Chapter II: Foreword (2)

On a visit to Tennessee the author was very much interested in this plant, which grows freely along roadsides, in barnyards and similar places, much as dogfennel or mayweed does in the Northern States. The range of the plant is given as from Arkansas and Texas to North Carolina. It probably does not appear to any extent north of Tennessee.

Chas. Mohr says of it (Plant Life of Alabama, page 54):

“The bitterweed, originally from the sunny plains west of the
Mississippi River south of the Arkansas Valley, was first observed in
Mobile in 1866. It has spread along the embankments of the railroads
to the mouth of the Ohio River, literally covering in many places
the waste and uncultivated grounds, and reaching out along byroads
and borders of fields and woodlands. It its northward spread it
has largely taken the place of the mayweed (=Anthemis cotula=), a
European weed of early introduction.”

Regarding honey from this source J. J. Wilder says (American Bee Journal, Vol. 54, page 410):

“It is truly a nectar-laden plant. Though it does not grow in great
fields as yet, bees will store from 30 to 35 pounds of surplus from
it. Its flowers are of a deep yellow; the honey, light yellow, heavy
body, soon granulates when extracted. It is bitter; in fact it is
about as offensive to the palate as quinine. In most sections of the
South the cotton plant begins yielding two or three weeks before the
bitterweed, and if it were not for the well-established fact that
bees do not desert a honey plant for another as long as it yields
well, nearly all the summer and fall honey would be unfit for market
on account of the bitterweed. In sections where the cotton does not
yield much, the honey is all bitter, and a small amount of it will
ruin a tank of good honey. Bitterweed is also a great pollen plant,
furnishing abundance of bright yellow pollen throughout its blooming
period. Even the stems and foliage of this plant are intensely
bitter, and no animals eat it.”

Pammel cites a quotation which states that it has been reported as fatal to horses and mules in several of the Gulf States. It is said to contain a narcotic poison and to be the cause of bitter milk.

A relative of this plant, the northern sneezeweed (=Helenium automnale=) is also a good honey plant, and probably less bitter than the southern or narrow-leaved sneezeweed just described. Neither, however, can be said to be a desirable addition to the honey-producing flora, because of spoiling good honey from mixing with it. The northern sneezeweed is found in various localities from Connecticut to the Dakotas and southward. It is also found in places in the Rocky Mountain States.

The bitter honey seems to be as good as any for brood-rearing and, where present, the beekeeper should use care to avoid mixing it with his marketable produce, and use it for feeding the bees. The bitterness is said to come from the pollen grains present in the honey, which improves greatly with age, as the pollen grains settle to the bottom of the container.

BLACKBERRY (Rubus).

The blackberries, dewberries and raspberries are closely related plants, all of which are good honey sources. The blackberry is especially well known in the Southeastern States, where it thrives in fence corners and moist woodland borders. In north Georgia it is one of the principal sources of surplus honey. Farther north the nectar yield is apparently not as good, and in some localities the bees apparently do not get much honey from this source. Lovell states that in New England there is very little nectar available from either wild or cultivated blackberries. Richter states that the Himalaya variety of blackberry yields some honey in Yuba County, California. John W. Cash reports an average of 25 pounds per colony of surplus at Bogart, Georgia. The honey is amber, very thick, and does not granulate.

There are parts of California where the dewberry is reported to be very important and to yield surplus. The honey is of good flavor and a light amber color.

The raspberry is the most important of the group. (See Raspberry).

BLACK BINDWEED, see Bindweed.

BLACK GUM, see Tupelo.

BLACK HAW (Viburnum prunifolium).

The black haw belongs to a group containing several valuable honey plants. It occurs from Connecticut to Michigan and south to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. (In the South it is given a varietal name.) It is a shrub or small tree, blooming in the North in May and June and in the South in April and May. Its principal value lies in stimulating early brood-rearing, since in few localities it is of sufficient abundance to be important as a source of surplus.

Scholl lists it as yielding well, early, in Texas.

BLACK LOCUST, see Locust.

BLACK MEDIC (Medicago lupulina).

Black medic is a widely distributed plant in California, but not very common. It blooms from April to June. It is the source of some nectar, but is probably not of much importance, except possibly in a few limited localities.

BLACK MANGROVE (Avicennia nitida).

Black mangrove (=Avicennia nitida=) is also known as blackwood, or blacktree. It is an evergreen tree, growing along the seashores of the coast of Florida. It is said also to occur to some extent along the gulf coast to Texas and throughout the coasts of Tropical America. It varies from a bushy shrub to a tall tree 60 or more feet in height in tropical regions. The wood is coarse-grained, hard and very durable in contact with the soil. The tree is to be found only in the vicinity of salt water.

The honey from the mangrove is light in color, mild in flavor, and is generally regarded as of first quality. According to E. G. Baldwin it was the heaviest yielder of nectar known in the south prior to the big freeze of 1895. In one year he reports Harry Mitchell, of Hawk’s Park, as having secured an average of 380 pounds per colony from mangrove alone. Following the freeze it failed to yield nectar in surplus quantity for about fifteen years, and reports since that time have indicated that it is not up to its former importance.

The blooming period opens about the middle of June and usually includes the entire month of July. The flow usually lasts from six to eight weeks.

BLACK TREE, see Black Mangrove.

BLACKWOOD, see Black Mangrove.

BLOODROOT (Sanguinaria canadensis).

The bloodroot is a common wild flower in the moist woods of all our Northern States. It blooms early in April, and is eagerly sought by the bees for pollen. The plant is shown at Fig. 24.

BLUEBERRY (Vaccinium).

There are at least four species of blueberry which give surplus honey in localities where they are abundant. According to Sladen, the dwarf or early sweet blueberry, (=Vaccinium pennsylvanicum=), and the sour-top or velvet-leaf blueberry (=Vaccinium canadense=), often give surplus in northern Ontario, northern Quebec and eastern Manitoba.

Blueberry honey is frequently reported from New England. W. J. Sheppard reports that =Vaccinium ovalifolium= is of importance in British Columbia.

There are several other species in the Northeastern States that probably yield some nectar. Sladen reports blueberry as important in Nova Scotia.

According to Lovell =Vaccinium corymbosum=, the high bush blueberry, is important in southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, in some localities beekeepers being principally dependent upon it. The flow comes late in May or early June and lasts for about ten days. Strong colonies store as high as 50 to 90 pounds of surplus from it. He reports =V. pennsylvanicum=, the low bush blueberry already mentioned, as common throughout northern New England, in pastures and on rocky land. It is important in the blueberry barrens of Maine. The honey is amber and of good flavor.

BLUEBONNET, see Lupine.

BLUEBOTTLE, see Centaurea.

BLUE CURLS (Trichostema lanceolatum).

Blue curls is a plant known by a great variety of names in California. It is known as vinegar weed, camphor weed, turpentine weed, flea weed, bastard-pennyroyal, etc. It abounds over a large portion of California. According to Jepson, the range is throughout the Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills and southern California. The Western Honeybee lists it as the best fall honey plant in California. Both foliage and flowers have a pungent, penetrating odor. The plant is found mostly in stubble fields, where it appears after grain harvest. From the same source we quote as follows:

“Under favorable atmospheric conditions it yields abundantly of a
very white honey, that granulates quickly and with a fine grain.
Sometimes it granulates before the bees have time to seal the cells.
One peculiarity of this plant is that it continues to yield honey for
several hours after falling to the ground. The quality of the honey
is good.”--Western Honeybee. October, 1914.

“It is often claimed that rain will end the honeyflow from blue
curls. I find by several seasons’ observation that this is an error.
If a rain is followed by favorable atmospheric conditions--warmth
and humidity--the nectar secretion is increased instead of
diminished.”--Western Honeybee, November, 1916.

The flow from blue curls begins in August and continues till frost. Richter reports that very large yields are sometimes secured from this source, tons of honey sometimes being stored in the vicinity of Fresno. A report of an average of 80 pounds per colony from this source reached the author when visiting at Visalia.

BLUE GUM, see Eucalyptus.

BLUE LUPINE, see Lupine.

BLUET, see Centaurea.

BLUE THISTLE (Eryngium articulatum).

The blue thistle is listed by Richter as the source of a dark honey of good flavor in California. He reports it from the Suisun Marshes, along the Consumnes River and the Alvarado Marshes, blooming from August to October.

BLUEVINE (Gonolobus laevis).

This plant is also known as devil’s shoestring, climbing milkweed, sand vine, wild sweet potato vine and anglepod. It is a vine of luxuriant growth, common on low lands from Virginia and Tennessee westward to Missouri and south to Texas. It is common in Southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, where it is a persistent and troublesome weed. It is especially troublesome in the corn fields, where it may be found climbing the stalks. A single vine will run for many feet on fence wires or other support. It blooms freely through July and August, and is the source of large quantities of surplus honey of good quality. The honey is light in color, mild in flavor and does not granulate readily. S. H. Burton, of Washington, Indiana, reports a yield of 60 pounds per colony in three weeks and an average of as high as 80 pounds per colony has been reported from Southern Indiana. From Missouri come similar reports, W. L. Wiley, of Brunswick, reporting as much as 100 pounds surplus from strong colonies.

The plant may be readily recognized by the abundant clusters of small, white flowers, which are followed by seed pods similar to those of the milkweed. When the pods are dry they split open and the seeds are widely scattered by means of their cottony parachutes.

The honey is clear, heavy-bodied and of excellent flavor. The plant grows chiefly in cornfields in river bottom land and is perennial. It blooms before smartweed, but the smartweed honey is usually mixed with it, as it comes in later.

BLUEWEED or VIPER’S BUGLOSS (Echium vulgare).

The blueweed, or viper’s bugloss, is a weed naturalized from Europe. It is common in the meadows and roadsides of the Eastern States. It has showy purple or blue flowers and grows about two feet high. June is the flowering period. Sladen lists it as an important source of nectar in Southern Ontario. Probably not sufficiently abundant to be very important in many places.

This plant was introduced into Australia from Europe by a settler named Patterson, and has become widely spread there, where it is known as “Patterson’s curse.” Rayment states that it yields honey, but hardly sufficient to store much in the supers. (Money in Bees in Australasia).

BONESET (Eupatorium).

There are 475 species of =Eupatorium= known, many of them found in Tropical America. Some are found in Europe, Asia and South America, so that the plants have a wide range. Forty-five or more species are common to North America. Whether nearly all yield nectar, we have no records to prove. Fig. 27 shows =Eupatorium ageratoides=, a species common from New England south to Tennessee and Georgia. According to J. M. Buchanan, it is common over the State of Tennessee, but only yields honey in the northern part. He reports the honey to be a light amber, of strong flavor. The yield comes in August and September. Fig. 28 shows the white snakeroot (=E. urticaefolium=), a species common to the woodlands of the Middle West. Although the bees visit this species freely, from September until killed by frost, usually in October, the honey yield is probably rather small.

The Joe-Pye weed or turnip weed (=E. purpureum=), is frequently reported as yielding honey, and it is one of the most widely distributed species. It is found from New Brunswick to Manitoba and south to Colorado, Texas and Florida.

The boneset of commerce is made from thoroughwort (=E. perfoliatum=), which is one of the best for honey in the Northern States and Canada.

All the bonesets are autumn bloomers, and the honey is usually mixed with that of heartsease, asters, goldenrod, Spanish needles and other plants blooming at the same period. Several years ago Professor Beal made the statement, in the American Bee Journal, that there were twenty species or more valuable to the bees. The wide distribution of the group, together with the regularity of its yield, make it one of special importance to the beekeeper, although the amount of surplus gathered from boneset is not often as large as that of many other well-known plants.

Some species of boneset are to be found in almost any kind of situation. While white snakeroot grows in shady woodlands, other kinds delight in open, sunny situations, along roadsides and in pastures or waste places. Some do best on high lands, while others thrive in low, wet land. In places in the Mississippi River bottoms in Illinois, boneset, together with heartsease and Spanish needle, cover acres of the richest land like a waving grain field.

An Illinois beekeeper reports =Eupatorium serotinum= to be one of the best honey plants he knows.

BOOTJACK, see Spanish Needle.

BORAGE (Borago officinalis).

Borage is a European plant which is cultivated for honey and as an ornamental. Its blue flowers are very attractive to the bees. The following quotations indicate its value to the beekeeper:

“The period of blooming is from June 20 to cold weather. Where there
are no plants for bees to work upon, borage does very well; but
when white clover and basswood are in bloom, bees will forsake the
borage for them. As cold weather begins to come, they swarm to the
borage. It is a good honey plant, when there are no plants of greater
importance in bloom.”--Fisk Bangs, American Bee Journal, page 84,
1878.

“In Practicher Wegweiser, page 280, Herr Willhelm says that in
response to the general cry, ‘Sow borage,’ he has been sowing it
for years and now has it in abundance. How the bees do hum upon it!
But, alas! now that he has it in such abundance that it shows its
character in the surplus honey, he finds it such as no customer
wants, and says it is as black as a certain ‘gentleman’ with whom
beekeepers do not generally care to have dealings. The task of
getting it now rooted out is a difficult one.”--American Bee Journal,
page 103, 1908.

BOX ELDER (Negundo aceroides or Acer negundo).

The box elder, or ash-leaved maple, is a near relative of the maples, and is sometimes included with them. Fig. 29 shows the staminate blossoms of box elder. As in the willows, the stamens are borne on one plant and the pistils on another.

The box elder is found from New England and Southern Canada west to Dakota and southward. It is also common in California. Apparently its range does not extend as far southward as other maples. It is very commonly planted for windbreaks and shade in the prairie States of the Central West. Some honey is yielded by the blossoms, and honeydew is often secreted by aphis feeding on the leaves. While not generally regarded as especially valuable, its season is such that its addition to honey-producing flora is important. The blooms come very soon after soft maple, in April.

BOSTON IVY (Ampelopsis veitchii).

The Boston ivy is a well-known climbing vine, clinging to the walls of brick and stone buildings in all our northern cities. The flowers are very attractive to the bees in midsummer and the bees store some honey from this source. The quality is rather inferior.

BRASSICA, see Mustard.

BRAZIL or LOGWOOD (Condalia obovata).

Brazil or logwood is a spiny shrub, or small tree, common to Western Texas. It occurs in the lower Rio Grande and is reported as a source of honey at Brownsville. There it is smaller than farther north and west. In places it forms very dense thickets, called “chaparral.” Beekeepers report it as important in the fall, yielding a dark honey. The honey is said to be of fine flavor, despite its dark color. The flow at Beeville is reported as being very rapid. At Goliad, W. C. Collier reports Brazil as the best all-round honey plant. He states that it blooms sometimes in spring and sometimes in fall. Again, it sometimes blooms several times, and yields at irregular periods. At Crystal City, the honey from Brazil is reported as rank flavored, exactly opposite from reports of quality in eastern parts of its range.

BRITISH COLUMBIA--Honey Plants of.

Indigenous honey-yielding flowers, Kootenays, B. C.:
Willows--Glauceus or pussy willow (=Salix discolor=). River bank
willow (=Salix longifolia=). Flower in March and April and probably
yield more pollen than honey.
Dandelion (=Taraxicum officinale=). Flowers in April and May.
Bearberry--Kinnikinnik (=Arctostaphylos Uva ursi=).
Blueberry (=Vaccinium ovalifolium=).
Huckleberry (=Gaylussacia resinosa=).
Choke cherry (=Prunus demissa=).
Bird or pin cherry (=Prunus pennsylvanica=).
Bearberry--Kinnikinnik (=Arctostaphylos Uva ursi=).
Wild raspberry (=Rubus=). Flowers in June.
Dogbane--Milkweed (=Apocynum androsaemifolium=). Spreading dogbane.
Snowberry (=Symphoricarpos racemosus=).
Wolfberry (=Symphoricarpos occidentalis=).
Canada thistle (=Cirsium arvense=). Flowers in June and July.
Willow herb or fireweed (=Epilobium angustifolium=).
Goldenrod (=Soladago canadense=). Flowers in July and August.

--W. J. Sheppard. American Bee Journal, Nov., 1917.

BROOMWEED (Gutierrezia texana).

Broomweed is a common fall plant over a large portion of Texas, on the prairies. According to Scholl it yields well in September and October. The honey is dark and strong and valued mostly for winter stores. In the November 1, 1906, issue of American Bee Journal he writes as follows concerning this plant:

“Broomweed is still in bloom, the pastures being one sheet of golden
yellow. Cold nights and cool, windy days have interfered with the
bees somewhat, but there are yet many warm days when the bees are
very busy. Some of my bees have stored a good deal of surplus from
this plant, for this time of the year--about 20 pounds per colony.
The honey is a golden yellow and has a somewhat strong taste, a
little bitter, and hence is not a suitable honey for market.”

BUCKBRUSH, see Indian Currant, also Snowberry and Dogbane.

BUCKEYE (Aesculus).

The buckeye or horse chestnut is widely distributed and well known because of the poisonous properties of the peculiar nut-like fruit, everywhere called buckeye. There are several species, with minor differences. The photograph is of the blossoms of the Ohio buckeye (=Aesculus glabra=). This species occurs from New England west to Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma and south to Georgia, Alabama and east Texas. There is a species common on the Pacific Coast known as the California buckeye (=Aesculus californica=). This species is reported as yielding considerable honey in some localities in California, and some beekeepers think it is poisonous to the bees.

The buckeye is widely mentioned as a honey plant, though there are few localities where it is sufficiently abundant to be important as a source of surplus.

BUCKTHORN (Rhamnus).

The common buckthorn (=Rhamnus cathartica=) is a hedge plant introduced from Europe and commonly cultivated. It has become naturalized in some localities.

In California there are three species reported as important sources of honey. The coffee berry (=Rhamnus californica=) is an evergreen shrub 4 to 6 feet high, with olive-like leaves, common to the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada Mountains and southward. Called also pigeon berry.

Richter reports this species as yielding an amber honey of very heavy body in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and also in San Diego County. Honey of good flavor, slightly cathartic.

The redberry (=Rhamnus crocea=) occurs in the Napa Range and southward near the coast to southern California, according to Jepson. It is tree-like, with a distinct trunk, sometimes several stems clustered, 5 to 12 feet high. Richter reports it of special value for early breeding.

The Cascara Sagrada or Chittam (=Rhamnus purshiana=) occurs in northern California, where it is reported as an important source of amber honey. In the timbered portions of western Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, it is reported as one of the chief sources of honey. The honey is amber, with a delightful aroma. When fully ripened it is too thick to extract readily, and there is much breakage of combs. The flow begins in May and the honey is usually mixed with that from other plants. The blooming period lasts about a month.

“We get more honey from cascara than from any other one plant in this
vicinity. It is so dark as a comb honey that it is a poor seller to
those who go on looks alone. We prefer it on our table to any other
honey. I have customers who will take no other. It is not purgative,
but one of the best remedies for chronic constipation known. I
have never known any of the pure article to granulate under any
conditions.”--A. D. Herold, Gleanings, Jan. 1, 1910.

BUCKWHEAT (Fagopyrum esculentum).

Buckwheat is a native to Asia, which was early introduced into America from Europe by the colonists. It has become an important field crop, and buckwheat flour is a staple in American markets. It is often sowed as a catch crop on lands that have not been ready for early sown crops, or where the first sowed crop failed to secure a stand. It requires a short season in which to reach maturity and is usually sown in June or July. It needs a cool, moist climate for best results and often fails to yield a satisfactory crop of grain or to secrete nectar in the hot and dry atmosphere of Iowa and Nebraska.

It is well suited to sandy or other light soils and is grown extensively in the sandy lands of northern Michigan.

Buckwheat is an important source of surplus honey in the region of the Great Lakes. Ontario, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan are the States from which come the great crops of buckwheat honey. Although the crop is often grown further west, the amount of honey secured is very disappointing in most cases. The author corresponded with a number of prominent Iowa beekeepers, and found only one who had secured surplus honey from buckwheat to any extent, and his was mixed with other sources to such an extent as to have a very different color and flavor from that which is secured unmixed.

It was given a trial at the Texas Agricultural College for a period of three years. It failed to meet expectations as a honey plant on account of the hot and dry weather which prevails there during most summers. It was reported as blooming profusely, but not yielding nectar.

In New York it is regarded as one of the best honey plants. The late E. W. Alexander, writing in Gleanings, stated that he had kept 200 colonies in a location with scarcely 100 acres of buckwheat within four miles, yet had harvested 15 to 20 pounds of section honey from buckwheat per colony. He stated that it yielded best with cool nights followed by a clear sky and a hot sun, with little or no wind. Under such conditions it secreted nectar freely from about 9 a. m. to 2 p. m. No bees would be seen on it earlier or later in the day. On one occasion, when there were 1,500 acres of buckwheat within reach of his bees, they were gathering fast at the beginning of the August harvest. A thunder storm caused the temperature to drop 21 degrees in less than half an hour. The weather remained cloudy and windy, with a temperature of about 65 degrees, for eleven days. During that time the bees gathered no honey, and destroyed much of their brood.--Gleanings, March 15, 1907.

The Ontario Association’s Crop Report Committee reported an average per colony production of 23 pounds from the more than ten thousand colonies belonging to its members for two years in succession. A writer in the American Bee Journal asserts that in a favorable season an acre of buckwheat will yield 25 pounds of honey daily, and that a strong colony within half a mile of a field, will store six to eight pounds per day. Alexander kept as high as 700 colonies in one yard, at his home near Delanson, New York, and secured satisfactory crops, though, of course, there was a large acreage within reach.

Quality of the Honey

Honey from buckwheat is very dark and has a strong flavor. People who are accustomed to light and mild honey of the clover type seldom like it. On the other hand, residents of the west, who were raised in the buckwheat country of eastern New York, regard the clover honey as insipid and not to be compared to the dark honey with which they were familiar in childhood. Buckwheat honey has a peculiar flavor, slightly nauseating to one unaccustomed to it.

During a heavy flow from this source there is a strong odor present in the apiary which can be detected for some distance. J. L. Byer, in the American Bee Journal, tells of a case where a farmer and his wife spent some time looking for dead chickens in the vicinity of the hives, mistaking the odor of the new nectar, which the bees were bringing in, for that of a dead fowl. (Page 306, October, 1908.)

Buckwheat varies somewhat in density, according to weather conditions at the time it is gathered. When fully ripened on the hives it is sometimes so thick as to be hard to extract. Some beekeepers report honey from this source which weighs as much as fourteen pounds to the gallon. On the other hand, there are numerous reports of very thin honey, probably because of being extracted before fully ripened.

Buckwheat honey is used largely in France to make a gingerbread “pain d’épices,” in which the peculiar odor and flavor of the buckwheat is very noticeable and is much liked by those who are accustomed to it.

BUCKWHEAT TREE, see Ti-Ti.

BUFFALO BEAN, see Loco Weed.

BULL BAY, see Magnolia.

BUM-WOOD, see Poisonwood.

BURDOCK (Arctium lappa).

The burdock is a coarse, disagreeable weed, introduced from Europe and Asia. It is now common over the United States. The burrs fasten themselves to the clothing or to passing animals, and in this manner the seeds are spread. It is a biennial, common in barn lots and waste places.

The burdock is one of the many plants on which the bees work to some extent that never count for very much in the total production of the hive. The sources of surplus are comparatively few in number, but there are hundreds of plants from which the bees get a taste of honey or pollen. The presence or absence of these minor plants makes a great difference in the value of a locality for honey production. If there are enough of them to keep the bees busy, and sustain the colony between flows when the good yield comes, the bees are in the best possible condition to take advantage of the opportunity.

=BUR CLOVER (Medicago denticulata).= Wild.

Bur clover is a relative of alfalfa which is very common over much of California. The burs are produced abundantly and the plant is prized as a stock forage. The plant, although spreading like a weed, is valuable both to live stock and for bees. The principal blooming period is from March till June, though it blooms to some extent at all seasons.

Richter lists it as especially valuable to stimulate early breeding, but states that surplus is occasionally harvested from this source and that it is fully equal to filaree or pin clover as a honey plant.

BUR-MARIGOLD, see Spanish Needle.

BUSH HONEYSUCKLE (Diervilla Lonicera).

The bush honeysuckle is a common bush shrub in the northeastern States. It is to be found from Newfoundland south to North Carolina and west to Minnesota. It is reported as common in New England and Ontario. In Northern Minnesota, where it is abundant, beekeepers report that the bees work it eagerly when the weather will permit. The flowers are not showy, but the profuse bloom is rich in nectar. The blooming period begins in June and, in some places, continues as late as August.

BRUNNICHIA.

The tendril-bearing smartweed, or ladies’ ear drops (=Brunnichia cirrhosa=) is a perennial climbing vine, common to the southeastern States. It ranges from southern Illinois and Arkansas to South Carolina and Florida. An Arkansas beekeeper reports that the plant is abundant in his locality and covered with bees.

H. B. Parks reports it grows on the low lands of Southeast Texas, where it blooms from March till August and yields some surplus.

BUFFALO CURRANT (Ribes aureum).

The yellow flowers of the buffalo currant are very fragrant and apparently contain much nectar. The writer has often noticed the bees working on the blossoms, but since the corolla tubes are half an inch or more in length he supposed they were getting only pollen. A close examination showed that the bees were unmistakably getting nectar from this source and that the tubes had been slit entirely down one side by some unknown agency. Whether this is a common occurrence the author cannot say.

BUTTER WEED or GROUNDSEL (Senecio).

The groundsels are herbs with alternate leaves and mostly yellow flowers, common to the northeastern States. The bees are reported as working upon them freely, but they are probably of minor importance.

BUTTON-BUSH (Cephalanthus occidentalis).

The button-bush, also called button willow, is a bushy shrub growing in marshy places, stagnant shallow water, and along streams, from New England to Texas and west to California. This shrub, or in places a small tree, has a very wide range and is found in most of the States where honey production is important. Bulletin No. 102 of the Texas Agricultural College, reports it as common throughout Texas, and the bulletin relating to honey plants of California (217 Experiment Station), records it as a good honey plant in California. It is listed in the catalog of plants of nearly every State and of Canada, which the author has consulted. It is also said to occur in Asia, and possibly Africa.

Our readers who live in the vicinity of wet lands are likely to find specimens near at hand. In a few sections it is sufficiently abundant to be an important addition to the midsummer flora. It is reported as more particularly valuable in the overflowed lands along the Mississippi River. The bees seek it eagerly when in bloom, and in places where it is plentiful it is regarded as of considerable value as a honey plant.

The honey is light in color and mild in flavor, according to published reports. Fig. 33 shows a near view of the flowers, which are crowded together in dense heads, giving them the appearance of cotton balls.

The shrub is very bushy, with an abundant foliage. It is reported as reaching a height of 40 feet in California. In Alabama it is recorded as a shrub of from 6 to 15 feet in height, which is more like its appearance in Iowa, according to the author’s observation. Here it is rather a small bush, not much higher than a man’s head, and as far across, with many branches from the ground.

The blooming period is July and August, according to locality, a season when additions to the honey-producing flora are most welcome.

BUTTON-WEED (Diodia teres).

The button-weed occurs on sandy lands from New England to Florida and west to Kansas and Texas. Scholl lists it as yielding honey well during drought in Texas, but not as a source of surplus.

BUTTON WILLOW, see Button Bush.