1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



197 



the same species (Allogamous). Cross- 

 pollinated, <■. ,<'., with the same species ; 

 red clover (:i) /iybridi:at!on occurs be- 

 tween different species, offspring from 

 the wild crab and cultivated apple. In 

 most cases the flowers are open at the 

 time of maturity {C/asmo^i^'amy) (2) 1 he 

 flowers are closed at the time of ma- 

 turity of the stamens and pistils (Cleis- 

 to^'amy), late autumn flowers of the 

 violet. 



Close pollination is prevented by the 

 difference in time of the maturing of 

 the stamens and pistils. When the 

 stamens mature first, the term proter- 

 androus is used — goldenrod, dandelion, 

 geranium, etc. When the pistil matures 

 first it is called proterogynous as in 

 Lusula. In some plants as in European 

 primrose and the little bluet, two sets of 

 flowers are produced on the same plant, 

 one with a short style and long stamens 

 and another with a long style and short 

 stamens. These flowers are known as 

 dimorphic. 



In the trimorphic flowers, three s.ts 

 of plants are produced — one with a 

 short style ; stamens of medium length 

 and long stamens a second plant with 

 short stamens and long stamens and 

 the style of medium length and a third 

 plant with a long style, short stamens 

 and stamens of medium length — loose- 

 strife is an illustration. Seed will not be 

 produced unless the pollen comes from 

 stamens corresponding to the length of 

 the style. 



It would take a great deal of time to 

 describe the special adaptations in 

 flowers. A few special cases will serve 

 our purpose, one of the most remark- 

 able plants is Yucca, which is a native 

 of western Iowa along the Missouri 

 river. This plant is pollinated by the 

 yucca moth {Pronuba yuccasella'). The 

 female moth has a specially constructed 

 maxillary palp which can be rolled up 

 so the yucca moth can gather the pol- 

 len and carry it to the flower. The 

 female deposits its eggs in the pistil 

 and then pushes the pollen into the 

 funnel-shaped stigma. After a few days 

 the eggs hatch and feed on the develop- 

 ing seed, each larva consuming about 

 20. Then the larva bores its way out 

 of the pistil and pupates in the ground ; 

 the next season when the yucca is in 

 bloom the moths are fully developed. 

 The remarkable thing about the yucca 

 is that seeds will not be produced with- 

 out the yucca moth and the perpetua- 

 tion of the moth is dependent on the 

 yucca. 



We have another class of flowers 

 known as pitfall flowers, represented 

 by the birthwort (Aristalochia). The 

 flowers are proterogynous; that is the 

 pistils mature before the stamens. The 

 flowers, as MuUer says, appear to bloom 

 but actually do not, neither the anthers 

 nor the pistils are mature. The insects 

 enter the flower, the hairs point down 

 obliquely, the insect finds it easy to en- 

 ter. The fly may be in the flower for 

 six days. In the meantime the stig- 

 mas mature and the fly leaves some of 

 the pollen on the stigma from an- 

 other flower; the anthers mature later; 

 when these have shed their pollen the 

 hairs relax and the insect goes out and 

 to another flower. A somewhat similar 

 trap occurs in some of the aroids. The 

 insects, especially bees, are trapped by 

 the pollen or pollen masses of the com- 

 mon milkeed (Asctepi'as syi-iaca), often 

 so abundant on honeybees that they 

 cannot extricate themselves. The 



strong and pleasant odors as well as 

 the large amount of nectar in the nec- 

 taries attracts many insects to the 

 flowers. The common stapelia of the 

 same family, sometimes cultivated in 

 greenhouses, attracts flies because of 

 the carrion like odor. The hair and 

 color of the flowers resemble the flesh 

 of some wild animals where the plants 

 grow, and for this reason blow flies 

 deposit their living young in the 

 flowers. 



The moccasin floweralso traps insects. 

 The so-called slippers or labellum are 

 provided with a revolute margin. The 

 odor which is pleasant attracts the in- 

 sect who finds it an easy matter to go 

 into the flower by the opening. It feeds 

 on the juicy hairs, but it cannot get out 

 because the margin is revolute. The 

 only way for it to get out is by means 

 of the small openings on each side at 

 the base of the flower. In doing so it 

 comes in contact with the stigma where 

 it leaves some of the pollen from an- 

 other flower and carries away some of 

 the sticky pollen to another flower. 



Quite a number of flowers are sensi- 

 tive like the thistle, barberry, bachel- 

 lor's button, laurel, etc. In the case of 

 the barberry, which is much frequented 

 by honeybees, when mature and the 

 honeybee touches the anther, the sta- 

 men moves towards the insect in the 

 flower. The Iowa thistle and other 

 species are also sensitive. When the 

 insects try to get the nectar in the 

 flower, the stamens move and force the 

 pollen out. Try the experiment some- 

 time when you have some of the thistle 

 heads at hand by touching them with a 

 pencil, and you will find that a gentle 

 wave will pass over the heads. You 

 can see the sensitiveness in the stamen 

 of the moss rose, simply touching them 

 will cause the stamens to move forward. 

 Ames, Iowa. 



Edouard Bertrand 



BIOGRAPHY 



When announcing, in our March 

 number, the death of the old veteran 

 beekeeper, Edouard Bertrand, we prom- 

 ised our readers a biography of this 

 noted man. We thought best to delay 

 this so it might appear simultaneously 

 with the centenary of Charles Dadant, 

 those two men having been very closely 

 connected on the apiarian stage, al- 

 though never having met each other. 



The biography of Bertrand given by 

 Thomas Wm. Cowan, in the British 

 Bee Journal for Feb. 8, is so well writ- 

 ten that we quote from it: 



"Ed. Bertrand was born on Alay 16, 

 1832, in Geneva, where he was educated, 

 and like many other Swiss he left his 

 native home to make a living at the 

 age of 20, coming to England, where 

 he entered the banking house of Messrs. 

 Hambro, in London. After three years 

 he accepted a position with a stock- 

 broker in Paris, and remained in busi- 

 ness until 1873, after having gone 

 through the anxiety of the siege of 

 Paris by the Prussians. This, and the 

 subsequent insurrection of the Com- 

 mune in 1871, during a portion of 

 which time he had the responsibility of 

 guarding large funds committed *o his 



care, told seriously upon his health , 

 from which he never entirely recovered, 

 and, not having any children, he de- 

 cided to retire from business and re- 

 turn to his native land. Here he pur- 

 chased a property at Nyon, on the 

 shores of Lake Leman.in view of Mont 

 Blanc, where he could devote himself 

 to his favorite pursuits of horticulture 

 and arboriculture. 



" It was not long before he became 

 possessed of two skeps of bees with 

 straw caps, such as are used by the 

 villagers, which a friend of his had of- 

 fered to him, and with these he com- 

 menced beekeeping. Having no other 

 idea about bees than those gathered 

 from the work of his compatriot, F. 

 Huber, in his "Nouvelles Observa- 

 tions," he found the knowledge ac- 

 quired not sufficient for practical bee- 

 keeping. The first two or three years 

 of his novitiate were passed in trials 

 and failures without ever harvesting a 

 single pound of honey. He tried, one 

 after the other, hives with supers such 

 as the Varembey, Ribeaucourt, Carey, 

 Christ, etc.; then hives with small 



Mrs. Edouard Bertrand 



frames like the Berlepsch, Bauverd 

 Jarrie, etc., always with the same unsat- 

 isfactory results. The honey flow in 

 the neighborhood of Nyon is of short 

 duration, and the district is not favor- 

 able for beekeeping, as there was only 

 half the pasture there would be away 

 from the lake. It was, therefore, im- 

 portant more than in other places to 

 have strong colonies at the right time, 

 an impossibility with the small hives 

 he was using. Coming across the 

 works of G. de Layens, " Elevage des 

 Abeilles," and of Dadant " Petit Cours 

 d'Apiculture," the methods there de- 

 scribed were a revelation to him, and 

 in 1877, for the first time, he obtained a 

 good harvest of honey from a Layens 

 hive which he had placed in an apiary 

 he had started in the mountains at 

 Gryon on a small family estate. The 

 following year he changed his hives, 

 partly for the Layens and partly for 

 Dadant's, and established a third apiary 

 at Bex. 



" In 1880 he started another apiary at 

 Allevays in the Jura. Here he put up 

 an equal number of Layens and Dadant 

 hives for comparison. He was teach- 



