1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



849 



will carry us Into the physiology (or, rather, 

 botaiiology.if you will allow nic to coin a word) 

 of plant life. In this line we find various or- 

 gans performing the functions nece^sary to 

 growth, maintenance, and repro luciicu of plant 

 life. The absorbing cells gather material from 

 earth and air, and discharge it into the fluid 

 circulaiing in the interstices of the plant, and is 

 carried by the vital forces to every part of the 

 plant, each organ selecting from this fluid such 

 part of it as it can use in fultilling its functions. 

 This fluid is apparently limpid, yet in most 

 plants it contains a minute portion of coloring- 

 matter, proiiably dissolved from the plant tis- 

 sues. Some of this coloring-material is separat- 

 ed with the honey in some plants, and in others 

 is eitiii'r entirely absi-nt or is not carried off by 

 the nectaries: therefore we find some red. pink, 

 purple, and other-colored fl>)wers furnish a wa- 

 ter while honey, and some white flowers pro- 

 duce an amber honey. Tiiis coloring matter, 

 not beini? volatile, d,.epens as the honey ripens; 

 hence the various shades of iioney. S jmelitues 

 these shades vary in difTerent years, and at dif- 

 ferent periods of the sarnie year, in the same 

 species of plants, depending, probably, upon me- 

 teorological conditions. fJut the colors of flow- 

 ers are probably always produced by the action 

 of thi- cells in their petals, as-istcd by the action 

 of light; hent-e nature produces variegatt'd and 

 solid colon d flowers. Is it not probable — yea, 

 almost C( rtain — that the poison in most poi>on- 

 ous plants is produced by the gland-cells in the 

 parts where found, these cells taking atom by 

 atom, and building therefrom poison luolecules 

 which remain in the tissues where produced ? 

 If this theory is coirect, then flowers probably 

 never secrete poison; for to do s-o ihey would 

 have to possess poison-prodticing glands. The 

 rattier secretes poison only at tiie ba^e of the 

 fangs; but if the poison in poisonous plants is 

 produced in their general structure, and circu- 

 lates with the circulating fluid, t ben some of that 

 poison might be separated with the nectar. 

 This I have never verified; but the poisonous 

 spores in the poison oak are in the juice of the 

 plant, both in leaves, bark, and wood ; never- 

 theless, bees gather pollen and a reddish pleas- 

 ant healtiiful honey (-omelimes quite abun- 

 dantly) from the greenish flowers of that shrub. 

 These spores of the poison oak attack the skin 

 of many people, causing erysipelatous inflam- 

 mation, which frequent ly extends to i he subcu- 

 taneous areolar tissue, while other perso'S have 

 complete immunity, even though they handle 

 the broken plant with abrasions and sores on 

 the hand«. 



From this observation I am inclined to the 

 opini')n that the nectaries never separate the 

 poi-^on of plants with the honey they produce; 

 therefore we are inclined to think that the few 

 cases reported from the South, of poisoning, be- 

 lieved to bo from the honey of the yellow jas- 



mine iOelseniiiini sempervirens) , were really 

 from some other source that had bi en over- 

 looked, and that the honey of the jasmine, both 

 white and yellow, is free from poison, especial- 

 ly as the poison of the plant is found principal- 

 ly in the root. If honey is ever poisonous we 

 must reach that conclusion, or, rather, demon- 

 stration, from cases where all possible source of 

 contamination from extraneous sources is rigid- 

 ly excludtd. If poison honey is gathered from 

 the jasmine or any other plant, we should prob- 

 ably have several cases almost every year, in- 

 stead of the very few cases, especially as the 

 jasmine abounds in the S uith, and is a great 

 bloomer, and is quite a regular yielder of honey 

 so far as I have been able to leHrn. 



Before leaving this sul)ject I will remark that 

 the odors of flowers are produced by odoriferous 

 cells (or glands if you prefer thit term) situat- 

 ed in the flowers. The hard maple, which fur- 

 nishes much saccharine material in the winter 

 an J early-spring sap, produces very little hon- 

 ey, so that, where sugiris bountiful in sap or 

 juice of a plant, it does not follow that such 

 plants yield honey freely; but the tulip, which 

 has little or no sugar in the sap, yields honey 

 bountifully. 



Dove, San Luis Obispo Co., Cal. 



[On page 830 you will find an article support- 

 ing yuiir {iiisiiion, and a footnote di-fending 

 Dr. Stell. Tiie missing link seems to be liiat 

 the doctor does not neci'ssarily prove that 

 plant j»n"crs have the sune character as the 

 plant niciur. If we takt^ into consideration 

 that tlm nectar of the onion flower lias the 

 same general flavor as the juices of the onion- 

 plant itself, we have an analogy that would 

 go to show that the nectar from a poisonous 

 plant niiuht be and proriably would hi^ poison- 

 ous, the same as the juici'S of that plant: but, 

 as I said in the footnote to which I iiave al- 

 ready referred, the poison in tlf n-^ctar would 

 probably be much more mild. — Ed] 



THE NEBRASKA BEE AND HONEY HOUSE. 



HOW TO EDLTC.XTE TllK OKNFKAL Plll'.l.tC RE- 



GAIiDl.NO TllK IJK.K AM) IIONKV I.M>irsrUY; 



AN OFFiriAl- TI{\I>K MAKIv FOK PUKE 



KXIKACTKI) HO.NKV, ETC. 



By E. Kielchmer. 



The foregoing illusiration gives some idea of 

 the push and energy of our Nebraska brethren 

 f"or apicultural industry, erected on the St.ate 

 Fairgrounds near Oin.iha, during the year 18',)."). 

 It, no doubt, is the mo^t complete structure de- 

 voted exclusively to the exhibition of bee -sup- 

 plies, bees, and their product. The building is 

 a substantial frame structure, measuring, as 

 you view the illustration, G-t feet from left to 

 right, and .50 feet wide at each end, while the 

 central portion projects over si.K feet further to 

 the front, and the two doors are covered with a 

 so-called "lobby," surmounted with tower- 

 shaped framework, ornamented with balus- 

 trades and flag - staffs, while immediately 



