80 AAIERICAN HOXEY PLANTS 



marked effect on the quality of the honey from this plant. The following 

 reports indicate the quality: 



"As to the quality of cotton honey, I can say from my own experi- 

 ence, that it varies in color from light amber to almost water white. 

 While I do not consider it equal to white clover in flavor, it is superior 

 to basswood. * * * The flow increases toward the last of the sea- 

 son, and if we can get two weeks of nice weather after frost it 

 amounts to a considerable increase in the crop." — J. D. Yancey, Hunt 

 County, Texas. Gleanings, page 162, 1910. 



"It did well on our rich bottom land and yielded a fair crop of the 

 finest honey it was ever my pleasure to see. It was so thick that it 

 was almost impossible to extract it, and entirely out of the question to 

 strain it through a single thickness of cheese-cloth. It was light in 

 codor, mild in flavor, and very heavy, and in my opinion superior to 

 any honey ever shipped to this locality, not excepting huijilla. The 

 long drought and consequent absence of all other bloom, enabled us 

 to get a purer cotton honey than we had ever been able to get before. 

 Again, in the late fall, when the weather began to get cool, our cotton 

 took a second growth, soon blooming profusely, and by accident we 

 got also a fair fall crop." — O. Saunders, Trenton, Texas. Page 734, 

 Gleanings, 1910. 



One great advantage of the cotton flow is its long continuation. In 

 Texas it begins to bloom in May or June, and the bees work it steadily 

 until late fall, often November. Extra cultivation or fertilization of the 

 soil increases the vigor of the plant and the nectar flow is increased ac- 

 cordingly: 



"I can remember when the bees gathered only enough nectar from 

 it to stimulate brood rearing, and now we get from one to three supers 

 of surplus from this source alone. * * * On land where we used 

 to make a bale of cotton to 4 or 5 acres, now we make 1 to 2 bales per 

 acre, using high grades of commercial fertilizer and more prolific 

 varieties of the plant. It yields more where it grows best, and of a 

 much longer duration." — J. J. Wilder, Cordele, Ga. Page 237, American 

 Bee Journal, 1911. 



Bees get nectar not onlj' from the cotton blossoms, but from extra 

 floral nectaries as well. At times almost entirely, and to gather freely 

 they seem to neglect the blossoms for the extra-floral nectaries. Some 

 of these are located under the flower and begin to secrete nectar before 

 the blossoms open. Others are located on the under sides of the leaves, 

 and vary from one to three on each leaf. When atmospheric conditions 

 are favorable, these glands secrete abundantly and the nectar gathers in 

 drops. At times it is so abundant that the men cultivating get their 

 clothes saturated with the nectar, from the brushing of the leaves against 

 them. Later in the day the heat of the sun evaporates most of the moist- 

 ure, leaving the clothing sticky. In hot and dry weather the flow is on in 

 the morning and again in the evening, while in cloudy or damp weather 

 it lasts all day. 



When first gathered, the honey is said to be very thin and clear, with 

 a strong and nauseating taste, resembling the taste of the plant itself. 

 As the moisture is evaporated and the nectar ripens in the hive this dis- 

 agreeable taste is lost to a large extent. During a heavy flow a strong 

 odor is frequently present in the apiary, which can be noticed at some dis- 

 tance from the hives. Scholl compares this odor to that of crushed cot- 



