1885-ish - Compiled List of A. I. Root's Honey Plants

Read or download at Hathitrust!

This is a compilation of plants and comments from Root's catalogs that I am using as a guide to creating honey plant postings.   I'm still adding to it and correcting OCR typos.
I figured you might like to skim it.  
Occasionally I added the year a plant was in the catalog, but I forgot just as often. 
There is an index to the honey plant pages  done so far up above. 

"Mignonnette, catnip, motherwort, borage, melilot, and some others, I have tested, but am still doubtful in regard to them.  ..." A. I. Root

Bee-balm, or Melissa (1888) 

During the year of 1887 this plant called forth considerable attention, not only for the amount of honey it produces, but for the enormous numbers of blossoms found on a single stalk.  The introducer claims, in fact, that the large number of thirty thousand seeds have been counted on one stalk.  It is also so prolific in seed that the introducer claims to have received a bushel of seed from 2100 plants.  We can supply the seed.    

Per packet 5 cts.; per ounce, 15 cts.; per pound, $2.00.  For further description, see Gleanings for November, 1887

Borage. (1887 and 1888)

A strong, hardy, rapidly growing plant, bearing a profusion of blue flowers. It may be sown any time, but will, perhaps, succeed best, at about corn planting time. As it grows tall, and branches out considerably, it should have plenty of room. I know that bees are very busy on it, all the day long, from July until Nov., but I do not know how much honey an acre of it would furnish. 

It is easily tried, because it grows so readily, and if sowed on the ground after early potatoes are dug, you will get a nice crop of fall bloom. Sow broad cast, or in hills like corn.

In 1888 only: Borage is also used as a salad or cooked like a spinach. 

Price 10c. per oz., or 75c per pound.
If wanted by mail, add 18c. per lb. for bag and postage.

2016 - E. Craib, Connecticut - I experimented with a 10' x 10' plot of borage last year thinking it was Mother Nature's gift to the bee only to find they much preferred anise hyssop.  It could very well be that the borage did not like my garden's siting or soil.  You might get the opposite bee preferences. 

I looked up how to propagate the anise hyssop and was happy to see cuttings get plants going quickly and easily. If you visit me in a few years the paths around my house should be a symphony in purple anise hyssop!  (It also makes tons of seeds which made me think being a Johnny Appleseed sort of person might be fun.)  

Catnip. (1887 and 1888)   This has been very much talked about, and we have record of some experiments with an acre or more, but if I am correct, no one has ever yet seen a barrel of catnip honey. Still, someone may raise catnip honey by the barrel, and make money at it. If you wish to try, we can furnish you good seed, that we have tested ourselves, for 10c per oz., or $1.00 per lb.; 18c per lb. extra, if wanted by mail. Sow in the fall.

Dandelions.  (1887 and 1888)   I presume every body can get dandelion seeds and roots without buying them, but for all that, I have much faith in an acre of cultivated dandelions. Vilmorin's improved, is superior for "greens," and by the way our bees take to our "patch" of it, I think it must be superior for honey.

Price of seed, 5c per package, or 35 c. per oz.

Honey Pea.(1887 and 1888)This is the stock pea of the South and often yields much honey. It is also used for food. Price, $1.75 per bushel; $1.00 per half-bushel; 60c per peck, packages included: per lb.. lOe: by mail, 18c extra.bushel weighs about 30 lbs.

HORSEMINT, the celebrated honey-plant of Texas.Per oz. 20c; per lb., S2.00: postage. 18c per lb. extra.

Coerulea, bee clover. This latter blossoms in about six weeks after sowing, and bears a small blue flower.Price of seed, 10c per oz., or 7.5c per lb.; if wanted by mail, add 18c for bag and postage.

Lippia Nodiflora.For description see Dec. '79 Gleanings. Per oz., $1.00. Per pkt., .5c. Give hot-bed treatment.


Mignonnette. This is a great favorite with the bees, and also with those who are raising plants for their bees; but, although we have sold considerable of the seed for bee pasturage, I am not sure that any one has ever made it pay in dollars and cents, for he honey alone. It will pay, without any doubt, to raise the seed, especially if "the price keeps up anywhere near what it is now; but for honey alone— who will demonstrate its value beyond doubt?    The tall varieties seem best suited to the bees, but are not as fragrant. It should be sown in the spring, and as the seed is small, it should have fine clean soil, and be covered lightly. This plant seems to have a rare capacity for standing frost, and bees may often be seen busy upon it clear into October.The seed is 20c per oz., or $2.00 per lb. If wanted by mail, add 18c for postage.

Motherwort. This is a near relative of the catnip and is probably equally valuable as a honey plant. Prices of the seed, same as for catnip. Sow any time.

Mustard.The honey from this is said to be very light, equal to any in flavor, and to command the highest price in the market. We can furnish the common, (either white or black) for 10c per oz., or 26 c per lb. Add 18c per lb., if to be sent by mail.

Raspberry. A pretty good honey plant, too well known to need description. The Red Raspberries are thought to yield most honey, and of these the Gregg and Cuthbert varieties are said to be best.Price of plants, per ten, 60c: per hundred,$3.00. If wanted by mail, 3c each extra.

Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome integrifolia).Is closely connected with the noted Spider Plant (C. pungens) these two being the only species of the Cleome. With us, it is much inferior to the Spider Plant as a honey producer. We have reports from some localities of its yielding large quantities of honey, hence, quite a demand for the seed is the result. Price per lb., $1.25. postage 18c. extra. Per ounce, 15c.

Sage, White (Salvia argentea).Is called the honey plant of California, and belongs to the Labiatae or Mint family, the same as Rosemary. Balm. Hoarhound, &c. Price per ounce, 35c. per lb.. ?4.iXi.

Sweet Clover (Melliotus alba, or Meliot).— This has some valuable traits, as standing frost and drouth, but many times and seasons, the bees will hardly notice it at all.   The statement has been made that an acre can support 30 colonies of bees, and afford from 500 to 1000 lbs. of honey.  Such statements, although they may be honestly given, I think should be received with due allowance; about four pounds of seed are needed for an acre; sow like Alsike.  It will grow on almost any barren hillside, but it is a bad weed to exterminate; if, however, it is mown down to prevent seeding, the roots will soon die out. Sow in spring or fall.    We have it on our honey-farm, but it is rather behind the Simpson honey-plant in this locality.

Common Sweet Clover, per lb., ?c: 10 lbs., $1.50;
100 lbs., $12.00; if wanted by mail, add 18c for bag and postage. This is sold with the hulls on; the Bokhara is hulled.

Bokhara clover, seed received from D.A. Jones:
10c per oz., or 3.5c per lb.: 10 lbs., $1.00; 100 lbs..
?25.0n. If by mail, add 18c per lb. 

Sage, White (1883, 1893) (Salvia argentea) is called the honey-plant of California. (Silver Sage)

Sunflower.— This plant is visited by the bees in great numbers in some seasons, while, in others, it is scarcely noticed; but, as the seeds usually pay all expenses of cultivation, i holds its place as a honey
plant. The mammoth Russian bears by far the largest blossoms, as well is the largest seeds. 

Price of seed 5c per oz. or 1.5c per ft>. : 10 lbs. or over, 12c; 100 lbs., 10c. if wanted by mail, add 18c for bag and postage.

Spider Plant.— This plant, under favorable circumstances, yields more honey than anything that ever before came under my observation. In Oct., 1879, each floweret yielded drops so large that a bee had to make two or more journeys to set it all, and I succeeded in dipping the honey from the plant with a spoon, until I half filled a bottle with it, for experiment. As it only yields this honey early in the morning, and late in the evening, it willgo nicely with the Simpson honey plant. I should think it quite probable that 5 acres of each of these plants would keep 100 colonies busy enough to be out of mischief during a dry fall, when bees are so apt to be robbing. For particulars concerning both plants, see AB C of Bee Culture.The Spider plant is an annual, and should be sown every year. It grows most quickly with hotbed treatment, but will blossom in August if sown in the open ground in May.Price of seed — per package, 1o c.;  per oz., 20 c.; per lb., $2.00. Postage 18c per lb. extra.


Seven-Top Turnip.  -- This plant, although not equal to the spider plant and Simpson honey plant, is entitled to a place next to them, because it bears its crop of honey in the spring, between fruit blossoms and clover. It should be sown in Aug. and Sept. It bears no root like the ordinary turnip, but only foliage that is used for greens. Price of seed. 10c per oz., or 50c. per lb. If wanted by mail, 18 c. per lb. extra.

Sorghum, Early amber. This is not strictly a honey-plant, but sugar can easily and cheaply be made from it, for feeding bees or other purposes.  About 6 lbs. (4 qts.) are wanted for an acre of ground.  Price best Southern-grown seed, peroz., 5 c.; per lb..15 c.  If wanted by mall, 18c per lb. extra: 10 lbs. or more, 10c per lb.

Any of the above seeds will be sent in .5c packages,
to those who would like just a few to try.


OTHER HONEY PLANTS.

The following are recommended as honey plants, but I have not thought them worthy of a more extended notice for cultivation. Some of them have been tried on our grounds but either yielded no honey at all, or very little, and I have thought best to put them in here until we could give them a more extended trial. We keep the seed for sale in 5c. packages; if larger quantities are wanted, we will
give prices on application. 

Aster (1883)

Blackheart. (1883)  (Polyganum persicaria) A large variety of Smartweed belonging to the Buckwheat family. If I am correct this is also called Heartsease. (Now usually called Lady's Thumb :-)

Cacalia, or Tassel Flower (1883)  (Sonecio sonchifolia) from India. Cultivated as a summer annual.

Blue Flag (Iris or Flower de Luxe).—A perennial, about 2 feet in height, comprising but few wild species, and grows better when cultivated. 

Clovers, foreign.

• Alfalfa, grown principally in the Pacific States. (This is virtually the same as Lucerne). Prices same as White Dutch clover. 

• Italian, or Scarlet (Trifolium incarnatum) introduced from Italy and France. The flowers are most beautiful, much resembling a large luscious strawberry. Blossoms first year. 

• Lucerne or French (Medicago sativa). best for sandy soils. 

• Yellow Trefoil (Medicago lupulina), a weed or pasture plant, in dry or sandy fields.

Erysimum (False Wall Flower).— Belongs to the Cruciferae or Mustard family, and comprises but three species.

Esparcette or Sainfoin (Hedysarum onobrychis). Usually classed with the clovers, as it belongs to the same family (Leguminosae or Pulse) as the Clover, Pea, Locust, &c.  

Fuller's Teasel (Dipsacus  fullonum) —A variety of teasel, usually cultivated; is valuable for carding woolen cloth, as well as for honey.— See A B C. 

Golden Rod (Solidago).— Belongs to the Compositae Family, and comprises a large variety of fall blooming plants.  

Hoarhound or Madwort (Marubium vulgare). 
Only this one species is common to America; was introduced from Europe and belongs to the Labiatae or Mint family.  

Hyssop (Hyssopus) — Only one species (H. officinalis), and belongs to the Mint family; is cultivated, and was brought from the Old World.

Mollie Heath, the honey plant, a species of acacia, having a most beautiful ornamental foliage, and called a very valuable honey-plant. We have never
yet got it to blossom here, but the beauty of the plant pays for cultivation. 

Monarda  Punctata (Horse Mint).— Belongs to the same genus as wild Bergamot (Monarda or Balm); grows well only in sandy soil.

Portulaca — Best uii.xed: makes a beautiful plant for the flower garden, blooms for months, and attracts swarms of bees every morning.

Phacelia (Name derived from Greek word meaning cluster: it has no common name).— Flowers in spring or summer, and belongs to Hydrophyllaceae or Waterleaf family.

Pyrethrum. the plant that furnishes the Persian insect powder. Seed, per packet. 10c. 

Spanish Needles (Bidens bipinnata).— Grows in waste grounds from Connecticut to Illinois, and south, and belongs to that immense family, Compositae. 

Spring Vetches or Tares (Vicia sativa).— Seems to be a cross between the Pea and Clover, partaking of the peculiarities of each, and belongs to the same family, Leguminosae. Does not yield honey with us.

Verbena Hastata (Blue Verbena). Grows to a height of 3 or 4 feet, and thrives in almost any kind of soil, if not too dry or sandy. 

Whitewood, Tulip, or Poplar (Liriodendron tulipefera). {Usually called Tulip Tree now}— A tall and handsome tree, usually planted for ornament, and valuable for shade and timber, as well as for its honey producing blossoms.

 See Basswood Trees.

1887 - Mignonette: #9 of Root's Bee Plants (with a charming history)

Reseda odorata

Mignonette, besides being a bee plant, has a fascinating history that includes a love story, chasing away headaches, and perfuming stinky neighborhoods.

As a beekeeper in Connecticut I am interested to see mignonette, while not a native, has naturalized.  Reseda odorata, Sweet Mignonette, is the escapee here, but one that has been long grown in gardens.  

A.I. Root comments it might not pay to grow it for pasturage for bees, but they do like it and it often blooms into October which honeybees appreciate.  He also mentions it is not sensitive to frost.

I was looking around for a source of seeds and found it first at The Shop: Monticello.

They comment:

"Mignonette was introduced to ornamental gardens in Europe about 1725, and because of its sweet fragrance both as a garden plant and as a cut flower, its popularity grew steadily on both sides of the Atlantic through the 19th century.  

Thomas Jefferson recorded sowing seeds for this annual at Monticello in 1811. The tiny, pale green and white flowers emit a fresh, fruity scent in summer and are attractive to bees and butterflies."

The photo below is from their seed. 

The Vermont Wildflower Farm catalog adds a great suggestion, saying that grown in a pot for a sunny windowsill mignonette is a  delight.  What a nice scent to come home to on a sunny porch!

However, getting focused on what people thought of it back in the 19th century I found a wonderful article from The Floricultural Cabinet of Joseph Harrison, a "Florist's Magazine" from 1849.

Step, E., Bois, D., Favourite flowers of garden and greenhouse

MIGNONETTE.—RESEDA ODORATA.

It is only one age since this fragrant weed of Egypt first perfumed the European gardens, yet it has so far naturalized itself to our climate as to spring from seeds of its own scattering, and thus' convey its delightful odour from the parterre of the prince to the most humble garden of the cottager.

In less than another age we predict (without the aid of Egyptian art) that the children of our peasants will gather this luxurious little plant amongst the wild flowers of our hedge-rows.

The Reseda Odorata first found its way to the south of France, where it was welcomed by the name of Mignonette, Little-darling, which was found too appropriate for this sweet little flower to be exchanged for any other. 

By a manuscript note in the library of the late Sir Joseph Banks, it appears that the seed of

the Mignonette was sent in 1742, by Lord Bateman, from the Royal Garden at Paris, to Mr. Richard Bateman, at Old Windsor; but we should presume that this seed was not dispersed, and perhaps not cultivated beyond Mr. Bateman's garden, as we find that Mr. Miller received the seed from Dr. Adrian van Royen, of Leyden, and cultivated it in the Botanic Garden at Chelsea, in the year 1752. 

From Chelsea it soon got into the gardens of the London florists, so as to enable them to supply the metropolis with plants to furnish out the balconies, which is noticed by Cowper, who attained the age of twenty-one in the year that this flower first perfumed the British atmosphere by its fragrance. The author of the Task soon afterwards celebrates it as a favourite plant in London—

"the sashes fronted with a range, Of orange, myrtle, or the fragrant weed."

The odour which this little flower exhales is thought by some, whose olfactories are delicate, to be too powerful for the house, but even those persons we presume must be delighted by the fragrance which it throws from the balconies into the streets of London, giving something like a breath of garden air to the " close-pent man," whose avocations will not permit a ramble beyond the squares of the fashionable part of the town. 

To such it must be a luxurious treat to catch a few ambrosial gales on a summer's evening from the heated pavement, where offensive odours are but too frequently met with, notwithstanding the good regulations for cleansing the streets and the natural cleanliness of the inhabitants in general. We have frequently found the perfume of the Mignonette so powerful in some of the better streets of London, that we have considered it sufficient to protect the inhabitants from those effluvia which bring disorders in the air. 

The perfume of Mignonette in the streets of our metropolis reminds us of the fragrance from the roasting of coffee in many parts of Paris, without which some of their streets of business in that city would scarcely be endurable in the rainy season of the year.

The Sweet Reseda or Mignonette is now said to grow naturally in some parts of Barbary, as well as in Egypt. Monsieur Desfontaiues observed it growing in the sands near Mascar in the former country, but it might have been accidentally scattered there, or have escaped from the gardens of the Moors.

This genus of plants, of which we have twelve species, was named Reseda by the ancients, from resedare to assuage, because some of the species were esteemed good for mitigating pains; and we learn from Pliny, that the Reseda was considered to possess even the power of charming away many disorders. He tells us, that it grew near the city of Ariminum, now Rimini in Italy, and that when it was used to resolve swellings, or to assuage inflammations, it was the custom to repeat the following words, thrice spitting on the ground at each repetition :—

"Reseda, cause these maladies to cease: knowest thou, knowest thou, who hath driven these pullets here? Let the roots have neither head nor foot."

We notice these absurd superstitions of the ancients, which are scarcely yet extinct in many country villages of this and other countries, to show how much the minds of the ignorant have always been prone towards the marvellous, and not that we "Hold each strange tale devoutly true."

Although it is so short a time since the Sweet Reseda has been known in Europe, we find that it has crept into the armorial bearings of an illustrious family of Saxony; and, as Cupid does not so frequently bestow honours of heraldry as his father Mars, we cannot avoid relating the romantic tale which introduced this fragrant and modest little flower to the Pursuivant-at-Arms.

The Romantic Story

The Count of Walsthim was the declared lover and intended spouse of Amelia de Nordbourg, a young lady possessing all the charms necessary for the heroine of a modern novel, excepting that she took delight in creating little jealousies in the breast of her destined husband. 

As the beautiful Amelia was an only child of a widowed mother, a female cousin, possessing but few personal charms, and still less fortune, had been brought up with her from infancy as a companion, and as a stimulus to her education. The amiable and humble Charlotte was too insignificant to attract much attention in the circles in which her gay cousin shone with so much splendour, which gave her frequent opportunities of dispensing a part of that instruction she had received to the more humble class of her own sex. 

(Warning: LONG sentence...)

Returning from one of these charitable visits, and entering the gay saloon of her aunt, where her entry or exit was now scarcely noticed, she found the party amused in selecting flowers, whilst the Count and the other beaux were to make verses on the choice of each of the ladies. Charlotte was desired to make her selection of a flower; the sprightly Amelia had taken a Rose; others a Carnation, a Lily, or the flowers most likely to call forth compliment; and the delicate idea of Charlotte in selecting the most humble flower, by placing a sprig of Mignonette in her bosom, would probably have passed unnoticed, had not the flirtation of her gay cousin with a dashing colonel, who was more celebrated for his conquests in the drawing-room than in the field of battle, attracted the notice of the Count, so as to make his uneasiness visible; upon which the amiable Charlotte, who, ever studious of Amelia's real happiness, wishing to amuse and to call back the mind of her cousin, demanded the verse for the Rose. 

The Count saw this affectionate trait in Charlotte's conduct, took out his pencil, and wrote for the Rose,

"Elle ne vit qu'un jour, et ne plait qu'un moment,"
"She only saw one day, and only enjoyed a moment,"

which he gave to the lovely daughter, at the same time presenting the humble cousin with this line on the Mignonette :—

"Ses qualites surpassent ses charmes."

Amelia's pride was roused, and she retaliated by her attention to the colonel and neglect of the Count, which she carried so far as to throw herself into the power of a profligate, who brought her to ruin. The Count transferred his affections from beauty to amiability; and rejoicing in the exchange, and to commemorate the event which had brought about his happiness, and delivered him from a coquette, he added a branch of the Sweet Reseda to the ancient arms of his family, with the motto,

"Your qualities surpass your charms."

The Mignonette is one of the plants whose unassuming little flowers never weary our sight; it is therefore made the image of those interesting persons whom time cannot change, and who, although deficient in dazzling beauty, attach us for life, when once they have succeeded in pleasing without its aid. 

—Flora Historica.

Flora Historica is a small book with a big name - 

Flora historica, or, The three seasons of the British parterre historically and botanically treated : with observations on planting, to secure a regular succession of flowers, from the commencement of spring to the end of autumn : to which are added, the most approved methods of cultivating bulbous and other plants, as practised by the most celebrated florists of England, Holland, and France

The above article on mignonette was taken, in part,  from Flora Historica by the Florist'd Magazine.

1887 - Honeypea: #8 of Root's Bee Plants

The honeypea is a cowpea which is a bean.  A large variety of useful types, bush and vine, make it a popular legume in warm climates.  Black-eyed peas are cowpeas.  It took me a while to work all that out.

I have looked around the web and find beekeepers think it makes a good light honey.  Not all beans are cowpeas, though, so you can't assume a field of beans will attract bees.

The Bee Journal commented:

The bloom of the cowpea is of such formation that the proboscis of the hive-bee is too short to reach down to the nectaries; but just beneath the bloom are a number of little glands that secrete a sweet substance that is largely sought after by the bees. I have seen them work on it from morning to night.

In 1920 Frank Chapman uses testimonials in his American Honey Plants: Together with Those which are of Special Value to the Beekeeper as Sources of Pollen:

The cowpea is widely cultivated in the warmer regions of the old world and in our own Southern States. It is grown for forage and for green manure. The plant is more closely related to the beans than to the peas. 

R. A. Nestor reports that it yields freely in east Texas, and where planted in sufficient acreage yields surplus. The honey is very dark in color, but of mild flavor, according to his report. 

 

The nectar from cowpeas is secreted by extra floral nectaries and beekeepers are often mystified because the bees are working at the "joints" instead of on the flowers. Some report that bees gather nectar from the flowers, also. 

The following reports indicate the value in different localities: 

"There is no finer honey plant than the cowpea, while it lasts, but it blooms only about a week. During this time, if the weather is fair, the bees swarm over the fields from early morn till dewey eve."

—J.D. Rowan, Tupelo, Miss. Gleanings, Sept. 15, 1909. 

"The cowpea is one of our most abundant sources of honey for late summer. The crop is planted here from May 1 to August 1, and furnishes nectar through a considerable period of otherwise scarcity. Unlike other plants, the stems, and not the blossoms, secrete the nectar as the young pods are forming. These the bees work upon excessively. The honey is of good body, thick, deep, approaching dark yellow in color, and of strong taste like that of tulip-poplar, only stronger, with a somewhat slight, wild-green-bean-like flavor."

—C. C. Gettys, Hollis, N. C. Gleanings, Sept. 14, 1909. 

"A small patch of peas was covered with bees from morning till night. Nearly all of them were working on the stalks, as usual; but here and there I saw a few Italians pushing their tongues down into the blossoms. I have never noticed any pollen from the field peas."

— Mrs. Ameda Ellis, Fremont, Mo. Gleanings, June 1, 1910. 

"The peas bloom when there is a honey dearth and the bees gather honey from them. However, I notice they do not work on them much if there is a better honey plant blooming at the same time. My bees get a good deal of nice honey from them."

—G. H. Latham, Jr., Rapidan, Va. Gleanings, May 15, 1910.

Below a bumble is nectaring on those floral nectaries at make the cowpea family useful to beekeepers.

source

1887 - Motherwort: #7 of Root's Bee Plants

Motherwort would take over my garden if I let it. 


It self seeds with abandon.  I don't mind as it is easy to pull, and, if you let it be, it looks good!  The current CT data reports it attracts bumblebees like mad...34 contacts per minute...but did not mention  honeybees. 

My bees do like it, but not with noticeably greater than average enthusiasm.  But then again, they did not show much enthusiasm for borage!  (They do flock to anise hyssop, and, for one day only, covered my giant Cow Parsnip.)  

A. I. Root sold motherwort seeds in his honey plant section in his 1887 seed catalog.


Back to motherwort,  Root talks about it in the ABC of Bee Culture, 1882.

Motherwort (Leonurus Cardiaca)  - Quite a number of the bee folks insist that

motherwort is superior, as a honey plant, to either catnip, hoarhound, balm, wild bergamot, or any of the large family of Labiate, and I presume such may be the case under some circumstances, or in favorable localities.   

In comparing plants, it should be remembered, that those usually bear much honey may, at times, furnish none at all; and also those which usually furnish none may, under very favorable circumstances, yield largely."  

This plant often flourishes about fence corners, and around the ruins of old dwellings, sheds, or even hog pens. The large leaf, taken by itself, much resembles the currant; the stalk is much like catnip; and the little flowers are in tufts, close to the stalk. It remains in blossom a long time, and may be as worthy of cultivation, as any of the plants of its class.

In 1853 Moses Quinby's Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained: Being a Complete Analysis of the Whole Subject is the first book I could find in a simple online search which mentions motherwort as a bee plant.      

Catnip (Nepeta Cataria), Motherwort (Leonurus Cardiaca), and Hoarhound (Marrubium Vulgare) about the middle of June, put forth their flowers, rich in sweetness, and like the raspberry, the bees visit them at all hours and in nearly all kinds of weather. They last from four to six weeks; the catnip I have known to last twelve in a few instances, yielding honey during the whole time.

After 1860 it is mentioned often.  Keep in mind people tended to copy each others published opinions, so a great deal of this MIGHT be copycat behavior, not a sudden noticing that motherwort is attracting tons of bees.  On the other hand the public's awareness of the economic possibilities of beekeeping was blossoming then, so folks were keeping an eye out for

Here is an 1865 report that sounds good from The Bee-keeper's Guide: Or Manual of the Apiary by Albert John Cook.

MOTHERWORT AS A HONEY PLANT.

(Leonurus cardiaca L.)

Perhaps none of our common herbs promises better, as a honey plant, than the one-in question. It is a very hardy 

Fig. 114.

perennial, and once introduced in waste places, it is sure to hold its own, until it becomes desirable to extirpate it, when, at man's bidding, it quickly lets go its hold, so that it is not a dangerous plant to introduce. The blossoms appear at this place about June 25th, and persist for a full month, and during the entire time are crowded with bees, whatever may be the character of the weather, whether wet or dry, warm or cool, whether the plant is in the midst of honey plants or isolated. We are thus assured that the plant is constantly secreting nectar, and is also a favorite with bees. Rape, mustards and borage seem indifferent to the weather, but are not favorites with the bees. Motherwort, then, has three admirable qualities: It is long in bloom, the flowers afford fine honey at all times, and it is a favorite with the bees.

Fig. 115.

If it could be made to bloom about three weeks later, coming in just after basswood, it would have nearly all the desired qualities. I think that we might bring this about by mowing the plants in May. I am led to this opinion from the fact that some plants which we set back by transplanting in May, are still in bloom this August 10th, and are now alive with bees, dividing their attention with the beautiful cleome, which is now in full bloom, and fairly noisy with bees

Fig. 116.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT.

The stalk is square (Fig. 114),'branching, and when cultivated, attains a height of some four feet; though, as it grows in waste places, it is seldom more than three feet. 

The branches, and also the leaves, are opposite (Figs. 114 and 115), and in the axils of the latter are whorls of blossoms (Figs. 115 and 116), which succeed each other from below to the top of the branching stems. 

The corolla is like that of all the mints, while the calyx has five teeth, which are sharp ands pine-like in the nutlets as they appear at the base of the leaves (Fig. 115). As they near the top, the whorls of blossoms and succeeding seeds are successively nearer together, and finally become very crowded at the apex (Fig. 116). 

The leaves are long and palmately lobed (Fig. 115). 

The small blossom is purple.

(My observation on the plant is that the seeds, (nutlets) are sharp!!!  Use gloves when pulling a plant with dry seed heads.)

1887 - Borage: #5 of Root's Bee Plants

Zorn, J., 1796

Finally, a plant A. I. Root promoted that I have grown a patch of (10'x10') to treat my bees!  

You know how things usually go when you do something to please an animal - they ignore it. (Maybe that is just cats?) Well, the bee didn't actually turn up their noses but they did not work it heavily.

Somewhere I read in my time-warp readings that borage is good for wet weather nectar when other plants are washed out or something.  I might have that backwards.  When I find it I'll update this post :-) 

Here is the blurb from  A.I. Root's 1887 and 1888 catalogs' Bee Plant section, with Root as the writer.  

Borage. (1887 and 1888)

A strong, hardy, rapidly growing plant, bearing a profusion of blue flowers. It may be sown any time, but will, perhaps, succeed best, at about corn planting time. As it grows tall, and branches out considerably, it should have plenty of room. I know that bees are very busy on it, all the day long, from July until Nov., but I do not know how much honey an acre of it would furnish. 

It is easily tried, because it grows so readily, and if sowed on the ground after early potatoes are dug, you will get a nice crop of fall bloom. Sow broad cast, or in hills like corn.

In 1888 only: Borage is also used as a salad or cooked like a spinach. 

Price 10c. per oz., or 75c per pound.
If wanted by mail, add 18c. per lb. for bag and postage.

Now I'll throw in my experience with growing borage.  

• First, it is floppy.  
• Second, it falls over.  
• Third, rain beats it down.  

So grow it next to something strong, or fill the area with pea sticks.   
It is pretty up close when not covered with mud.
 (Connecticut had a drought in 2017 punctuated with borage flattening rains.)

Chaumeton, F.P., Flore médicale, 1829

Among the prettiest of those wandering plants which find their most congenial haunts upon rubbish heaps on the outskirts of towns or villages, the borage certainly occupies a prominent place. Plants of such regions are wont to be dull in foliage and flower; but the borage, although its leaves are rough and inelegant, amply compensates for this by the brilliant blue of its five pointed star-like flowers. 

This beautiful blue is, especially among our British plants, very characteristic of the Boraginaceœ, an order of which our borage is the type; we find it in the viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare), the small bugloss (Lycopsis arvensis), the various species of forget-me not (Myosotis), and in the alkanets (Anchusa), which, however, are doubtful natives of our soil; but none of the varying shades presented by these plants are more beautiful than the blue of the borage blossoms.

The uses of borage are, perhaps, open to the charge of being more imaginary than real—that is, if we take into consideration the exaggerated eulogisms bestowed upon it by the older writers.

 "Those of our time," says Gerard, "do use the flowers in sallads, to exhilarate and make the minde glad. There be also many things made of them used everywhere for the comfort of the hart, for the driving away of sorrowe, and increasing the joie of the minde." 

And then he goes on to tell as how " the leaves and flowers of borage put into wine maketh men and women glad and merrie, and driveth away all sadnesse, dulneese, and melancholic"; how "sirrupe made of the flowers of borage comforteth the hart, purgeth melanoholie, quieteth the phrenticke or lanatioke person"; and how "the flowers of borage, made up with sugar, doth all the aforesaid with greater force and effect." 

The use of borage in claret cup and similar beverages at the present day is a relic of the belief in the above "vertues," as well as an agreeable and cooling addition thereto, while its blue flowers floating in the liquid have a pretty appearance.

But the use of borage against melancholy goes mach farther back than the days of Queen Elizabeth. According to Burton, who may be considered an authority on the subject, 

"Helena's commended bowl to exhilarate the heart had no other ingredient, as most of our criticks conjecture, than this of borage;" 

this "commended bowl" being the nepenthes of Homer, which was "of such rare vertue that if taken steept in wine, if wife and children, father and mother, brother and sister, and all thy dearest friends should dye before thy face, thou couldst not grieve nor shed a tear for them".

Incredulous persons might be inclined to regard this cheering property to be rather due to the medium in which the borage was taken, whioh a yet more ancient writer has characterized as that which "maketh glad the heart of man".

As a favourite plant of bees, borage is worthy of somewhat more attention than it generally receives. We know a good beekeeper who has a large bed of it near his hives, and heartily do the winged inhabitants appreciate the attention thus paid them. There are, indeed, few more cheerful combinations of sight and sound than that which is presented by such a borage bed on a bright July afternoon, when tho beautiful blue flowers are in full perfection, and the "murmuring of bees" pervades everything with its soothing hum.                  J. B. Q.