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ANISE HYSSOP 
WONDER HONEY 
PLANT 
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U. S. D 0 p*,rtHiflj 5 t of A.^Tiou]tiire 
By FRANK C PELLETT 
Reprinted from American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Ill., 
December, 1940 
I N the pioneer period of Iowa his¬ 
tory there lived in Pottawattamie 
County a grand old man who was a 
beekeeper and horticulturist. He left 
behind him a record of achievement 
which insures that he will be re¬ 
membered long after most men of his 
time are forgotten. 
H. A. Terry was a pioneer in plant 
breeding and originated many new 
varieties of peonies at a time when 
there was little appreciation of his 
work. Now, however, lovers of the 
peony cherish his memory and many 
of his varieties are still in cultivation. 
Terry more than any other man of 
his time also originated more varieties 
of plums which are still planted in 
present day orchards. 
Our interest, however, has to do 
with his beekeeping rather than 
his fruit and flower growing. The 
writer’s attention was first called to a 
very desirable native plant through 
reading an article by H. A. Terry 
which appeared in the Beekeepers 
Journal in March, 1872. Terry was 
no careless observer and when he 
stated that in his opinion an acre of 
anise hyssop well established would 
be ample pasturage for 100 colonies 
of bees, it demanded attention. He 
said that it produces honey in the 
greatest abundance which possesses 
in slight degree the same fragrance 
as the plant and renders it exceeding¬ 
ly pleasant to the taste. 
Coming from a man whose work 
has stood the test of time and who is 
now recognized as having contributed 
substantially to pioneer plant breed¬ 
ing the statement convinced us that 
midwestern beemen have overlooked 
one of the finest sources of native bee 
pasture. 
Immediately we sought to secure 
plants for the American Bee Journal 
honey plant test garden. The books 
state that fragrant giant hyssop 
or anise hyssop, (Agastache anethio- 
dora) is found from Lake Superior 
and Manitoba to Nebraska and west¬ 
ward. When Terry lived in western 
Iowa it was so common that his bees 
harvested fine crops of honey but 
when we sought to find it no plants 
were to be found. Apparently it had 
disappeared completely from the re¬ 
gion along with the Indian and the 
bison with which it had beeil associ¬ 
ated. 
It seems strange that our herb 
