In the May column, we reviewed published reports on the genus Agastache3 as bee forage and came to two somewhat contradictory conclusions:

1. The data support the contention that under proper circumstances several species of Agastache can be exceptional bee forage. These data came from observations made on both wild (Pellett, 1926; Vansell, 1933; and Wilson et al., 1958) and cultivated plants (Terry, 1872; Pellett, 1943 and 1946; and Mayer et al., 1982).

2. Despite Agastache's potential productivity and the fact that there were two historical periods in which one or more members of the genus were cultilvated for bee forage, the beekeeping literature is almost totally devoid of data, or even of testimony, derived from large-scale plantings. The major exception to this statement is a short paper by Mayer et al. (1982) where the estimated honey production of Washington beekeeper John Eckstrom suggested that more than a ton of honey could be produced from an acre of land planted to Agastache foeniculum (Pursh) O. Kuntze.