BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
This tree is met by a great variety of names, varnish trec, tree of heaven and Chinese sumac being common. The tree is a native of China and has been extensively cultivated as a shade tree in America. It spreads easily and is quite generally naturalized. Scholl lists it as a source of honey and pollen in Texas. Richter regards it as a wonderful yieldcr in California, where it produces an abundance of ill-tasting honey. It is reported as a honey producer in Georgia and is to be found in many States from cast to west in greater or less abundance. The disagreeable odor
**bema hastata),** which is found from Nova Scotia to Quebec and Manitoba, south to Arkansas, New Mexico and California, and on the east, south to Georgia. This particular species is usually found in low lands, along streams, etc. Richter, in his "Honey Plants of California," mentions another species, **Verbena prostrata,** as yielding considerable honey in some localities in that State. In Iowa the hoary vervain **(Verbena stricta),** is very common in upland pastures, especially over the north half of the State, and reports of surplus honey from this source are not uncommon.
Mr. Scholl reports **Verbena xutha** as yielding sparingly in Texas. While in the main the vervains can hardly be regarded as important honey plants, in limited localities some species are very valuable sources of nectar. Mr. S. W. Snyder, former Secretary of the Iowa Beekeepers' Association, reports the blue vervain as quite valuable in his locality, some years furnishing a surplus.
**VERVENIA, see Phacelia.**
**VETCH (Vicia).**
There are about a dozen species of vetch native to America and two or three varieties widely cultivated for forage. They yield some honey, and there are reports from beekeepers to the effect that their bees work upon vetch freely. However, there is little to indicate that they are an important source of nectar. Richter lists spring vetch as a source of honey,
Figure 140: Virginia careerper, or American ivy.
but does not indicate that it yields surplus in California, where it is grown as a cover crop. Some species have extra-floral nectaries.
Some of the group are regarded as good honey plants in Europe.
**VINEGAR-WEED, see Blue Curls, also Tarweed**
**VINE MAPLE (Acer circinatum).**
Vine maple is common on the Pacific Coast from Humboldt County, California, north to Washington. There are numerous reports of vine maple as an abundant source of early nectar in Oregon and Washington. The honey is amber and of excellent quality, but it blooms so early (Airill) that the bees are usually not in condition to store much surplus. (See Maple). In exceptional seasons as high as 50 pounds of surplus have been gathered by a single colony from vine maple.
**VINE MILKWEED (Enselenia albida).**
The vine milkweed is a smooth perennial climbing herb, with small whitish flowers. It is common along streams from southern Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley south to north Georgia and west to Texas.
It is reported as a good honey plant in the vicinity of Buffalo, Texas. H. B. Parks states that it is a valuable bee plant, if sufficiently common.
**VIPER'S BUGLOSS, see Blueweed.**
**VIRGINIA--Honey Sources of.**
Willows, fruit blossoms, red-bud and maples furnish early nectar and
Figure 141: Blossoms and leaf of Virginia waterfloral.
pollen. These are followed by dandelion, which is abundant. Persimmon, clover, locust, chinquapin, tulip-poplar, holly, laurel, basswood, tupelo and asters are sources of later nectar. Sourwood is found in some sections and produces an abundance of the finest honey.
**VIRGINIAS CREEPER (Parthenocissus quinquefolia).**
The Virginin creeper, also known as American liv or woodline, is a common climbing vine in thickets and woods from New England to Quebec and Manitoba, Dakota and Colorado and south to the Gulf from Florida to western Texas.
While the bees seek it eagerly at times and the vines fairly hum with them, it can hardly be regarded as of importance to the beekeeper.
This plant is often confused with poison livy, but the two plants can easily be distinguished by the difference in habit of growth, and by the five leaflets in the creeper, as shown in Figure 140, while the poison ivy has only three leaflets to each leaf.
**VIRGINIAS WATRELAF (Hydrophyllum virginicum).**
The Virginia waterleaf does not bloom until after the fruit blossoms are gone, and so has less competition for attention than some other plants that come into bloom during the same period. It blooms abundantly and
Figure 14: Masses of Virginia Waterleaf in the asthor's with garden at Atlantic Iowa.
grows luxurantly in moist woods. The bees have been so eager for the blossoms of this plant in the writer's wild garden and in the surrounding woods for several years past, that he has come to regard it is quite a valuable honey plant, although nowhere so listed as far as can be learned. Figure 141 shows the blossom and leaf of this plant, while Figure 142 shows masses of the plants in bloom. Apiaries in the vicinity of woodlands should find this plant of considerable value, judging from the writer's limited observation.
**VITEX NESUNDO INCISA.**
A plant of recent introduction by the Bureau of Plant Industry. Described as follows by Frank N. Meyer, explorer, who found it at Shantung. China:
"A sage which may prove to be a good plant for the arid Southwestern States. It is able to resist alkali remarkably well. The Chinese use it for basketry manufacture, taking the annual shoots for this purpose. It has pretty blue flowers and is diligently visited by all kinds of bees, and as such it might be grown in gardens as a semi-ornamental shrub. It grows, when left alone, up to 20 feet tall." Specimens tested by the author in Iowa, which were mere whips about 20 inches tall, began bloooming the same season, the last week in July, and had not entirely faded on September 10. The bees sought it eagerly and apparently, if abundant, it would be a valuable honey plant.
**WEA-HE-YA (Huajillo), see Acacia. WAHOO, see Hop-Tree. WAKEROBIN, see Trillium. - WALNUT (Juglans).**
The black walnut is a well-known forest tree in the eastern United States. Its usual range is from Ontario and New England west to Nebraska, and south to Florida and Texas. The wood is very valuable for the manufacture of gunstocks, furniture, etc., and is becoming somewhat scarce. The tree leaves out later than most forest trees, not developing its foliage until May or June. Figure 143 shows the pollen-bearing blossoms. These blossoms are long catkins borne on the wood of the preceding year. The blossoms appear before the leaves. Quantities of pollen are produced, and, at times, the bees seek the trees in such numbers as to make a continuous roar. The walnut blooms after the maples and willows, and is not as valuable as earlier blooming trees, because it comes at about the same time that the dandelions are in bloom. May is the month of blossoming in most northern localities.
The white walnuts or butternuts of the Eastern States, and the English walnuts, Japanese walnuts and California walnuts grown in the warmer parts of the country, especially in California, are relatives of the black walnut, and probably equally valuable for pollen.
west side, from about King County south.
Dwarf map **(A. glabrum).** In most timbered sections of the State. Honey value unknown.
Willow. Willows are abundant in almost every locality and are of great value for spring feeding.
Chittam **(Cascara sagrada).** Abundant in most sections of the west side and reported to be an important honey plant. It is being killed off in many sections, due to the harvesting of the bark for medicinal use.
Locust. Locust has been planted extensively in many of the irrigated sections of the State, where it furnishes an abundance of nectar at a time when it is badly needed by the bees. A surplus is gathered in many sections of Walla Walla County. A water-white honey of excellent flavor.
Dandelion. Abundant in all sections where there is sufficient moisture. As in most sections of the country, it is of great importance.
Cat's car **(Hypochaeris radicata).** Sometimes called California dandelion. Abundant west of Cascades. Supplies considerable nectar of amber color. In many sections it darkens the fireweed honey, and for that reason beekeepers like to avoid it, if possible.
Goldenrod. Abundant in all sections of the State where there is sufficient moisture. There are a number of species, but the writer has never seen a bee working on it in this State. This is due, in most cases, doubtless, to the fact that more desirable nectar is available.
Gum-weeds **(Grindelia).** Present in most parts of the State. Doubtless of some value.
Mustard. Important on west side in some localities.
Snowberry **(Symphoricapos racemosus)** and other species. Also called buck-brush, wax berry, wolf berry. Abundant on the west side and in the northeast part of the State. Common in many parts. Seems to yield well where abundant. Quality of honey unknown.
Milkweed **(Asclepias).** Two species are found on the east side. Neither has been seen on the west side, and is not reported as occurring there by Piper and Beattie.
Dewberry **(Rubus macropetalus).** Abundant in logged-off sections. Of considerable importance as a honey plant.
Alder **(A. oregona and A. sinuata).** Common on the west side in particular, especially the former.
Madrona **(Arbutus menziesii).** Common all over the west side, except in heavy timber. Supplies nectar, but importance unknown.
Helianthus. Two species occur. A small, early species, not determined; has been reported as important on the east side, where it grows with little moisture. The species is doubtless **H. annuus,** which is the only one listed by Piper and Beattie. The other species is doubtless an introduced species from the east.
Indian hemp **(Apoecynum premium).** Northeastern Washington. Important minor plant.
Phacelia **(P. heterophylla)** was found abundant in Kitiitas County, where it was yielding considerable nectar. Reported that the honey is amber. **P. tanacetifolia** has been introduced into northern Idaho at Coeurd'Alene in a very limited way, where it yields considerable nectar, considering its abundance.
Horehound and cattip. Both plants are found in considerable abundance in all parts of the State where there is sufficient moisture. Both seem to yield considerable nectar.
Huckleberry. Several species of huckleberries are found in the State and are very abundant in many sections, as, for example, Mason County. They have been reported as honey plants, but their relative value is unknown,--H. A. Scullen.
WATER-GUM, see Tupelo.
WATERMELON (Citrullus citrullus).
Where grown on a commercial scale the watermelon is the source of some honey. The bees visit the blossoms eagerly for both pollen and nectar. Important only in a few localities.
WATER PEPPER, see Heartsease.
WATERWEED (Jussiaeas californica).
The California waterweed is common to wet lands in the lower Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, where, according to Richter, it is the source of considerable ill-tasting honey.
WATLE, see Acacia.
WAXBERRY, see Snowberry.
WEATHER AND HONEY PRODUCTION.
It is a well-known fact that nectar secretion is very sensitive to weather conditions. However, the same conditions are not most favorable for all plants.
J. L. Strong, a beckeeper of Clarinda, Iowa, kept a careful record of weather conditions in connection with the daily gain or loss of a colony on scales for 29 years, from 1885 to 1914. In his locality, in southwestern Iowa, white clover is the principal source of honey. While the bees begin the season with the willows, maples, fruit bloom and dandelion, there is little surplus stored until the blooming of clover. Leslie A. Kenoyer, of the Iowa College of Agriculture, made a careful study of the Strong records and prepared a bulletin outlining his conclusions. While the records kept by Mr, Strong for a long period give material for fairly accurate conclusions regarding the effect of the weather on nectar secretion in white clover, it can hardly be expected that the same conclusions will apply to all other plants. (Bulletin 109, Agricultural Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa.) From the foregoing the following conclusions are extracted:
Abundant rain seems essential to stimulate plants to the vigor necessary to nectar production and to furnish the water contained in the section.
Some honey years are poor because of excessive rain. In June, 1902, there was 11.64 inches of rainfall. June, 1911 represents the opposite extreme, with.76 inch, and was also poor. Abundant rain in advance of the hexeyflow is of great importance, particularly in the month of May. When there is 5 inches or more of rain in May an abundant honey harvest seldom fails.
It is also shown that a heavy fall of snow during the previous winter tends to favor a good yield of honey. The abundance of snow provides both available moisture and protection to the clover plants during the cold months.
A rainy day is, of course, unequal to a clear one for honey production, and the fact is shown that best yields are gathered on the days just preceding and following the rains. A gradual increase in honey stored is apparent each day following a rain, until the fourth day, when it begins gradually to decline.
### Wind
An average of results for 200 days.shows that south winds are slightly more favorable, probably due to the warmer and clearer weather. East winds are shown to be somewhat unfavorable, probably due to the clouds and rains which frequently accompany them. (This does not apply everywhere.)
### Temperature
It is generally recognized among beekeepers that hot weather is most favorable for nectar secretion. The above records.show that the hot months do yield better than the cooler ones, this being especially noticeable in the months of May and September, which are often too cool in Iowa for best production. It was found that little honey was stored at a temperature below 70 degrees and that 90 per cent of the entire amount gathered was at temperatures between 80 and 100 degrees. Days attaining a maximum between 80 and 90 degrees are the best yielding days, being slightly better than those with higher temperatures. A variation in the temperature seems to favor nectar secretion. Mr. Kenoyer was able to show experimentally that low temperatures favor the accumulation of nectar. Days, then, with a wide range of temperature favored the hees.
A cold winter previous to the honeycomb cannot be said to be beneficial, yet it is shown that it is not detrimental. A warm March, however, often favors a good season. This is explained as due to the favorable conditions for building up the colonies of bees in spring as well as to the increased vigor of the clover plants through lack of severe weather at the start of the growing season.
### Kenoyer's Conclusions
"Mr. Kenoyer concludes that, I, June yields 56 per cent of the annual hive increase in honey, with about half the remainder gathered in July. 2. A large June increase indicates a good year. 3. There is an evident alternation between good and poor years. 4. A good year has a rainfall slightly above the average, the honey season being preceded by an autumn, winter and spring with more than the average precipitation. 5. A rainy May scarcely fails to precede a good honey season. 6. South wind seems favorable and east wind unfavorable. 7. The yield shows a gradual depression preceding and a gradual increase until about the fourth day following a rainy day, after which it remains fairly constant until about the fourteenth day following a rain. 8. Good honey months average slightly higher in temperature than poor, this being especially true of the spring and fall months. 9. Clear days are favorable to the production of honey. 10. Yield is best on days having a maximum temperature of 80 to 90 degrees. 11. A wide daily range of temperature is favorable for a good yield. 12. A low barometer is favorable for a good yield. 13. The fluctuations in the yield for a producing period seem to be closely correlated to the temperature range and the barometric pressure, acting jointly. 14. A cold winter has no detrimental effect on the yield of the succeeding season, but a cold March reduces it. 15. A winter of heavy snowfall is, in the great majority of cases, followed by a larger honey yield.
**WEST VIRGINIA--Honey Sources of.**:
Willows, pollen and some nectar.
Red maple, pollen and some nectar.
Arbutus, slight value.
Peach, important for nectar.
Cherry, important for nectar and pollen.
Redlund (Judas tree), contributing nectar and pollen.
June berry, slight value.
Hawthorn, or haw, pollen and nectar.
Apple, occasional surplus.
Dandelion, valuable pollen and nectar.
Azalea (pink), some nectar and pollen.
Huckleberry, nectar and pollen,
Tupelo, pepperidge, sour or black gun, valuable source of nectar, yields surplus.
Wild raspberry, valuable for surplus.
Tulip-tree or poplar, extremely valuable as a surplus plant.
Black locust, important surplus plant.
Sunmac, yields nectar abundantly.
Strawberry, important in nectar.
Alsike clover, very valuable to beekeepers, increasing in popularity.
Holly, important source of pollen.
White clover, chief surplus in certain sections.
Chestnut, some nectar and pollen.
Chinquapin, yields, but of poor flavor,
Basswood or lion, heavy yielded of excellent surplus.
Sourwood, very important, yields extra abundant,
Swamp milkweed, surplus in some localities.
Sweet clover, dependent for surplus.
Blue devil, or viper's bugloss, important.
Buckwheat, excellent yielder in certain years.
Goldenrod, contributory.
Asters, yield surplus.
Willowherb, yields surplus in abundance.
--Chas. A. Reece, Bulletin No. 33, W. Virginia Department of Agriculture.
**WHITE ALDER, see Pepperbush.**
**WHITE BRUSH (Lippia ligustrina).**
White brush is a very common shrub throughout south Texas. It has some resemblance to the Indian currant of the Northern States, except that it is larger in size. It has long sprays of fragrant white flowers which appear several times during the year, following rains. According to H. B. Parks, it yields little honey during the regular blooming period of spring, but during the rain-induced bloom, in late fall, it yields heavily.
In the lower Rio Grande Valley, beekeepers reported to the author that the blooming period is short, but that it usually yields well, while the bloom lasts. In many localities similar reports are received. Most beekeepers regard the honey as of good quality, but the plant not dependable. In seasons when there are frequent heavy rains considerable honey is harvested, as it blooms after every heavy rain.
**WHITE CLOVER (Trifolium repens).**
White clover undoubtedly holds first place as a honey plant in America. It is important as a source of nectar from Maine to Nebraska and south to Kentucky and Missouri. In all the Northeastern States it is one of the principal sources of nectar and, in many localities, it stands alone as the source of marketable surplus. Remove white clover, and beekeeping would be a poor dependence in a large portion of this great area. Alsike is similar in yield and quality of its honey, but it is not so widely spread. The white clover plant is a perennial and establishes itself
Figure 114: Blossom and leaf of white clover
in pastures, along roadsides and in waste places everywhere. It is a good lawn plant and holds its own with bluegrass in a way that few plants will do.
It yields more heavily in the northern part of its range. One Mineosta bekeeeper reports that a yield of less than 200 pounds per colony from white clover is uncommon. The author kept bees in southern Iowa for many years, and it was a rare season when the yield in that locality totaled 200 pounds per colony. In northern Iowa the average yield is much better than in the southern part of the State.
Best yields come in seasons following a year of excessive rainfall. In wet years the conditions favor the rooting of thousands of new plants, which are ready to produce a crop of nectar the following summer. Most readers of bekeeping literature are familiar with Dr. C. C. Miller's phenomenal crop harvested in 1913. From 72 colonies of bees he harvested more than 19,000 finished sections of honey, or more than an average of 206 sections per colony. His best colony produced 402 sections of white clover honey. The crop was due to a favorable season, combined with expert management. The flow was unusually long, lasting from early June to late August.
White clover yields best when the weather is hot, with plenty of moisture in the soil.
Honey from white clover is of the best quality. It is mild in flavor, light in color and commands the highest prices in most markets. It is the one honey of high quality produced in sufficient quantity to fill a distinct demand for long periods of time.
Most people prefer white clover honey to the somewhat more spicy flavors of alfalfa or sweet clover, though in color they are similar. alfalfa grown in southern California is of a different color and flavor from that grown in the Mountain States of Idaho, Utah, Colorado, etc.
**WHITE IRON BARK, see Eucalyptus. WHITE SNAKE-ROOT, see Boneset. WHITEWOOD, see Basswood, also Tulip-Poolar.**
**WILD ALFALFA or DEER CLOVER (Lotus glaber).**
Wild alfalfa is also known as wild broom, deerved and tanglefoot. In California it is regarded as an important source of honey over a large part of the State. It is a plant growing two to three feet high, with a woody stem at the base. The flowers are yellow, later turning red. Some years the plant is very abundant, then it dies out for a time, so that it varies greatly from year to year. The blooming season is from June to September.
"A very erratic honey producer. Some years, in some sections, yielding twice as much as the sages; this is true for either the coast or the valley side of the coast ranges, yet a good wild alfalfa flow on the east coast does not necessarily mean such is the case on the west side. Beckcepers report wild alfalfa honey as being white, light amber and at times with a characteristic greenish tinge. This is one of the main honey plants of the Coalinga district. This plant, according to Mr. Z. Quincy, of Ramona, upon reaching its second year of growth, after a mountain fire, is said to give us a great amount of nectar."
**WILD BALSAM APPLE, see Wild Cucumber.**
**WILD BERGAMOT, see Horsemint.**
**WILD BUCKWHEAT, see Erigenum, also Bindweed.**
**WILD CHERRY (Prunus serotina).**
The wild cherries are widely distributed over the North American Continent, and beekeepers who live in tinbered sections may expect to find one or more species within reach.
The photograph shown herewith, Figure 145, is of the wild black cherry, which is a large tree with reddish-brown branches and oblong taper-pointed leaves. This tree is common in the woods of Newfoundland, Ontario and Manitoba, south to Florida and Arizona. There is a smaller tree with very similar flowers, the choke cherry **(P. virginana)** to be found over much the same territory, while the western choke cherry, or western wild cherry **(P. demissa),** ranges from Dakota, Kansas and New Mexico west to California and British Columbia.
The larger tree **P. serotina,** is also said to occur in Mexico, Peru and Columbia. There is also a varicial form known as the mountain black
Figure 145: Blossoms and leaves of wild cherry.
cherry, found in southwestern Virginia, Georgia and Alabama. It is found on the open rocky summits of the higher altitudes. This form is a tree 25 to 35 feet high, with very rough bark and drooping branches. The wild red cherry, or pigeon cherry **(P. pennsylvania)** is common in the Northwestern States, and secretes nectar freely.