BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
"Mr. and Mrs. Chambers took but a small quantity, yet each noticed a peculiar, pungent, burning taste in the comb as soon as it had passed their lips. In fifteen or twenty minutes afterwards Mrs. C. was taken with nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting, soon followed by loss of consciousness, coldness of extremities, feebly acting heart, and complete collapse. Whileministering to her, Mr. Chambers, who had also experienced the initiatory symptoms of pain and nausea, suddenly exclaimed, I cannot see,' and soon sank in a state of syncope to the floor. In each case the symptoms were similar. Retching, vomiting, purging, acute gastric and abdominal pain, and continued crumps for some hours, with surface coldness, and deadly pallor, and the general symptoms of collapse.
"Kebler was, however, unable to definitely locate the andrccmodetoxin found by Plugge. This author recorded it for a large number of planis as follows Andromeda japonica, A. polifolia, A. Catesbaei, A. calyclulata, Kalmia latifolia, Monotropa uniflora, Pieris formosa, P. ovalifolia, Rhododendon grande, R. barbatum, and R. fulgens. It has been recorded for additional plants by Greshoff, who mentions the following plants which produce poisonous honey: Nerium Oleander, Cystitis Laburnum, Pieris ovalifolia, Callotropis procera, Daphne, Pontica, Buxus balezica, Clerodendon serratum, C. Bhramaramari, Sapindus emarginstaus. (It is said that thousands of bees are killed by this honey.) Centaurae scabiosa, Carduus anatans, Seabiosa succias, A South African species of Euphoria also produces a poisonous honey which was not noted by Greshoff.
**POISONWOOD (Metopium metopium).**
The poisonwood is a tree found in southern Florida, the West Indies and Central America. It is known by a variety of names, bum-wood, hoggum, coral sumac or doctor-gum. Its sap is dangerously poisonous, and some persons are affected by a near approach to the tree. The tree reaches a height of more than forty feet and in south Florida it is the source of large quantities of surplus honey of good quality. The honey is usually blended with that of other sources blooming during the same period.
The tree has a thin bark which splits into large scales as it grows older, These are of a reddish brown color, brighter on the inside. It is sometimes confused with machinel and is often classified as a **Rhus.**
**POLLEN.**
Pollen represents the male element of reproduction in seed plants. The flowering plants are normally reproduced by seed. Fertilization is brought about by the intervention of the grains of pollen which are borne by the stamens or male organs. In the corn plant the stamens are produced in the tassels where pollen is developed in great abundance. The pistils, or female organs, are represented by the silks attached to the car. There is a separate silk attached to each kernel, and each must be separately fertilized. In many plants both stamens and pistils occur in the same blossom, as is the case with apples, pears, etc. In some cases the stamens or male organs are borne on a separate plant or tree, as is the case with the persimmon. Cucumbers have the separate organs in separate flowers. In order to insure fertilization it is necessary that the pollen grains be carried from the stamens to the pistils. In the grasses and similar plants this is usually accomplished by the wind, while in most fruits, insects are the principal agents.
Pollen grains are very minute and are produced in small sacs in the tip of the stamen, commonly called anther. When ripe, the breaking of the sac sets the grains free in great abundance. A single grain is sufficient to fertilize an ovule and produce a seed; yet, because of the distance between the stamens and pistils, large quantities of the pollen or flower dust are necessary to insure pollination. Ragweed and corn produce pollen in such abundance that one brushing by the plants is dusted so freely as to appear to be covered with flour.
Pollen is of special importance to the beekeeper, since it serves as food for young bees. It is the sole source of nitrogenous food for the growing larve, and is stored in large quantity in the open cells of the brood combs. Without an abundance of pollen available for food for the developing brood, the colony cannot prosper. Pollen is second only in importance to surplus honey to the beekeeper, and an abundant supply of plants which yield pollen during the brood-rearing season is very desirable.
## 6 Pollination.
Pollination is the fertilization of the blossom of a plant, resulting in the development of seed. As ordinarily used among the beekeepers, pollination refers to the transfer of the pollen grains from the stames of one plant to the pistils of another. Since many plants are self-sterile, it is necessary that pollen from other plants and sometimes from other varieties be brought to them to insure fruitage. As already stated under "Pollen," the honeybee is the principal agent in the pollination of many of the edible fruits.
So important is the bee regarded by horticulturists that cucumber growers contract for colonies of bees to be placed in their greenhouses, cherry growers often lease apiaries to be moved to their orchards at the beginning of the blooming period, and apple orchardists contract with beekeepers to furnish sufficient bees to insure fertilization of their orchards.
Darwin was among the first to realize the importance of cross pollination. He showed that continued self-fertilization resulted in inferior fruit, while cross fertilization increased the vigor of the offspring. Beach has shown that many varieties of grapes are self-sterile, and at the California
Figure 112: The California poppy is a gorgeous flower.
experiment station it was shown that "bees are a necessary aid in pollination with the French and Imperial varieties of prunes." It was proven that practically no fruit was produced when all pollen-carrying insects were kept from visiting the blossoms. (Bulletin 291, California Experiment Station).
It has been shown by numerous experiments that many varieties of fruits, especially of apples and pears, are likely to be unfruitful if deprived of the services of the honeybee as pollen carriers.
**POPLAR, see Tulip-Poplar, also Aspen.**
**POPPY (Papaver).**
The garden poppy (**Papaver somniferum**) is a native of Asia, but is widely cultivated in many countries, including our own. It is the source of opium and morphine, drugs widely used in the practice of medicine. The bright-colored flowers are very attractive to the bees, which seek them in larger numbers and fairly revel in the abundant pollen masses. The pollen secured from poppy blossoms is very dark. It is probable that the plant furnishes some nectar, also, and there are numerous reports to the effect that the bees show evidence of a narcotic when working on this plant.
The California poppy (**Eschscholtzia californica** (Fig. 112) is a common and widely diffused plant in California. It is a gorgeous plant of variable habit, especially abundant in spring, but in some parts of the State may be found in flower at almost any season. Richter lists it as the source of some honey and of large amounts of orange-colored pollen.
The prickly poppy (**Argemone), often called poppy thistle, is widely distributed, especially in the southwest. It is the source of large quantities of pollen.
**POPPY THISTLE, see Poppy.**
**POSSUM HAW, see Holly.**
**POSSUM-WOOD, see Persimmon.**
**PRAIRIE CLOVER (Petalostemon).**
There are several species of prairie clover native to the western prairies from Indiana west to the Rocky Mountains and south to Texas. There are frequent reports to the effect that they are valuable honey plants, though no longer sufficiently plentiful to be important except in a few localities.
**PRICKLY ASH (Xanthoxylum Clava-Herculis). TOOTHACHE-TREE.**
The prickly ash or toothache-tree is found from North Carolina to Florida and west to Texas. It is a small tree with the bark armed with short, warty thorns, while the branches have longer ones.
In east Texas it is frequently mentioned as a source of honey. The honey is reported as pungent in taste, sharp and peppery and light in color. The blossoms yield freely, and, where sufficiently abundant, may be expected to yield surplus. At Palestine, Texas, surplus is reported from prickly ash. (See also Colima).
## 6 Prickky PEAR or INDIAN FIG (Opuntia)
Plants of the cactus family are widely scattered in the arid regions from Dakota to Washington and south to Texas and California. Figs. 114 and 115.) Of the prickly pears (Opuntia) there are about 150 species, mostly found in the warmer sections of North America and southward. A few are to be found in sandy soils further east, ranging from Ontario and Massachusetts south to Florida. They are also sometimes grown as ornamatals. The blossom of the prickly pear is of pale yellow color and very attractive.
(Fig. 113.) It is reported as a source of nectar in both Texas and California. **Opuntia engelmanni** is reported by Scholl in "Honey Plants of Texas," as "of much importance to the beckeeper, especially during a season of partial drought. Both an abundance of pollen and honey was obtained, the honey being light amber in color, of heavy body but'stringy,' so much so that it fairly draws out into strings when very thick. The flavor is very rank."
In some parts of the Southwest it is valued more for pollen than for nectar. Beginning in July, it blooms for four to six weeks. E. G. Ice-Storage reports that in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas, it yields surplus honey about one year in four, but that the flow is usually short, seldom more than four or five days. A peculiarity of this honey is that of granulating in large crystals in clear liquid. It is often spoken of as "buttermilk honey," because of this peculiarity. LeStourgeon secured an averageyield of 87 pounds per colony of cactus honey in Atascosta County. Such yields from this source are rare. Cactus grows in great abundance over large areas of Texas and is probably of more importance to beekeepers in that State than in any other.
**PRICKLY POPPY, see Poppy.**
**PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND--Honey Sources of.**
Alsike and white clover are the principal honey plants of the Island, with **Tilia europea** also important at Charlotteown.--F. W. L. Sladen.
**PROPOLIS.**
Propolis is a resinous gum gathered by the bees from buds of trees, and used to close crevices about the hive. It becomes brittle and hard in cold weather, but when warm is sticky and very tenacious. The beekeeper finds it quite a problem to keep his hands free from propolis when manipulating the hives in mid-summer. Some races of bees deposit propolis much more freely than others, the Caucasians being especially inclined to gather a great surplus of the cement and place it in lumps about the hive. If, per-chance, a mouse, beetle or other object enters the hive which the bees are unable to remove, they frequently coat it freely with propolis, and there it remains.
Cracks seem obnoxious to the bees, and the small spaces between the frames are quite likely to be filled with the cement. In the production of
Figure 114: In parts of Texas the land is covered with cactus as far as the eye can see,
comb honey, the tendency of the bees to fill every crevice with it leads to much labor on the part of the beckeeper in cleaning his finished sections for market. This is especially true of honey left on the hive till late in the season, as propolisols is gathered in quantity in late fall in anticipation of cold weather.
Cottonwood is thought to be one of the chief sources of propolisols wherever that well-known tree is found.
Bees gather much material from a great variety of sources. In addition to the fresh wax gathered from plants and trees, they are often attracted by fresh varnish or other substances from which they can get sticky material to serve as glue.
**PRUNE, see Plum.**
**PUMPKIN (Cucurbita pepo).**
The pumpkin is a well-known gourd-like fruit, usually of deep yellow
Figure 11: A single plant of prickly pear pear Bromoville, Texas.
color, that is widely cultivated as a food for stock and for pie. There are numerous varieties of various sizes and colors. The blossoms are large and showy and very attractive to the bees. The plants yield an abundance of pollen as well as nectar. The honey is anber and not of high quality, and granulates readily.
Where pumpkins are grown on a large scale for stock feed or for caning factories, they are a valuable source of bee pasture.
## Purple Looseestrife (Lythrum)
There are two species of lythrum frequently reported as money plants. The European species, **Lythrum Salicaria,** the spiked loosestrife, has become naturalized in wet places from Nova Scotia to Delaware. According to H. D. House, State Botanist of New York, it is common in and around the inlets and backwards of the Hudson River all up and down that stream. It is also common up the Mohawk Valley, at Oneida Lake and along the railroads westward across the State to Lake Erie. It is a tall giant of vigorous growth, but as it confines itself largely to wet places, it is not likely to be any more of a nuisance than the usual coarse weeds growing in such situations. The bees work this plant freely and occasional reports of honey from this source are received from New York State. The honey is very dark and of strong flavor, having a slight tobacco-like taste as it gets older.
**Lythrum alatum,** a native species, is found from Ontario and Minnesota south to Georgia, Florida and Texas. A report from Oklahoma is to the effect that it blooms with sweet clover, lasting till frost. The bees work upon it from daylight till dark in either wet or dry weather. Similar reports come from Texas. It is found on low lands in the southwest.
It is also reported by beekeepers from New Orleans as attractive to bees in Louisiana.
## Quebec--Honey Sources of
In Quebec alsike and white clover furnish the principal surplus honey. In the southern part of the province buckwheat, basswood and sweet clover are also important. Fireweed, blabecry, goldenrod and aster are the source of surplus honey over much of the province and willows and maples are valuable for spring brood rearing.--F. W. L.Sladen.
**QUERCUS, see Oak. QUININE Tree, see Hop-Tree.**
## Appendix R Rabbit BrUSH (Chrysothamus nauseosus hypolluca)
Richter lists rabbit brush as yielding nectar in the vicinity of Independence, California, from September till November. He states that the bees work vigorously on it, but that the honey is dark, of poor flavor and disagreeable odor, and that when the bees are evaporating it it can be expelled all over the place.
There are seventeen different varieties of rabbit brush in the south-western desert from New Mexico to California and north to Utah and
Figure 116: Blown of the tall rgweed.
Colorado. They are described as coarse plants, usually shrubby and growing to a height of as much as six feet. They have small beads of yellow flowers. The Navaho Indians use the heads of the various species to dye wool yellow.--(Flora of New Mexico.)
RADISH or JOINTED CHARLOCK (Raphanus Raphanistrum).The wild radish or jointed charlock is a troublesome weed in the fields of eastern Canada and United States from New England to Pennsylvania. Like many other introduced plants, it has been widely scattered with grain seeds. It has been introduced into northwestern Iowa with oats, where it is spreading in fields and waste places.
Sladen lists it as one of the important sources of nectar in Nova Scotia.
RAGGED LADY, see Red Gaura.RAGGED SAILOR, see Centaurea.
RAGWEED (Ambrosia trifida).Figure 116 shows the blossom and leaf of the great ragweed, often called horseweed. This is a very common roadside weed, growing to a height of 10 or 12 feet. It is common in Quebec and Ontario, west to Manitoba. In the United States it occurs from New England west to Colorado and south to the Gulf. It is also found in Cuba and Mexico. It is especially common in the rich lands of the Mississippi Valley from Minnesota to Texas.
The ragweed does not produce nectar, but furnishes large quantities of pollen in late summer and fall.
RAPE (Brassica napus).Rape is a foreign plant related to the cabbage, which has been introduced from Europe. In the United States it is chiefly grown as a catch crop or forage for hogs and sheep and sometimes as a cover crop.
In Europe it is highly regarded as a honey plant, as the following letter from Baron Von Berlepsch, which appeared in American Bee Journal in April, 1874, will show:
"During the years between 1841 and 1858, that I was a practical agricultural, I cultivated rape, to a large extent, and can in consequence thereof, and from knowledge otherwise gained, testify most assuredly, that in all Germany there is no plant yielding more honey than rape. I know of instances, occurring in my own experience, where a very populous colony of bees, during time when rape was in blossom, gained a weight of 20 pounds and over in one day.
"On the 10th of May, 1846, there was near me a 65-acre field in blossom. The weather was excellent, and my strongest colony, which I placed on a platform scale, gained that day more than 21 pounds in weight. I know of only one other plant that can be compared with rape as a honey-yielding plant, and that is esparet **(Sainfoin).**
A Wisconsin bekeeper, writing in American Bee Journal the same year stated that rape in Wisconsin is scarcely second to linden. He decscribed the honey as of golden color and good flavor. He further cited the fact that rape blooms about the middle of August, when there is little else, as a great advantage in cultivating it for its honey.
The few references to it in our literature indicate that it may be of more value to the heekeeper than is generally recognized.
### RAPHANUS, see Radish.
#### Raspberry (Rubus). Also called THIMBLEBERRY
The wild raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) is a very common plant in the woods of the Northeastern States. Mohr gives its natural range as New England to Quebec and Ontario, Minnesota, Nebraska, Colorado and Oregon, south to Ohio and West Virginia, and along the mountains to Georgia.
Figure 117: Wild raspberry grew in great abundance in Ontario and other portherg regions.
There are several species of wild raspberries, and probably all are good honey producers. Raspberry honey is produced extensively in northern Michigan, where the plant is abundant on cut-over lands. It blooms following the tree fruits and is usually ahead of the white clover. In localities where it is plentiful it is a most valuable honey plant and phenomenal yields have sometimes been reported from this source. A good raspberry location is very desirable. Beekeepers who chance to be near large plantations of raspberries cultivated for market are equally fortunate. The honey is white and of a superior quality. Figure 117 shows a luxurian growth of wild raspberry as it is found in many localities in Ontario
**RATTAN VINE (Berchemia scandens).**
Rattan vine, or supple-Jack, is a common climbing vine in low thickets throughout the Southern States from Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri, south to Florida and eastern Texas. The flowers are greenish yellow, usually appearing in June. The plant is slender and of vigorous growth, frequently climbing high trees.
In east Texas it is one of the important sources of surplus honey. There the plant is abundant along the streams, and is reported as yielding honey for a long period. The author has found rattan vine highly regarded in many sections of the South, especially in Alabama.
Scholl states that the honey is dark amber in color and used mostly for manufacturing purposes.
**RATTLE BOX or RATTLE WEED, see Loco Weed.**
**RATTLESNAKE-ROOT (Nabalus altissimus).**
Rattlesnake root is listed by the late A. J. Cook as "which swarms with bees all the day long," but the author can find so few references to it that it is probably of little importance.
**RED BAY (Persea Borbonia).**
Red bay, or Florida mahogany, is also known as tisswood, sweet bay and Laurel-tree. This tree should not be confused with the maguolia, which is also called sweet bay. (See Magnolia). The alligator pear (Persea persea persea) is a near relative, which has been introduced from Central America and extensively cultivated for its fruit. It has run wild in some parts of Florida.
Red bay is reported as yielding surplus honey in considerable quantity, but of poor quality along the Gulf Coast of Texas. The honey is said to be very dark, suitable for baking purposes. Beekeepers report that the plant is quite dependable, but of limited range.
**RED-BERRY, see Buckthorn.**
**RED BOX-TREE, see Eucalyptus.**
western Florida and east to Texas. It grows along streams and in the woodlands where the soil is moist and rich. In Alabama it blooms late in February, and in southern Iowa in April. The rose-pink blossoms appearing in early spring, before the leaves are out, make the tree very conspicuous during the blooming period. Where the tree is abundant it furnishes a liberal pasture for the bees for early spring brood rearing. Blooming so early, it is rarely the source of surplus. In the northern part of its range it often blooms with fruit trees and dandelion, so that it is not as important as farther south.
There is another species in south Texas and Mexico which blooms in March, The Texan red-bud **(Cercis reinformis),** and one, the western red-bud **(Cercis occidentalis),** which occurs in the mountains of California and occasionally in Utah.
The red-bud is also known as salad-tree, or June-bud.
**RED CLOVER (Trifolium pracense).**
There have been so many conflicting statements regarding the question as to whether or not the honeybee is able to secure honey from red clover **(Trifolium pratense)** that it has seemed worth while to investigate the subject with some care. There have been so many reports of honey from this source, that it is desirable to learn whether the honey did come from red clover, or whether the beekeepers have been mistaken, and some explanation of the confusion is necessary. There is no question but that the plant secretes nectar in abundance, but since the corolla tubes are much longer than the tongues of the bees, they are unable to reach it under ordinary conditions. It is a well-known fact that plants behave very differently under different climatic conditions, so an effort has been made to secure evidence from as many localities as possible, and from a great variety of conditions.
In Iowa the writer has sometimes found bees working freely on red clover in extremely dry seasons. At such times the bees were apparently getting some nectar, although it could not be detected in the hive. However, one year, Mr. C. H. True, of Edgewood, Iowa, had on exhibition at the State Fair, a generous quantity of honey which he thought was secured from red clover. It was slightly tinted with red, and had a flavor different from white or aslike clover honey. The explanation often given is that in dry seasons the florets are somewhat dwarfed, and because of the shorter tube the bee is able to reach the honey. Dr. L. H. Pammel, bot-aust at the Iowa College of Agriculture, has made a special study of bees and red clover under Iowa conditions. After having many measurements made, he has reached the conclusion that the effect on the length of the corolla tube, as a result of drought, is so slight that the bee would not be able to reach the nectar from this cause. He goes on record as follows:
"I have for several years closely observed honeybees and red clover, and from these observances I am still inclined to the opinion, earlier expressed, that honeybees do not get nectar from the flowers of the red clover, notwithstanding the opinion of many beekeepers in Iowa," --Third report Iowa State Bee Inspector.
At the 1917 Convention of the Illinois Beekeepers, Mr. Frank Bishop, of Viden, reported that one season he secured an average of 100 pounds per colony from red clover. According to his statement, there was no other bloom within reach at that time. He further stated that he visited the red clover fields, investigated the matter carefully, and was fully satisfied that red clover was the source of the honey.