way, would be something to put one's tongue to. Or that from the
blossoms of the apple, the peach, the cherry, the quince, the currant,
--one would like a card of each of these varieties to note their
peculiar qualities. The apple-blossom is very important to the bees.
A single swarm has been known to gain twenty pounds in weight during
its continuance. Bees love the ripened fruit, too, and in August and
September will suck themselves tipsy upon varieties such as
the sops-of-wine.

The interval between the blooming of the fruit-trees and that of the
clover and the raspberry is bridged over in many localities by the
honey locust. What a delightful summer murmur these trees send forth
at this season. I know nothing about the quality of the honey, but it
ought to keep well. But when the red raspberry blooms, the fountains
of plenty are unsealed indeed; what a commotion about the hives then,
especially in localities where it is extensively cultivated, as in
places along the Hudson. The delicate white clover, which begins to
bloom about the same time, is neglected; even honey itself is passed by
for this modest colorless, all but odorless flower. A field of these
berries in June sends forth a continuous murmur like that of an
enormous hive. The honey is not so white as that obtained from clover
but it is easier gathered; it is in shallow cups while that of the
clover is in deep tubes. The bees are up and at it before sunrise,
and it takes a brisk shower to drive them in. But the clover blooms
later and blooms everywhere, and is the staple source of supply of the
finest quality of honey. The red clover yields up its stores only to
the longer proboscis of the bumble-bee, else the bee pasturage of our
agricultural districts would be unequaled. I do not know from what the
famous honey of Chamouni in the Alps is made, but it can hardly surpass
our best products. The snow-white honey of Anatolia in Asiatic Turkey,