WILLOW-HERB 
893 
bees, flies, and butterflies. Bumblebees are 
common and one was observed to make 37 
visits in a minute. The pollen is pale 
greenish purple and is bound together by 
fine viscin threads. The anthers mature be¬ 
fore the stigma, and cross-pollination reg¬ 
ularly takes place. The flowers are odor¬ 
less. 
Cool nights and warm days, as in the 
case of many other honey plants, cause the 
secretion of the largest amount of nectar. 
The honey flow lasts longer than that of 
clover. In the Gatineau Valley north of 
Ottawa it begins one or two weeks later 
than clover, or about July 10, and lasts un¬ 
til about Sept. 5. It thus covers the larger 
part of the summer, or the months when 
the colonies are strongest. A colony on 
scales in a large apiary at Montcerf, Que¬ 
bec, 100 miles north of Ottawa, gained 20 
pounds per day for several days during 
August; and the average yield for six years 
was 144 pounds per colony of which prob¬ 
ably 100 pounds was from fireweed. 
In northern Michigan over 250 pounds 
of honey per colony have been stored from 
fireweed; and 100 and 125 pounds of sur¬ 
plus year after year have been reported 
from this source. In this region no plant 
furnishes more honey than willow-herb, 
and if the pasturage were permanent a bee¬ 
keeper would find in such a location a 
bonanza. It yields nectar, says Hutchin¬ 
son, during weather that would stop all 
storing from basswood or clover, and bees 
have been seen bringing in honey at a fair 
rate with a cold wind blowing from the 
north. “To my knowledge it has failed 
only once in a dozen years.” Sometimes a 
drop of nectar can be seen at the base of 
each petal. At times several pounds of 
honey may be brought into the hives in a 
few hours. 
For four consecutive years a good crop 
of honey has been obtained at Melford in 
northern Saskatchewan. A beekeeper near 
New Westminster, British Columbia, 
writes: “Last year my two best colonies 
gave 550 pounds each. I am satisfied that 
most of it, if not all, came from fireweed, 
which grows here in great profusion.” 
Eighteen miles southeast of Tacoma, Wash., 
an average of 120 pounds per colony has 
been secured entirely from fireweed. It 
has been reported that willow-herb is oc¬ 
casionally unreliable in western Washing¬ 
ton and that hundreds of acres in full bloom 
may not yield a pound of honey. But the 
fault is probably not with the bloom, but 
with the methods of beekeeping. Because 
of excessive rains in spring and severe 
droughts in late summer special manage¬ 
ment is necessary in order to secure a sur¬ 
plus. In the vicinity of St. Maries, Kene- 
wak County, Idaho, a large area of land, 
which has recently been cleared of forest, 
is covered with a luxuriant growth of fire¬ 
weed, which yields nectar until killed by se¬ 
vere frosts. The total number of colonies 
of bees in this locality probably does not 
exceed 100, but it is estimated that there 
is ample room for at least 2,000 colonies. 
Unfortunately the best areas for fireweed 
honey-production are difficult to reach and 
are, consequently, seldom utilized by bee¬ 
keepers. The loss of the apiary from for¬ 
est fires must also be guarded against in 
many locations. 
WILLOW-HERB HONEY. 
Hutchinson, whose knowledge of willow- 
herb honey was based on an experience cov¬ 
ering many years, described it as follows: 
“Willow-herb furnishes the whitest and 
sweetest honey I have ever tasted. The 
flavor is not very pronounced, but there is 
a suggestion of spiciness.” According to 
Sladen: “Fireweed honey is almost water 
white, has a good density, and a very mild 
flavor.. It granulates soon after extrac¬ 
tion.” In some instances the honey has 
been described as being as clear as water. 
The comb is also very white and tender. 
THE PROPAGATION OF WIILLOW-HERB. 
The seed-pods of fireweed are two or 
three inches long and contain a great num¬ 
ber of seeds, which bear tufts of long hairs. 
When the pods open the hairs, or plumes, 
act as parachutes, and the seeds are wafted 
by the wind for long distances. At times 
they are so abundant as to injure the eyes 
of moose-hunters. Fireweed also multi¬ 
plies by underground rootstocks which may 
grow twenty feet in length. When fire¬ 
weed springs up in dense shade the flowers 
develop imperfectly, or wither and fall 
from their stems, and the plants put out 
long rootstocks which seek to run out of 
the circle of shade. The more intense the 
