eaf, which in this case is a pellet of golden pollen upon each
hip, usually obtained from the alder or the swamp willow. In a country
where maple sugar is made, the bees get their first taste of sweet from
the sap as it flows from the spiles, or as it dries and is condensed
upon the sides of the buckets. They will sometimes, in their eagerness,
come about the boiling place and be overwhelmed by the steam and the
smoke. But bees appear to be more eager for bread in the spring than for
honey; their supply of this article, perhaps, does not keep as well
as their stores of the latter, hence fresh bread, in the shape of new
pollen, is diligently sought for. My bees get their first supplies from
the catkins of the willows. How quickly they find them out. If but one
catkin opens anywhere within range, a bee is on hand that very hour to
rifle it, and it is a most pleasing experience to stand near the hive
some mild April day and see them come pouring in with their little
baskets packed with this first fruitage of the spring. They will have
new bread now; they have been to mill in good earnest; see their dusty
coats, and the golden grist they bring home with them.

When a bee brings pollen into the hive, he advances to the cell in which
it is to be deposited and kicks it off as one might his overalls or
rubber boots, making one foot help the other; then he walks off without
ever looking behind him; another bee, one of the indoor hands, comes
along and rams it down with his head and packs it into the cell as the
dairymaid packs butter into a firkin.

The first spring wild-flowers, whose shy faces among the dry leaves and
rocks are so welcome, yield no honey. The anemone, the hepatica, the
bloodroot, the arbutus, the numerous violets, the spring beauty, the
corydalis, etc., woo lovers of nature, but do not woo the honey-loving
bee. It requires more sun and warmth to develop the saccharine element,
and the beauty of these pale striplings of the woods and groves is their
sole and sufficient excuse for being. The arbutus, lying low and keeping
green all winter, attains to perfume, but not to honey.

The first honey is perhaps obtained from the flowers of the red maple
and the golden willow. The latter sends forth a wild, delicious perfume.
The sugar maple blooms a little later, and from its silken tassels
a rich nectar is gathered. My bees will not label these different
varieties for me as I really wish they would. Honey from the ma