Honey Plants: A Reprint of the Original Book

This is a reprint of the original Honey Plants of North America: A Guide to the Best Locations for Beekeeping book, published by A.I. Root in 1926. The book contains nearly 1,000 plants, 408 pages, and is available in paperback format measuring 6" x 9". It features black and white illustrations throughout.

Author: John Lovell

John Lovell (1861–1939) was a specialist in pollination who studied the biology of plant pollination, and the insects involved in the process, particularly honey bees. His research was pivotal in demonstrating that honey bees can perceive colors. In 1913, he became the biological editor of The A. I. Root Company's ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture Encyclopedia. In 1918, he published The Flower and the Bee, Plant Life and Pollination, the culmination of 25 years of study. 

In 1926, The A. I. Root Company published Honey Plants of North America, a comprehensive work describing honey plants and beekeeping conditions across the United States. This classic book was the result of three continuous years of dedicated labor, with all data meticulously validated through personal observation and correspondence with beekeepers from around the country. Lovell received significant assistance from E.R. Root, the then-editor of Gleanings in Bee Culture, who traveled extensively throughout the western and southwestern U.S. to gather information and engage with local beekeepers.

Lovell authored thousands of illustrated articles for newspapers, detailing various flowers, their life cycles, insect visitors, economic uses, and fascinating stories, myths, and folklore associated with them. Each article was accompanied by one of his exceptional photographs.

His works are renowned for their detailed photographs, showing various parts of flowers with near-diagrammatic clarity. The quality of these images resulted from numerous experiments with different photographic plates and techniques. Lovell personally handled the development and printing of his photographs.

He lived with his wife, Lottie, and their two sons, Harvey and Ralph, in rural Maine, in close proximity to streams, the ocean, woodlands, ponds, swamps, and open fields—an ideal setting for conducting his studies.

This reprint serves as a direct reproduction of the 1926 book, originally published by the A.I. Root Company in Medina, Ohio. The book consists of 408 pages and features hundreds of black and white photographs taken by Lovell himself.

Contents Overview:

Part 1:

Nectar: Its Secretion, Protection, and Distribution  

This section covers the structure and function of flowers, the secretion of nectar, plants of limited value to honey bees, pollen-producing flowers, and honeydew.

Part 2:

Descriptions of 38 plants that are primarily valuable for pollen, including photos of most and diagrams of some.

Part 3:

Descriptions of hundreds of American honey plants found north of Mexico, with photos and maps illustrating their common locations in the wild and as cultivated crops.

Part 4:

The honey floras of different states and a guide to optimal beekeeping locations divided into eight U.S. regions, including:

- The Northeastern or New England region, including parts of the Maritime Provinces

- The Appalachian Highlands, from the Catskills in New York to northern Georgia and Alabama

- The Coastal plain along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico

- The central lowlands north of the Gulf Coastal Plain, encompassing the prairies

- The Great Plains east of the Rocky Mountains

- The Rocky Mountains

- The desert region west of the Rocky Mountains and east of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges

- The Pacific Coast, located west of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges

Within each of these regions, states are described and evaluated for their potential as prospective beekeeping areas. In larger, more productive states, individual counties are detailed, and in some instances, even specific parts of counties where beekeeping is prevalent.