is reported to have a smoky cast) with a pleasant flavor. In Arkansas surpluses of 50 to 75 pounds are reported by Ray Langston. Blackberries are chiefly valuable for the stimulus they give bees just before clover comes into bloom.

BLUEBERRY, HUCKLEBERRY (Vaccinium spp., Gaylussacia spp.). Over 20 species of low shrubs with bellshaped white or pinkish flowers occur in the eastern states and Canada. All are much visited by bees. In Maine the Swan Brothers put their large apiaries on the blueberry barrens of Washington County for pollination and average 15 pounds per colony with strong hives storing up to 35 pounds. The honey is white with an excellent flavor and brings premium prices. Blueberries are self-sterile and must be cross-pollinated by bees.

BLUEVINE, HONEYVINE, VINING MILKWEED (Ampelamus albidus). An herbaceous vine with clusters of small white flowers and pods with silky seeds exactly like those of its close relative milkweed. It is a serious pest in corn fields where farmers call it “foot-a-night” because of its rapid growth. The honey is white although cloudy with a fine flavor and body and crystallizes rapidly with a fine grain. Tons of honey were formerly stored in Missouri, southern Illinois, and Indiana, as well as in adjacent states. Since 1948 weed sprays have greatly reduced its value although there was a good flow in southern Indiana in 1954.

BONESET, THOROUGHWORT (Eupatorium spp.). Coarse herbs up to 2 feet tall with clusters of composite white heads of tubular flowers. They bloom in late summer and fall. The common boneset (E. perfoliatum) is valuable in the northeastern states. The fall boneset (E. serotinum) is much visited by bees in the central states. The honey is of fair quality generally described as amber with a strong odor. Surpluses up to 30 pounds are occasionally obtained.

BUCKEYE, HORSE CHESTNUT (Aesculus spp.). Trees with palmately compound leaves, great clusters of white to greenish yellow flowers (pink in one species) and burs containing the well-known buckeye. The Ohio Buckeye (A. glabra) is much visited by bees in the eastern states. The California Buckeye (A. califomica) produces pollen that is poisonous to honeybees and will kill entire colonies within a few weeks, according to J. E. Eckert. It was formerly thought that the honey was poisonous but Eckert found that buckeye honey could be fed to colonies in other areas without ill effects to the bees. The honey is not poisonous to man either, but has a pronounced odor and flavor and darkens with age; it is non-granulating.

BUCKWHEAT (Fagopyrum esculentum). This well-known plant is cultivated extensively in New York, Pennsylvania, and northeastern Ohio, and to a lesser extent in adjacent states and southern Canada. The white flowers have eight conspicuous orange-yellow nectaries. The honey is a dark purple usually referred to as black and it is heavy bodied with a strong flavor and odor. In spite of this it is well liked by many people in the buckwheat belt who consider all other honeys insipid. There is said to be a several million pound shortage in New York City where the

Bluevine