BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
So many reports from well-known beekeepers are to be found in our literature, that it seems worth while to quote several of them, together with the place where the reference is to be found. Mr. Wm, McEvoy, of Woodburn, Ontario, wrote to Gleanings in Bee Culture, page 468, 1907, as follows:
"In September, 1905, I extracted over 3000 pounds of pure red clover honey, after giving the bees plenty to winter on. This honey was a light amber color, and good in flavor, and sold for the same price as honey gathered from white clover. My bees being Italians, worked well on the second crop of red clover, which was not injured by the midge in my locality, in 1905, on account of the first crop being cut early."
Adrian Getaz, of Knoxville, Tenn, makes the following contribution to the subject in Gleanings, page 660, 1909:
"In regard to bees gathering nectar from red clover, several opinions have been advanced. Generally, it is supposed, that, owing to dryer weather, the second crop has blossoms with shorter corollas, and that the bees can reach the nectar on that account. Another theory is that the nectar is more abundant, and fills up the corollas better, and thus comes within reach of the bees. A German apariat a few years ago undertook to settle the matter, and spent a part of the summer lying down in the clover fields to see how it was. He reported that very few insects take the nectar through the corollas; but some kinds
Figure 119: Red clover blossoms.
cut a hole near the bottom and help themselves through it. The hole once made, a number of insects, including bees, take advantage of it; and if the bees do not work on the first crop, it is because there are few hole-boring insects present."
Here follows a brief report with nothing to indicate whether the bees were seeking nectar or pollen:
"Last year was very dry and there was scarcely any white clover in blosson here; but the bees went fairly wild on the red clover, and it was the first crop, too,"--J. F. Brady, Decefield, Minn. Gleanings, page 149, 1911.
That the subject is not new will be found by examining the files of the bee magazines of many years ago. Apparently, it has been a controverted subject since heckeeping has been followed seriously in America. In the first volume of the American Bee Journal, page 228, 1861, we find the following:
"I noticed in August and the beginning of September, while the bees were gathering honey from buckwheat, that they obtained pollen of a brownish color from some source. On investigating the matter, I found that they collected it from red clover. This somewhat surprised me, as I had never seen them gathering honey from the red clover to such an extent, particularly while other forage was plenty. * * I have also noticed that the bees visited only those beads that were imperfect, the tubes being shorter in consequence."
The principal interest attached to the above is the statement that the bees visited only the imperfect blossons. On page 9 of the same volume is a statement somewhat similar, reported in one of the German journals, of Italian bees getting honey from red clover, in 1858. It is said that the season was very dry and the blossoms somewhat smaller as a result.
In 1899, page 15, American Bee Journal, we find another report of bees working on it in dry weather:
"My bees work more or less on it almost every year during hot and dry weather, but it does not produce as fine honey as white clover; when candid it is coarser grained, and has a water-soaked appearance. I wish that my bees would let it alone, for we have plenty of white clover when the red is in bloom,--Fred Bechle, Powshiek County, Iowa.
Again, on page 27 of the same issue, Theo. Rehorst, of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, reports:
"The mammoth red clover produces good honey and all our honey-bees can reach the nectar, although the corolla is far longer and deeper than the common red clover. I never saw any honey from common red clover; only thin, red stuff, thin as water."
In 1903, E. E. Hasty, of Ohio, wrote, in the American Bee Journal, that while he admitted that bees worked on red clover at times, he was extremely doubtful about their ability to get much honey from it. The same doubt has been expressed by numerous observers from time to time, the usual explanation being that the bees are gathering pollen, rather than nectar.
On page 49 of the 1903 volume of the American Bee Journal is reported an interesting case of honey from red clover. Since it is the only case of the kind found in all the literature consulted it is quoted quite fully:"For about ten days my bees have been bringing in honey from the second crop of red clover. Now this is nothing remarkable, for I have seen them doing so for more than twenty years past; but recently, passing through a field of red clover in bloom, I stopped to watch them, and, to my surprise, found them working, not on the blossoms, but on the leaves. This, I confess, I had never seen before. On closer examination I found the clover leaves covered with small plant lice, and the under leaves covered with honeydew, very similar to that frequently found on the leaves of the hickory, oak and other trees, though the honey is not so dark-colored as from leaves of trees."
On page 89 of the American Bee Journal for 1906 is found a rather convincing discussion of the subject of honey from red clover. It was at a convention of the National Association, and several men of wide reputation took part in the discussion, and testified to the fact that they had secured surplus from red clover. Hutchinson stated that he had secured 500 pounds from red clover at a time when there was nothing else in bloom, and that it was a light anber or dark white color. Messrs. Townsend, Stone, Davenport and others agreed that they had secured red clover honey, Townsend reporting as much as 2000 pounds stored in two weeks' time.
The subject is discussed at length in Bulletin No, 46 of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture, by Isaac Hopkins, whose experience in this connection is interesting. We quote him in part:
"In my early days of bekeeping it was a moot point whether Italian bees worked on red clover or not. At this time I had a unique opportunity of testing the matter thoroughly, an opportunity which would rarely occur; therefore, I feel myself on safe ground when dealing with Italian bees and red clover.
"For five years (1882-87), I was located on the late J. C. Firth's estate at Matanata, where I started large bee farms. My bees, which were chiefly Italians, were near to thousands of acres of red clover.
* * Now and again we saw a few here and there gathering pollen from the blossoms, and sometimes a good deal of pollen from red clover was brought in when, no doubt, it was scarce elsewhere.
"In order to make a thorough test, I shifted, on one occasion, a number of strong two-story colonies to the center of a 700-acre pad-dock of red clover. The first crop had been cut for hay, and the second crop flowers were just opening. There was no ordinary bee for-age anywhere near. After the fourth day, I examined the hives and found from the odor that came from them on removing the covers that some nectar had been gathered from the surrounding clover. I also observed that some clover pollen had been stored.
"There were two seasons out of the five when my bees worked more freely on the red clover than in others. In these seasons it was noticeable that myriads of small-sized moths flitted about the clover, while they were rarely seen at other times. I was much interested, and in casting about for a reason, I became satisfied, after very many tests, that the red clover was secreting at times much more nectar than usual, and it may have been that it reached a higher level in the tubes on these occasions, and so came within reach of the tongues of the bees. Be that as it may, some red clover nectar was gathered from second crop flowers in these seasons."
While the different observers are by no means agreed as to the reason why the bees are able to get nectar from red clover on occasion, the testimony is very closely agreed upon the fact that it is only from the sec end crop, and in hot and dry seasons, that the bees are able to store honey from this source. So many widely-known men come forward with the positive statement that they have been able to secure surplus honey from red clover, that we can hardly question the fact that honey is sometimes stored from this plant. Whether the corollas are punctured by other insects, the tubes are shortened by drought or the nectar rises higher in the tube, remains to be proven.
**RED GAURA (Gaura ececinea).**
The red gaura, also called ragged lady, is common from Montana to Arizona and Texas. It is much sought by the bees for both nectar and pollen. Its nectar secretion is abundant, but it is not sufficiently common to be important. A good stimulant.
**RED GUM, see Eucalyptus. RED-HAW, see Hawthorne. RESEDA ODORATA, see Mignonette. RETAMA (Parkinsonia aculeata).**
Retama is a small tree common throughout southern and western Texas. It has slender branches, bearing the yellow petaled flowers in axillary racemes. It is frequently mentioned as a source of nectar by Texas beekeepers. Scholl states that the bees work on it more or less all summer. Like many Texas shrubs, it has a habit of blooming at irregular periods, from spring till September.
**Rhode Island--Honey Sources of.**
The sources of honey in Rhode Island grouped in the order of their appearance are willows, maples and other less numerous trees, which furnish bees with the early supply of pollen and honey, so useful and so needful in building up the bee population preparatory to the harvest in which the beekeeper shares.
Next come the fruit blossoms, plum, peach, cherry, pear, apple, raspberries, huckleberries and blueberries which, when the spring is favorable, yield good crops of honey. In some places, dandelions are an important addition to the fruit bloom, though not always opening at the same time. In several parts of the State there are large areas of locust. This blooms the latter part of May, and when conditions favor, yields for about eight days a heavy water-white honey. The clovers usually follow this, but are of consequence only under favorable conditions of rainfall, save in a few sections where soil conditions afford abundant moisture.
In many sections sumacs furnish the next crop, and where they are sufficiently abundant the beekeeper may rightly look for a good crop of a very fair honey.
In some of the more swappy and less settled sections, button bush, cle-thra (sweet pepper bush) and clematis yield a white and highly-flavored honey, that from clematis being of the very highest quality. But the yield from these plants is irregular, in some years being almost absent.
In some of the villages and cities the European lindens are numerous and yield heavily. The bloom ceases toward the end of the clover flow, though the time of flowering of different trees in the same neighborhood varies greatly. Native linden, basswood, is now found only in a few places. The season closes with the goldenrods and asters, which yield a rich, aromatic honey which, though not acceptable to many persons, commands a fancy price from others. The crop from these two sources is not always to be depended upon, being more affected by the weather than some of the others.--Arthur C. Miller, Bulletin, State Board of Agriculture.
## 11 RHODODENDRON, see Azalea. RHUS, see Sumac. RICHARDIA, see Mexican Clover. ROBINIA, see Locust.
## 12 ROCKBRUSH (Eysenhardtia amorphoides).
Rockbrush is a small shrub common to southern and western Texas, and extending into Mexico. It blooms after heavy rains, several times during the year, and yields honey in surplus quantity. It is reported frequently throughout the region south and west of San Antonio to the Rio Grande.
**Colubrina Texensis,** an entirely different shrub, which is common from the Colorado River to the Rio Grande and west to New Mexico, is also known by the name of rockbrush. It is reported as yielding both pollen and nectar, but not as a source of surplus honey.
## 13 Rocky mountain Bee PLANT (Cleome integrifolia).
The Rocky Mountain bee plant, also known as sinking clover (Fig. 120), is principally confined in its distributions to the plains region west of the Missouri River. It is also reported from north Pacific Coast States. While it is a dry land plant, it is occasionally reported from Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Although it is occasionally seen elsewhere, the author has not seen it in Iowa excepting on the Missouri River bluffs, where it is plentiful in some localities. This plant is reported as especially valuable in Colorado, where it is said to produce considerable quantities of honey.
It is an annual with large, showy, pink or purple flowers. At one time there was much interest in this plant on the part of eastern beckeepers who tried to introduce it by sowing seed. At the Michigan Agricultural College a small field was planted to ascertain whether it could be grown profitably for honey alone. As no plant has as yet proven to be sufficiently valuable to justify its cultivation for this purpose exclusively, it is not surprising that the Rocky Mountain bee plant did not prove to be an exception. It is acrid and pungent and said to be distasteful to animals, which seldom eat it. If the plant had any value for any purpose besides honey production, an effort to extend the area of the distribution might succeed, but the introduction of plants that are essentially seeds in their nature seldom meets with favor.
According to Frank Rauchfuss, the cleome is erratic in its yield. Ifthere is a wet spring the seeds germinate early. When this is followed with good rains in June the plants are vigorous and spreading in their growth and each will have many blossoms. One year he extracted an average of 116 pounds per colony from a ten-days' flow. The honey is white in color, with a greenish tinge. It has a rather sickening flavor when fresh, but improves with age. When pure it is a first quality honey. It is rare that a good crop is secured from his source.
The plant thrives best on sandy and gravelly soils.
**ROMAN CANDLE, see Yucca.**
**ROSE (Rosa).**
There are many species of roses of wide distribution. They yield pollen abundantly and are frequently valuable, in localities where they bloom when pollen is scarce. There are numerous reports of rose honey, but in most cases the observer has probably mistaken the object of the bees when working on the flowers. Several competent observers credit the Cherokee rose as a source of nectar. (See Cherokee Rose.)
"Some time ago quite a discussion was brought about by the assertion of Gaston Bonnier, that once never saw bees upon roses, no matter how colored or how fragrant. Dr. Miller replied that he had often seen them upon the crimson ramblers and that they even store the buds open.
Figure 12: 4"Isome, or Rocky Mountain bee plant.
"The magazine "L'Abcille de Fauc," in its August number quotes the different assertions which were made upon the subject since then in Europe.
"Mr. Bonnier came back with the assertion that the hees were only hunting pollen, for, according to him, there is no nectar in roses.
"Joan Kuppin, of Fountenay-Aux-Koses, saw his bees take pollen on the roses, but never any nectar.
"A. Martinot saw the bees often on the crimson ramblers and on other similar roses, never on the double flowers,
"Mr. Pirtat believes they find both nectar and pollen on the simple flowers.
"Louis Rosscil,"Consul of Belgium in Athens, says that in the Island of Eubia, the bees work upon fields of roses and produce a whit, honey much esteemed."--American Bee Journal, October, 192.
Beckcepers in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and on the Pacific Coast report that their hees get honey from roses.
**ROSIN WEED, see Cup Plant, also Gum Weed.**
**ROYAL PALM, see Palm.**
**RUBUS, see Raspberry.**
**RUDBECKIA, see Coneflower.**
**RUSSIAN OLIVE, see Oleaster.**
**SABAL, see Palmetto.**
**SAGE (Salvia).**
When sage is mentioned, we of the east are likely to think of the common garden sage (Salvia officinalis), which for at least three centuries has been cultivated for its aromatic leaves. Of this there are several varieties, some with broad and some with narrow leaves. The garden sages are gund honey plants, but seldom sufficiently abundant to amount to much as honey producers. The honey from the garden sage is said to be nice and white like that from cattip or undertwort.
The name sage is derived from its supposed power to make people wise by strengthening the memory, for which it was used in ancient medicine.
There are upwards of five hundred species of sages, widely distributed in the temperate and warmer regions of both hemispheres. Probably most of the species yield honey, although but few are known to be important. Layment mentions the wild sage (Salvia verbenacea) as introduced into Australia from Europe, but now yielding honey during the dry months of the year. (Many in bees in Australasia.) There are more than two hundred species known to occur in Mexico and Central America and it is very probable that when beckeping is developed on a commercial scale in those countries, the sages will be found to be very important honey plants,Figure 181: White sag is uncertain in its yield.
Since practically all sage honey that goes to market in America is from California, the sages from that State are of first importance. Sage is known to occur in other Western States and the question is sometimes asked whether any honey is secured from this source elsewhere. In answer to this question Mr. J. E. Miller, of Caldwell, Idaho, writes, in Gleanings in Bee Culture (September 15, 1908, as follows:
"My neighbor, Mr. Garfield, experimented with one colony of bees by taking it eight or nine miles away from alfalfa or other cultivated fields, and setting it among the white sage. He went out to look after it every week and took fresh water. We do not know the exact amount of honey the bees gathered, but they did fully as well as those left at home near the alfalfa. The honey was of that water-white color peculiar to California sage honey. Mr. Garfield sent samples to California and it was pronounced A-1 white sage; so we are convinced that the white sage of Idaho does yield just as much and just as good honey as that of any other State."
It is probable that one or more species of sage occur in nearly every State, but they increase in abundance westward. In the arid country west of the Missouri River they become sufficiently common so that an appreciable amount of honey might be expected in many localities. It is quite likely that sage honey in small amounts is mixed with honey from other sources, and so not detected, in many many localities outside of California. The fact remains, nevertheless, that sage, as an important source of surplus, is not reported outside of that State.
The quality of sage honey is of the best, being water-white in color, of a heavy body and delightful flavor. Since it does not granulate, it is much sought for by botilers in the east, who blend it with clover or alfalfa. There are many who regard sage honey as the finest in the market. In this connection A. I. Root, in an early edition of his A. I. C of Bee Culture, wrote:
"I well remember the first taste I had of the mountain sage honey. Mr. Langstroh was visiting me at the time, and his exclamations were much like my own, only that he declared that it was almost identical in flavor with the famed honey of Hymetths, of which he had received a sample some years ago. Well, this honey of Hymetths, which has been celebrated both in prose and poetry for ages past, was gathered from the mountain thyne, and the botany tells us that thyne and sage are closely related."
Although there are several species of sage which yield honey in California, the quality does not differ materially, as far as can be ascertained from printed reports. It is all described as "water-white, unexcelled flavor, of heavy body and does not granulate."
Prof. A. J. Cook wrote to the American Bee Journal (June 21, 1906) concerning the sage as follows:
"Chief among the honey-bearing mints are the incomparable sages of California. These are not excelled even by the clovers or linden. The honey is white, delicate of flavor, and must ever rank among the best in appearance and quality. Not only this, but the quantity is often phenomenal. This comes from the fact that flowers are borne in long racemes of compact heads, and as the separated flowers do not bloom all at once, but in succession, the plants are in bloom for weeks. The sages, then, are marvelous honey producers, first, because of the gen greats secretions of each flowerer, and second, because of the immense number of these flowerers and the long period of bloom."
Figure 12: Blot-up to the direct bunts plant on the Pacific Cobalt.
At another time Mr. Cook wrote that the honey from all sages is so much alike that it would be indistinguishable,--American Bee Journal, August 3, 1905.
Richter, in his Honey Plants of California, speaks of the white sage (Salvia apiana) jep., as "very common on the dry plains toward the foot-hills, and ascending these to about 3,000 feet." (Fig. 121).
Writing in Gleanings in Bee Culture, P. C. Chadwick describes a journey which he made in the San Bernardino Mountains with the intent to find out the highest elevation at which bloom could be found in sufficient quantities to support bees. Up to an elevation of 7,000 feet he found white sage in abundance, and all alive with bees. (Western Honey Bee, September, 1914.) Richter gives its range as common from Santa Barbara County southward, blooming from April to July. "As abundant as the black sage, but not as good a yielded, nor has the honey as fine a flavor."
Black sage (Salvia mellifera), Greene, also known as ball sage, or button sage (Fig. 122), is generally credited as being the principal source of sage honey, most of the honey which goes to market under the name of white sage being produced from this plant. Quite probably it is the best honey plant on the Pacific Coast. Richter says of it : "As a general rule, every fifth year an excellent crop is obtained, and every third or fourth year a total failure is experienced, the flow being dependent upon winter rains, with warm spring quite free from cold winds and fog. When in bloom a certain amount of warm weather is required before it produces nectar."
The range of black sage is given as "Mt. Diablo, Los Trampas Ridge, near Hayward, San Mateo County, Glenwood and Brieta, southward to southern California. April-May." (jepson), "Coast ranges and ascending to 5,000 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains. March to June. San Diego County, February to May."
Mr. J. E. Pleasants, of Orange, California, writing in American Bee Journal (June, 1944) describes the peculiarities of the sages as follows:
"The black sage is king of them all. When climatic conditions are favorable I think black sage can be relied upon to produce more 'gilt edge' than any other plant in the West, and for body and flavor it is hard to excel. It blown's for weeks. The blossom is small and inconspicuous, but what a flow of nectar it can yield.
"The white sage is a much prettier plant. Its soft, grey leaves and tall blossom spikes make it quite showy, while its pleasing aromatic odor breathes the very essence of wild perfumes. But this quench plant is much more inconstant than its plainer sister. Some years it produces a good harvest, others very light.
"The silver or purple sage, which has slivery leaves and brilliant light purple blossoms, is usually a good producer, but is much restricted as to locality."
The purple sage (Salvia leucophylla) (Fig. 123), also called white-leaved sage, or silver sage, is reported as a good yielder, although not as abundant as either of the foregoing species. The Richter catalog gives the range as occasional in the foothills of the Santa Monica and San Fernando Mountains, April to July, and from San Luis Obispo to San Diego Counties and not extending inland beyond the coast ranges.
**Salvia ambilis,** loving age, is reported from Santa Barbara, March-June, but probably not important.