CHAPTER XIII. SOURCES OF HONEY. THE sources from which bees collect honey are various and almost innumerable. Almost every flower, tree, plant, shrub and vine, in field, forest, pasture and garden yield honey to some extent. White clover, is, perhaps, the greatest source of honey in the New England and Middle States, it being found to a greater or less extent in almost every field and pasture. South and west there is, in many localities, a profusion of wild flowers, producing considerable quantities of honey. In some sections buckwheat affords a rich harvest. Basswood yields a very nice quality of honey, and in sections where it abounds, great quantities are collected from it. Fruit blossoms--apple, pear, peach, and all the different varieties of plums, cherries, etc., are very important sources of honey. Pollen is the first material gathered by the bees in early spring. Several varieties of alder, willow, red maple, etc., produce pollen in great abundance. Raspberry, blackberry, catnip, dandelion, etc., all contribute largely of honey in their season. Corn, and most kinds of grain, furnish pollen in abundance late in the season. Mustard and sweet clover are great favorites with the busy bee, yielding the most beautiful honey, clear as crystal and white as snow. The sugar maple produces honey of excellent quality, and where forests of this tree abound, large quantities of honey are stored, while it is in blossom in early spring.[10] Locust, whitewood, mignonette, golden rod, sumach, etc., all produce honey. When we take into consideration the fact that the bee will go seven miles or more to collect his sweets, it is easy to understand that a certain number of swarms will succeed in almost any locality, even without feeding. To make this still more clear, we have only to take into account the vast number of honey yielding flowers, trees, plants, shrubs, etc., within a circle of fourteen miles in diameter, the hives occupying the center, and the bees flying to collect honey seven miles in every direction from the hive. Those who have not tested the matter, will be likely to dispute the statement, that a bee will go seven miles to gather honey. But on this point I am able to offer ample proof, to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, the fact that the Italian bee will go that distance. The proof I offer is this: The first Italian bees brought into the New England States, I had the honor of receiving. The Italian bees being entirely distinct from the native or black bees in color and size, I determined to avail myself of the opportunity offered to satisfy myself on the long-disputed question--"How far a bee will go to collect honey." I therefore made close and repeated examinations, at different times during the honey season, and it was no uncommon occurrence, to find the Italian workers seven miles from their hives. As there were no