BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY.

A CHAPTER ON BOTANY FOR BEE-KEEPERS. BY PROF. W. J. BEAL, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, LANSING, MICH.

I AM frequently asked to identify or give names to certain plants upon which some person has seen bees at work. This does not usually occupy much of my time, especially if the specimens are well put up, as most of them are known at sight or after a few moment's examination.

But, the thought occurs to me, of what benefit can it be to the person sending the plant to know whether it is Aster machrophyllus, Aster prenanthoides, or Aster grandiflorus ; whether it is Solidago petiolaris, Solidago Canadensis, or Solidago Missouriensis? My examples are some which are included in the list lately received. Of Asters, we have in the Northern States 41 species, besides perhaps forty to one hundred more which much resemble them, to a person unaccustomed to Botany. Of Solidago or Golden rods, we have 37 species and some others much resembling them. Scarcely one of these has a separate or distinct common name. Asters lock too nearly alike to be distinguished from each other by any one but an expert. The same is true of Golden rods and of a vast number of other bee plants. If told once, the name of a species, people cannot be trusted, in many cases, to gather seeds or point out the plant. They will get the species and even the genera "all mixed up."
Even the botanist gets some of them mixed occasionally. Our country is renowned for the abundance and variety of her Asters and Golden rods in September till the hard frosts appear. These are found in open or unwooded regions, in swamps, along streams, and on the prairies. The fact is, there are nearly a hundred times as great a variety of flowers which furnish bees with food, as most people imagine. On checking off for a noted bee-keeper who wanted to make a list of bee plants, he seemed much surprised at the great number, and said he only wanted the best of them. Which are the best? The forty one asters are all good. In one locality, certain species abound in great numbers; in other places some disappear and others take their places. To be sure, there are some asters and other plants affording good honey or pollen, which rarely exist in large numbers. The same is true of golden rods and of many other plants. I suppose a plant

golden rods and of many other plants. I suppose a plant is desirable if it exist in quantity large enough to afford much food during a long period, or if it afford food at a certain time when most other flowers are scarce.

I have made the action or behavior of insects on flowers a study for years. Some flowers are only visited in the morning or forenoon, as the dandelion; others in afternoons, others at all times of day when not raining. I tell no news by saying that basswood and raspberries afford good honey, while tulip tree and lobelia afford honey which is unpleasant or unwholesome to some persons.

The Ranunculaceae, Crowfoot family, afford us 30 species or more upon which bees work; some of them open very early in spring. The Cruciferae or mustard family, about 70 species; malvaceae or mellon family, over 20 species ; Geraniaceae or geranium family 13; Anacardiaceae or sumachs, six; Tilaceae or vine family, 7: Sapindaceae or maples etc., 11; Leguminosde or Pulse family, 110 or more natives, besides some exotics; Rosaceae or rose family, 83 and several exotics; Saxifragaceae or Saxifrage family, about 30 ; Caprifoliaceae, Honeysuckles etc., about 30; Compositae, Sunflowers, asters etc., perhaps 325, besides many in cultivation ; Lobeliaceae, Lobelia family, 13; Campanulaceae, Bellflowers, 7; Ericaceae, heath family, 60; serophulariaceæ, fig worts, about 60; Verbendcec, verbenas, 10; Labiatea, mints, many of much value, 78; Borraginceæ, Borage family,28;

Asclepiadaceae, milkweed family, 25; Polygonacene, Buckwheat family, 38 ; Liliaceae, lily family, 50. Besides these there are many where there is only one or two or a few in a small order, perhaps not far from 570. Then probably there are a hundred or more about which I am uncertain. If I have added correctly, I give above, about 1775 species from which bees get more or less honey or pollen. These grow east of the Mississippi river and north of Kentucky in the United States. Some, like the grasses and pines, have no showy or fragrant flowers and afford little or no honey. As a general rule, those plants which produce odorous or showy flowers afford honey and will be visited by honey bees unless the flower is of a shape which makes it impossible for the bee to reach the food.

It would be a great source of pleasure, and in some cases perhaps of profit also, for every bee-keeper to be a good botanist. In fact, every person should study botany more less, as any one can if he only tries and perseveres. The culture it gives, the enjoyment, the discipline, all place botany in a high position as a science.