THE extent to which profitable beekeeping operations can be followed in any locality will depend upon the plants within flying range, their time of blooming, quality of honey which they yield and the acreage within reach. Honey for family use can be produced almost anywhere flowers bloom, even in large cities, but commercial honey production is only profitable where large acreages of heavy yielding nectar sources are present.

In most localities surplus honey comes from only a few sources and usually within a short period of time. Plants which support the bees before and after the main honeyflow are of equal importance since their presence or absence will determine whether the bees are ready for the flow when it comes. Some areas which provide heavy main honeyflows are poor beekeeping territories because there is no supporting flow in advance to enable the bees to build up strong colonies. Since the household duties of cleaning and ventilating the hive, building combs, feeding young bees, and guarding the entrance require a considerable number of bees, there can be but a small field force in a weak colony. It is only the strong colonies that have enough field bees to gather a worth-while harvest.

Where there are flowers within reach, the field bees will be bringing in supplies whenever the weather permits them to fly. From the time the first skunk cabbage or witch hazel opens in late winter until frost cuts down the last asters in autumn the bees will be seeking nectar and pollen to feed the young brood.

Although we are unable to see any accumulation of stores in the hive as the result of these early or late visits, they are of very great importance to the success of the beekeeper.

Where there is a large field force the bees are often able to store a substantial surplus from very short honeyflows such as come from black locust or the even shorter blooming honey locust. Weak colonies can only make use of such flows to increase the population of the hive.

When colonies are weak they often use a heavy honeyflow, such as comes from the tulip tree, for building up the colony instead of storing surplus. Thus, they build up on the honey-flow instead of for the honeyflow as has been noted by some of our leading authorities.

In regions where the honeyflow comes in midsummer there is likely to be a favorable opportunity to build strong colonies before the flow. In the Southeast where the flow comes early as it does from tulip tree, commonly called tulip poplar, it requires expert beekeeping to get the bees ready in time for the flow.

Important Pollen Plants

Pollen which provides the protein for the growing larvae is consumed in large quantity and without an abundant supply there can never be profitable commercial honey production. In a country as large as this, with so great a variety of plants, it is difficult to give a proper outline of the subject which will be useful everywhere. In the accompanying chart an attempt is made to present the important bee pasture for the season. Many exceptions will appear in even these smaller areas. Plants which are given as minor sources of nectar for the region as a whole may be the main source of surplus in some sections. Other plants, which in some sections serve as early support, may yield a surplus in another locality. Only general statements are possible for such large areas.

Over a very large part of the United States the maples are among the first to yield either nectar or pollen. In limited regions plants like skunk cabbage may come earlier. The willows are very important for early spring support in all the northern states but in many southern localities they come into bloom much later, in some places as late as June. The native elm trees bloom very early in spring and yield a great abundance of pollen. In many places they are the principal source of early pollen.

As spring advances a wider variety of plants come into bloom and nectar and pollen both are more readily available.

Too often the weather is rainy or cold and the bees are confined to the hives when the nectar harvest is on. At this season the fruit trees and the dandelions offer an abundance of forage and when weather is favorable, surplus honey is sometimes stored by strong colonies.

Sources Of Surplus-Sweet Clover

There are only a few plants which yield surplus honey in large quantity that are widely grown. There is a much larger number of plants which provide good crops in limited areas, but honey from these sources are seldom found in the markets of the large cities.

Sweet clover is probably the source of more marketable honey than any other crop. It is at its best in the Midwest, as it requires a rich limestone soil and low humidity. The honey is very light in color and mild in flavor. The common varieties of sweet clover are biennials. They make a vigorous growth the first year and come into bloom the second season after which they die. There are annual varieties, the best known of which is the white flowered "Hubam. "

The yellow flowered sweet clover blooms a few days earlier than the white and in neighborhoods where both are grown extensively there is likely to be a honeyflow of extended duration which insures large yields in favorable seasons. Sweet clover is grown from Texas to the far north in western Canada. It is drought resistant and often yields good crops of honey in seasons too dry for satisfactory development of staple grains.