OCTOBER 15, 1915 



1 have had this hive four years, and for 

 three years it was the best honey-producer 

 ill my yard; but this last summer my bees 

 irot the swarming fever, and this hive will 

 not give much surplus. The tirst winter I 



849 



tried to winter all four colonies; but the 

 colony facing north disappeared. I do nort 

 know that it would have occurred again, but 

 1 never tried to winter any bees in that 

 compartment afterward. 

 Boicourl, Kan. 



SELF-TRIPPING OF ALFALFA 



BY J. H. LOVELL 



Alfalfa sometimes sets seed fi-eely, even 

 in the absence of insects suitable for trip- 

 ping tlie flowers. The Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry has recently shown (1914) that the 

 flowers often trip automatically. Alfalfa 

 )ias ex])losive flowers — that is, when the keel 

 is depressed the stamens and pistil fly for- 

 cibly ujiward with a snapping sound, and 

 a little cloud of pollen is thrown into the air 

 or against an insect. At Chinook, Montana, 

 '.V3 out of 57 flowei"s marked on one plant 

 became self - tripped 

 and set 21 pods. On a 

 second plant 36 flow- 

 ers out of 64 tripped 

 automatically and pro- 

 duced 16 pods. Self- 

 tripping is influenced 

 by temperature, hu- 

 midity, and bright 

 sunshine. A single al- 

 falfa-plant was screen- 

 ed from insects for 

 ten days or longer un- 

 til it was in full bloom. 

 The screen was then 

 removed for 15 min- 

 utes on a very warm 

 day.The flowers quick- 

 ly began exploding 

 with a snapping sound 

 at times three or four 

 being heard simulta- 

 neously. It was esti- 

 m.ated that more than 

 half the flowers were 

 self-tripped before the 

 screen was replaced. 

 Tn the West, automat- 

 ic self-tripping prob- 

 ably results in the production of as many 

 pods as insect pollination. This obseivation 

 is important, since it explains the produc- 

 tion of a large crop of seed in the absence 

 of insects. 



THE ODOi: OF GOLDENROD NECTAR. 



"While the bees are bringing in nectar 

 from the goldenrod, the whole apiary is 

 filled with a disagreeable sour smell which. 

 on a calm evening, may sometimes be no- 



ticed at a distance of a hundred feet. The 

 odor of goldenrod nectar has been likened 

 to that of decaying carrion, but this is a 

 iui.<;take. When such an odor is present it 

 is usually caused by one or more stink-horn 

 funpi. One autumn I noticed in my bee- 

 yard a strong carrion-like odor, and care- 

 ful search soon revealed several of these 

 fun^i growing Tiear an apple-tree. At least 

 a dozen flies were busily feeding on the 

 semi-liquid mass. Where there is decaying 



.■-^i^?-ife:.«*rf'iW-»5;t'?'/; 



The stiiik-liorti 



1 i '/i.ih'i... ii,,,.iiaii-ii-i ) sometimes 

 the apiary in the fall. 



;iows up in 



organic inatter the stink-horn fungus fre- 

 ciuently spring up in the fall. They ex- 

 liale a fetid scent, and often mislead the 

 beekeeper into the belief that this odor 

 comes from the hives. Tlie stem is hollow, 

 and the cap-like top deliquesces into a 

 >licky, syrupy mass which is very attractive 

 lo carrion-flies. They devour great num- 

 bfrs of the spores, which produce a kind of 

 diarrhea, and pass through them unharm- 



