Sweet clover, yellow and white, Melilotus officinalis ([Fig, 82]), and Melilotus alba, are well named. They bloom from the middle of June to the middle of July. Their perfume scents the air for long distances, and the hum of bees that throng their flowers is like music to the apiarist's ear. The honey, too, is just exquisite. These clovers are biennial, not blooming the first season, and dying after they bloom the second season. Another disagreeable fact, they have no value except for honey. They are said to become pernicious weeds if allowed to spread.
The other clovers—lucerne, yellow trefoil, scarlet trefoil, and alfalfa—have not proved of any value with us, perhaps owing to locality.
Borage, Borago officinalis ([Fig, 83]), an excellent bee plant, blooms from June till frost, and is visited by bees even in very rainy weather. It seems not to be a favorite, but is eagerly visited when all others fail to yield nectar.
| Fig. 84.—Mignonette. | Fig. 85.—Okra. |
Mignonette, Reseda odorata ([Fig, 84]), blooms from the middle of June till frost, is unparalleled for its sweet odor, furnishes nectar in profusion, and is well worthy cultivation. It does not secrete well in wet weather, but in favorable weather it is hardly equalled.
Okra or gumbo, Hibiscus esculentus, ([Fig, 85]), also blooms in June. It is as much sought after by the bees in quest of honey, as by the cook in search of a savory vegetable, or one to give tone to soup.
Sage, Salvia officinalis, horehound, Marrubium vulgare, motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca, and catnip, Nepeta cataria, which latter does not commence to bloom till July, all furnish nice white honey, remain in bloom a long time, and are very desirable, as they are in bloom in the honey dearth of July and August. They, like many others of the mint family ([Fig, 86]), are thronged with bees during the season of bloom.
Fig. 86.—Mint.
The first and last are of commercial importance, and all may well be introduced by apiarists, wherever there is any space or waste ground.