FOREWORD

In the first volume of American Bee Journal, published in 1861, appears a plea for the publication of a volume devoted to the honey flora of America. In numerous instances since that time, writers have mentioned the great need of a work of this kind. In common with other students of beekeeping, the author came to feel this lack in our beekeeping literature. This book is an attempt to fill that need. It is to be expected that the first work on this great subject will overlook many things which should have been included and that numerous errors should creep in. In an attempt to gather the desired material, the author has visited the important beekeeping regions from the Atlantic Coast to California and from Canada to Florida and Texas. Careful notes have been made of the honey plants of each section as indicated by the many beekeepers with whom the author has come in contact. To this multitude of beekeepers who have thus assisted by furnishing notes of this kind the author is greatly indebted.

The literature of beekeeping has been carefully examined for references to honey plants, and hundreds of quotations appear in the text. The few bulletins which have appeared on the subject have been quoted freely, as well as similar material appearing in the bee magazines.

The illustrations are for the most part from the author’s original photographs, although a number have been borrowed from the American Bee Journal, which appeared in that publication, from John H. Lovell, Homer Mathewson, J. M. Buchanan, M. C. Richter, C. D. Stuart, Florida Photographic Concern, Wesley Foster, W. A. Pryal, and some others, the identity of the originator of which are lost.

Since most of the readers of this book will be men who are not accustomed to botanical classification, it has been thought best to treat each plant under the name by which it is most widely known, giving other names as cross references, and to treat all in alphabetical order. Numerous related subjects which seemed to have a place in a book of this kind, such as nectar and nectar secretion, poisonous honey, propolis, pollination, weather and honey production, etc., have been likewise included in proper alphabetical order.

No one is likely to be more conscious of the shortcomings of the volume than is the author. As it is his hope to expand the scope of the work in a later edition, he will be grateful for notes on additions and corrections from all parts of America.

Hamilton, Ill. November 18, 1919. FRANK C. PELLETT.

AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS

The late Prof. A. J. Cook estimated that there are nearly eighteen hundred species of plants on which bees work in America. Most of these are minor sources, which the bees visit incidentally for the minute quantity of nectar that may be available, or for pollen. There are some plants rich in nectar which can never be important to the beekeeper because they are not sufficiently plentiful.

Honey production, as a business enterprise, is dependent upon a few species which yield nectar abundantly and which are sufficiently common to enable the bees to secure honey in large quantity. In order to make the most of his business, the beekeeper should have a thorough knowledge of the honey plants in all the country surrounding his apiaries. It often happens that a distance of but a few miles makes a great difference with the available honey sources. Many a man by moving an apiary a few miles has greatly increased the yield. It sometimes happens that the plant which is the main dependence will fail, and that by moving to some other source, a crop may be harvested. To know fully the honey plants of his region, their time of blooming and habit of nectar secretion under his particular conditions, is of fundamental importance to the man who would succeed as a beekeeper.

In many places the presence or absence of a single plant determines whether or not beekeeping is worth while. Over a large portion of the Middle West, the beekeepers depend almost entirely upon white clover for surplus, and in seasons when this plant fails they get no honey to sell.

Likewise, in many localities in the irrigated regions of the Rocky Mountain States, when alfalfa fails to yield, there is no surplus honey. Yet in all these sections, beekeeping would be impossible if there were no other plants. There are localities where tremendous honeyflows occur for a short period of time, where beekeeping is not practical because there is insufficient forage to support the bees the rest of the year. In such places beekeepers often take advantage of the flows by moving the bees away as soon as the plants cease to yield nectar, and returning them the following year at blooming time. This applies to some parts of the valley of the Appalachicola River in Florida. While the flow from Tupelo is sometimes remarkable, there is a shortage of pollen throughout the summer months.

The ideal situation for beekeeping is one where there are at least three plants which yield surplus honey in considerable quantity, and which bloom at different periods. Beside the main sources, there should be a great variety of minor plants yielding both pollen and honey throughout the season to support the bees between the main flows. In such a situation, there is seldom an entire failure of the honey crop; and, in good years, the beekeeper fares well, indeed.

There are many localities where the bees suffer seriously for lack of pollen at some seasons of the year. An available source of pollen is second only in importance to an abundant honeyflow. This being the case, the plants which are generally regarded as valuable for pollen, especially those blooming at seasons when pollen is not abundant generally, are included in this book.