"When o'er her nectar'd couch papilios crowd. And bees in clusters hum their plaudits loud." +Evans.+ "What is it," says the anonymous writer whom I lately quoted, "that brings the bees buzzing round us so busily? See, it is this tuft of coltsfoot, which they approach with a harmonious chorus, somewhat like the _Non nobis, Domine_, of our singers; and after partaking silently of the luxurious banquet, again setup their tuneful Pæans." Ornamental flowers, such as roses, ranunculuses, anemones, pinks and carnations, afford little or no pabulum for bees, and tulips are probably pernicious to them, dead bees being frequently found in their flowers. It would be a great acquisition to the bees to have near them a large plantation of _borage_, which affords peculiarly delicate honey, as does also _viper's bugloss_. The former continues blooming for many months, and, bearing a pendant flower, it is not liable to be washed by rain; _mignonette_ too, if sown abundantly, is a plant of considerable importance to the apiary, and for a somewhat similar reason,--its continuing in bloom till the autumnal frosts set in, and its yielding honey of peculiar whiteness and delicacy. Instances have been known, of an abundant crop of these two flowers affording a large supply of honey to the apiary, near which they were sown, when, at the same time, there was a general failure of all the neighbouring stocks. _Lemon thyme_ should be planted in every bee-garden, wherever room can be afforded for it: it blossoms late, (the beginning of August,) and affords very fine flavoured honey. It might be advantageously used as an edging for garden walks and flower-beds, instead of box; some use thrift and daisies for the same purpose. Box has the character of giving honey a bitter flavour, and Pliny has observed that the Romans, in laying tribute upon Corsica, exacted from the inhabitants two hundred pounds of wax, but wholly excepted honey, on account of its being flavoured by the box-tree. _The common teasel_ (_Dipsacus sylvestris_) should have a place near every bee-house, as it not only supplies honey from its rich purple heads, but yields a seasonable supply of water, in the cups formed by the leaves at every joint of the stem, which contain from a spoonful to half a pint of water. This convenience is still more efficiently supplied by the large floating leaves of _the water lily_, which should if practicable be introduced near every apiary. As should also the great hairy _willow-herb_ (_Epilobium hirsutum_), a very ornamental though a very common plant, growing by the sides of rivulets.