Catnip Mother-wort And Hoarhound Are Sought After
Categories:
BEE PASTURAGE.
Bee Keeping:
Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
Catnip, (_Nepeta Cataria_,) Mother-wort, (_Leonurus Cardiaca_,) and
Hoarhound, (_Marrubium Vulgare_,) about the middle of June, put forth
their flowers, rich in sweetness, and like the Raspberry, the bees
visit them at all hours and in nearly all kinds of weather. They last
from four to six weeks; the catnip I have known to last twelve in a few
instances, yielding honey during the whole time. Ox-eye daisy,
(_Leucanthem
m Vulgare_,) that beautiful and splendid flower, in
pasture and meadow, and worth but little in either, also contains some
honey. The flower is compound, and each little floret contains
particles so minute, that the task of obtaining a load is very tedious.
It is only visited when the more copious honey-yielding flowers are
scarce. Snap-dragon,(_Linaria Vulgaris_,) with its nauseous and
sickening odor, troubling the farmer with its vile presence, is made to
bestow the only good thing about it, except its beauty, upon our
insect. The flower is large and tubular, and the bee to reach the honey
must enter it; to see the bee almost disappear within the folds of the
corolla, one would think that it was about being swallowed, when the
hideous mouth was gaping to receive it; but unharmed, soon it emerges
from the yellow prison, covered with dust; this is not brushed into
pellets on its legs, like the pollen from some other flowers, but a
part adheres to its back between the wings, which it is apparently
unable to remove, as it remains there sometimes for months, making a
cluster outside the hive, appear quite speckled. Bush honey-suckle
(_Diervilla Trifida_) is another particular favorite.