AMEEIOA HONEY PLANTS FRANK C. PEIiLETT -J- life •&. JM. ^Ctll pbrarg & ^orilj GJartilhta jifate (Allege 5F555 P4- Cop APR|FB&r JUt"2!8-!99^ m* 1-4 ^ • 7_jWL m AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS American Honey Plants Together With Those Which Are of Special Value to the Beekeeper as Sources of Pollen BY FRANK C. PELLETT Author Beginner's Bee Book, Productive Beekeeping, Practical Queen Rearing, Etc. 155 Illustrations 1920 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL Hamilton. Illinois copyright, ivzti. By Frank C. Pellelt All Rights Reserved 1 •"""Si***e N.C.S«a* To my indulgent parents, who early encouraged me in my passion for the study of Nature, 'this book is affectionately dedicated. ': i 60 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 beekeep- ing 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 in- debted. The literature of beekeeping has been carefully examined for refer- ences 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 accus- nomed 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. Numer- ous related subjects which seemed to have a place in a book of this kind, such as nectar and nectar secretion, poisonous honey, propolis, pollina- tion, 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, 111. FRANK C. PELLETT. November 18, 1919. AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS hun- The late Prof. A. J. Cook estimated that there are nearly eighteen dred 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 or 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 situa- tion, 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 8 AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 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. HONEY PLANT REGIONS Several attempts have been made to outline the principal regions of the United States. A careful examination of all these outlines brings out serious discrepancies. There are too many small regions within larger ones to permit of anything like accuracy with the present data and the present knowledge of the honey plants. In general, white clover may be said to be the principal honey plant of all the region from Nova Scotia west to eastern Dakota and south to Tennessee and Arkansas. Yet within that large area, there are many places where white clover is un- important, and where other plants furnish the principal surplus. In much of Michigan white clover is of first importance, yet in the cut-over dis- tricts of the northern part of the State, raspberry, fireweed and milkweed furnish nearly all the honey that goes to market. It is good clover terri- tory, and with the ultimate development of the region, clover will pre- dominate. In the irrigated regions of the Rocky Mountain States, alfalfa is the principal source of surplus, but sweet clover is rapidly crowding it for first place. Basswood was once a very important source of honey over all the Northeastern States. The cutting of the basswood forests has gradually reduced the basswood area until there are now few localities, in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois or Iowa, where it is really an important honey source. In parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario, basswood is still sufficiently plentiful to yield large quantities of honey, but there it ii; being rapidly reduced. In the cotton belt, where cotton would naturally be expected to be the principal source, the area would be divided into many small regions. Cot- ton may yield much honey in a locality where the soil is heavy and rich, while a few miles distant, where soils are light and sandy, there is little honey from cotton, although the plant is just as commonly cultivated. In the cotton region there would be a great many sub-divisions. In parts of Texas, mesquite is the principal source, in others catsclaw and huajilla (wa-he-ya), while in eastern Texas basswood yields heavily. Buckwheat is important principally in the region about the Great Lakes and south in the higher elevations to Virginia and Tennessee. Goldenrod is one of the most important sources of nectar in New England, while it is seldom of much value west of the Mississippi River, although growing abundantly. In California and Florida there are several entirely different regions within the State. There is no one plant of major importance over all parts of either State. A large amount of work still remains to be done before the honey resources of America can be mapped out with anything like accuracy. Changing conditions are rapidly removing one plant and AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 9 substituting another in many sections. When the author visited west Texas he was told by the beekeepers there that the clearing of the land and planting it to cultivated crops was rapidly curtailing the bee range, as no cultivated crops being planted were equal to the desert flora which was being removed.