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AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL 



Dec. 26, 1901. 



stems, particularly around the flower- 

 stalks. In some plants, as the fuller's 

 teasel, the leaves join around the stem, 

 forming- a receptacle which catches 

 rain and dew and forms an insuperable 

 barrier. What is also doubtless a 

 provision for the protection of the 

 seeds of plants is the fact that when 

 plants are eaten by animals or insects, 

 it will frequently be noticed that 

 the blossoms themselves are seldom de- 

 stroyed. This may be due either to a 

 more abundant production of thorns or 

 bristles around these org-ans, or that 

 they are rendered distasteful by certain 

 compounds which are more abundantly 

 secreted in the blossoms. 



This fascinating branch of my sub- 

 ject is far too wide for me to more 

 than refer to it now ; but I am con- 

 vinced that shape, position, nature and 

 adornment of every part of a plant has 

 some special significance if we can 

 only discover it. That we have not 

 yet perceived of what advantage these 

 are, by no means justifies us in assum- 

 ing that no advantage exists, and the 

 search for the meaning of the innum- 

 erable shapes of flowers and leaves, 

 their positions and behavior under 

 varying circumstances provide a limit- 

 less source of pleasure and valuable in- 

 struction to whomsoever takes the mat- 

 ter up earnestl}', verifying carefully 

 each observation and exercising every 

 care not to be carried away by the sub- 

 ject and jump to conclusions. 



I have with me here to-day some ex- 

 cellent charts made by my friend, the 

 Rev. Thomas Fyles, of Quebec, the 

 president of the Entomological Society 

 of Ontario. These will enable me to 

 illustrate some of the points I have re- 

 ferred to, far better than I could other- 

 wise have done. James Fletcher. 



Some fine, colored charts were here 

 exhibited, and much information was 

 given about each in turn. Some of the 

 points explained, were as follows : 



No. 1. — Pollen-Grains. — Although 

 so small, the minute pollen-grains are 

 of various sizes and shapes, and have 

 their surfaces beautifully ornamented 

 in a varietj' of ways. In fact, these 

 minute objects are just as character- 

 istic and easily recognizable under the 

 microscope as are the different kinds 



of seeds. The pollens of several well- 

 known plants were shown, as illustra- 

 tive of the different shapes and mark- 

 ings of pollen-grains. The pollen of 

 pine trees, which is very light, is pro- 

 duced in enormous quantities, and 

 when carried on the wind and deposited 

 at a distance, has sometimes been taken 

 for showers of powdered sulphur. An 

 instance of this was brought to his no- 

 tice during the past summer at Arm- 

 strong, in British Columbia. A re- 

 markable occurrence illustrating the 

 extreme likeness of the pollen-grains 

 of pine trees was one of these so-called 

 sulphur showers on the deck of a ship 

 nearly 200 miles from land. The doc- 

 tor of the ship, who happened to be a 

 botanist, detected the true nature of 

 the yellow deposit by putting some of 

 the material under his miscroscope. 



No. 2. — MOUTH-P.ART OF THE HONEY- 

 BEE, the bumble-bee and the wasp. — 

 The differences in the mandibles of 

 these insects were pointed out and ex- 

 plained. The mandibles of the honey- 

 bee are provided for the working of 

 wax, and this only when softened at a 

 high temperature. Those of the wasp 

 for gnawing wood for the manufacture 

 of the paper with which their nests are 

 surrounded. 



No. 3. — Flowers of the Pea Fam- 

 ily. — These were illustrated by figures 

 of the Bread bean, showing the distinct 

 contrast of black and white, the Sweet 

 pea and the Broom. The difi'erent 

 structures were explained in their bear- 

 ing on the question of cross-fertiliza- 

 tion, attention being drawn to the 

 brush-like stigma and the elastic keel. 



No. 4. — A Flower of the Sun- 

 Flower Fa.mily. — The many points of 

 interest in these flowers, and the de- 

 vices by which they are prevented from 

 becoming self-fertilized, were ex- 

 plained. 



No. 5. — Flowers of the Common 

 Primrose, referred to above, showing 

 the two forms with long and short pis- 

 tils. 



No. 6. — Flower of Trop.eolum. — 

 Attention was drawn to the markings 

 and tufts of hair in the throat of the 

 garden flower known as the Nastur- 

 tium, which acted as path-finders to 

 insects of a proper size and shape, so 

 as to secure fertilization to the seeds 



when they visited the flowers for the 

 sake of the copious nectar in the long 

 hours. 



No. 7. — Flowers of Antirrhinum. 

 — The necessity of a large, strong in- 

 sect, such as a bee, to open the Snap- 

 Dragon flower and reach the nectar 

 was evident, but it was stated that 

 sometimes bumble-bees gnawed a more 

 direct entrance to the nectar at the 

 base of the flower. After this entrance 

 was once made, honey-bees might be 

 seen rifling the flowers through this 

 hole instead of entering by the proper 

 opening. This Mr. Fletcher believed 

 was an analogous case to honey-bees 

 sucking the juice from injured fruits. 



No. 8. — The Night-Flowering 

 Catchfly. — The blossoms of the Pink 

 family are extremely interesting. 

 There are 10 stamens. The flowers 

 open after sun-down, when they are 

 white and conspicuous. Sweet perfume 

 is emitted, and during the first evening 

 of the three in which each flower ex- 

 pands, five of the anthers are pushed 

 out of the flower-tube and shed their 

 pollen, after which they dry up and fall 

 away. The next morning the petals 

 curl up and present the appearance of 

 a faded flower. During th6 day there 

 is no perfume, but in the evening the 

 petals again unfold, the scent returns, 

 and the other five anthers appear. It 

 is not until the third evening, when all 

 the pollen is exhausted, that the pistil 

 lengthens out and exposes itself to re- 

 ceive pollen from other flowers. 



Several other charts of a similar 

 nature to the above were shown, and 

 their bearing on the subject explained. 

 In bringing his remarks to a close. Dr. 

 Fletcher spoke of the great value to all 

 classes of workers of the introduction 

 of "Nature Study" into our schools 

 and universities. He spoke highly of 

 the work which had been done by 

 Profs. Bailey and Craig of Cornell 

 University. He knew of nothing so 

 valuable in education as inculcating a 

 knowledge, and with it a desire for 

 knowledge, concerning all the common 

 objects which surround us on every 

 side, an ignorance of which in most 

 classes of the community was such a 

 conspicuous characteristic. 



fContinned next week.) 



i Contributed Articles. 



Selling Comb Honey by the Case. 



BY D. W. WORKING. 



ACTING on thp siiijorcstioii of the Editor of the Anieriean 

 Hci' .lournal, I read before the Colorado State Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association a proof of the article by E. A. Burnett & 

 Co., publisliod on pag-c 75W. This article, which seems to 

 have been written i's|iri-i.ill\ fiir thi> I'nlijilitment of Colorado 

 bee-keepers, was dis.ii--ril ai -nmr length by our members: 

 and 1 venture to offiTun ali^trin-t of tlieir remarks. 



Mr. Frank Rauchfuss, manager of the Colorado Honey- 

 Producers' Association, said : 



" I plead fcullty to writing one of the letters quoted in that 

 article. If we fjnaraiitee a weight for separatored, half-sepa- 

 ratored, and uii separatored honey, is it not virtually the same 

 thing as selling by weight ? In one of Burnett & Co.'s letters 

 to us, tliey said they were not willing to buy an unknown 

 quantity. I wrote back that they were buying a known 



quantity. In one instance the buyers "rot 200 pounds more 

 thantliey were figuring on. It is an injury and an imposition 

 to make the statements in that articl<' without stating the 

 wliole thing. A house of that standing should know some- 

 thing of the difference between separatored and unseparatored 

 lioney. They want to buy light wiij/ht honey by the pound, 

 and "as soon as concessions are reached they will throw out 

 the heavy-weight honey. It has worked that way, and it will 

 work that way again." 



R. C. Aikin — I tliink our system is ptrfectiy fair. It 

 guards against wrong-doing on both sides. 



H. C. Morehouse — I fully endorse those remarks. The 

 article misrepresents the position of our people. 



T. Lytle — When the buyer asks for quotations by the 

 case, he makes a bid on the guaranteed weight. He is not in- 

 jured or abused in any manner. 



Mr. Aikin — Selling by tlie case makes it an oasi<'r matter 

 to do business. We have rules to sell by. 



Mr. Rauchfuss— None of the grading rules but ours have 

 considered the question of weight. We have a standard sec- 

 tion, which they do not have in other States. Having a stan- 

 dard section, we can have a standard of weight. How can 

 you adopt a set of rules, with a standard section, without tak- 

 ing weight into consideration ? I can show quantities of 

 honey in our store now, graded as No. 2 under our rules, 

 which will be sold as No. 1 in Eastern markets. Selling by 



