Locusts and Wild Honey

Locusts and Wild Honey, by
John Burroughs

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Title: Locusts and Wild Honey
Author: John Burroughs
Release Date: November 14, 2006 [EBook #6355] [First posted on
November 29, 2002]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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AND WILD HONEY ***

This etext was produced by Jack Eden

THE WRITINGS OF JOHN BURROUGHS WITH PORTRAITS
AND MANY ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME IV

LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY
PREFACE
I am aware that for the most part the title of my book is an allegory
rather than an actual description; but readers who have followed me
heretofore, I trust, will not be puzzled or misled in the present case by
any want of literalness in the matter of the title. If the name carries with
it a suggestion of the wild and delectable in nature, of the free and
ungarnered harvests which the wilderness everywhere affords to the
observing eye and ear, it will prove sufficiently explicit for my
purpose.
ESOPUS-ON-HUDSON, N. Y.
CONTENTS I. THE PASTORAL BEES II. SHARP EYES III.
STRAWBERRIES IV. IS IT GOING TO RAIN? V. SPECKLED
TROUT VI. BIRDS AND BIRDS VII. A BED OF BOUGHS VIII.
BIRDS'-NESTING IX. THE HALCYON IN CANADA INDEX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS JOHN BURROUGHS From a
photograph WHIP-POOR WILL From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes
TROUT STREAM From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason
YELLOW BIRCHES From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason
LEDGES From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason KINGFISHER
(colored) From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes

LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY

I
THE PASTORAL BEES
The honey-bee goes forth from the hive in spring like the dove from
Noah's ark, and it is not till after many days that she brings back the

olive leaf, 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 with a ladle.
The first spring wild-flowers, whose sly faces among the dry leaves and
rocks are so welcome, are rarely frequented by the bee. The anemone,
the hepatica, the bloodroot, the arbutus, the numerous violets, the
spring beauty, the corydalis, etc., woo all lovers of nature, but seldom
woo the honey-loving bee. The arbutus, lying low and keeping green
all winter, attains to perfume and honey, but only once have I seen it
frequented by bees.
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 maple, a tree so clean
and wholesome, and full of such virtues every way,