber, heavy, with a 
pleasant slightly minty flavor; granulates in a few 
months. See Alfalfa. 
Alfilerilla (Erodium cicutarium ).—Maine to Texas 
and California, but most common in the West. Hon¬ 
ey of good quality and flavor. Blooms early, valu- 
