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IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Pellett to an interesting article on the secretion of nectar in flowers 

 by F. W. Sladen.$ For instance, lie calls attention to an interesting 

 feature in nectar secretion by A7-abis alpina which blooms in England 

 in April and May. During the first half of its flowering period it is 

 visited abundantly by honey bees but not later. In the case of golden- 

 rods at Ottawa, he found during the first two weeks of flowering, hardly a 

 bee was seen on them, it was dry, but during the third week of bloom- 

 ing there had been no change in the weather, that is there had been no 

 rain, the goldenrod was in full bloom and the earliest flowers had with- 

 ered, bees were working abundantly. It seems to me that there is here 

 an interesting problem for us to work out. 



Fig. 6. 



Creeping Charlie (Nepeta hederacea). Related to catnip. Catnip is a most 

 excellent honey plant. Creeping Charlie is not visited as frequently. (Johns 

 Medical Botany of North America.) 



I may here allude to another interesting matter concerning the gath- 

 ering of honey by bees and the visits of honey bees to different flowers. 

 First, there is the matter of promiscious visiting of diiferent species of 

 plants. Some years ago, while I was studying the pollination of clover, 

 I found growing together in one small area, the common red clover, 

 white clover, Partridge pea, Horsemint. I carefully observed bumble 

 bees and honey bees. I found that a bee would visit only a single species 

 of plant, the honey bee did not as a rule go from the white clover to 

 the Partridge pea. The bumblebee did not go from the red clover to 

 the Horsemint. This confirms the results that have usually been published 



JBeekeepers Review 27 : 419, Nov., 1914. 



