Suggestions for Improving 
Bee Pasture 
BY PLANTING OR ENCOURAGING OF 
AGRICULTURAL CROPS WHICH ARE ALSO 
GOOD HONEY PLANTS 
Needless to say, this offers most in the way of quick 
bee pasture improvement. Quite obviously, if field crops 
are grown on an acreage basis which are also good honey 
plants, nearby apiaries will benefit greatly so long as such 
crops remain. This is worth some study and effort and 
some research in the way of trying out new crops in a 
small way to find those adapted to your locality. 
SELECTING AND PLANTING FLOWER GARDENS 
AND SHRUBBERY WHICH ARE GOOD 
HONEY PLANTS 
It is, of course, too much to expect that the planting of 
ornamentals which you may make in a limited space will 
make a big difference in the bee pasture available. Still, 
if introductions can be made which become popular in the 
locality, it could in time make quite a difference, and 
especially so if some honey plants can be promoted for 
park and roadside plantings. Anyway, if you make plant- 
ings of ornamentals for nectar you can gain much enjoy- 
ment watching the new developments and the bees working 
them and at the same time add a bit to the nectar flow. 
NATURALIZING HONEY PLANTS ON 
UNUSED AREAS 
While this is no quick and easy way to make yours a 
good location for bees, looking ahead over a period of 
years, in many situations it is entirely practical to select 
and make plantings of good honey plants adaptable to 
available unused land. It may take some effort to 
get established on uncultivated areas the first scattering 
of plants you select for the purpose. But if selections 
are made which are suitable to the environment they should 
gradually spread around and in time add substantially to 
the nectar flow. We have a number of correspondents 
who consider such efforts well worth while. We have a 
friend in southern Missouri whose apiary is located border- 
ing on much broken land through which runs a small 
stream with woods bordering it. He has established 
Simpson Honey Plant and Golden Honey Plant in spots in 
the partially wooded areas and it has spread around and 
with the time has substantially improved his apiary loca- 
tion. 
While most apiary sites are not favored with large wild 
areas adjacent, there is often available some gullies, wood- 
lots or even fence rows which can provide something in the 
way of bee forage. We know of some who have improved 
their bee-pasture by starting Purple Loosestrife in 
wet places. This plant, which will not spread except under 
moist conditions, has naturalized to become plentiful in 
some localities on wet and boggy land. Many of the plants 
listed in this catalog will grow wild in situations suited to 
them. 
