402 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



like conditions as the first field, except that the second field was situated 

 twenty-five miles away from a colony of bees. No bees were observed 

 in the field, and the character of the surroundings, there being no timber 

 or probable living places, were such as to preclude the possibility of wild 

 bees in the vicinity. The pods from each locality were carefully opened 

 and the number of seeds in each counted. The results and comparison to 

 be made therefrom are certainly of interest. 



In seeds taken a half mile from bees, 87 pods being examined, there 

 was found to be an average number of 5.58 + seeds in a pod. The 

 seeds were plump, the pods numerous in cluster and having several 

 spirals. 



In seeds taken twenty-five miles from bees, 80 pods being examined, 

 there was found to be an average number of 3.35 seeds in a pod. The 

 seeds in at least one-third of the pods were small and shriveled, the pods 

 few in a cluster, short, and with but few spirals. 



This shows a per cent of increase of the first field over the second 

 of 66%. 



ALFALFA AS A HONEY PLANT. 



My observations upon this subject during the season in which this 

 work was carried on have been that it will yield the greatest amount of 

 nectar under circumstances which tend to give the plant the most vig- 

 orous growth; that is, proper amount of heat and moisture, upon suit- 

 able soil. If the plant is upon upland, dry weather will affect the se- 

 cretion of nectar before it will be affected in a valley, such as the 

 Arkansas valley, where the roots of the plants extend to the water. In 

 September the bees were busy in the alfalfa in the Arkansas valley, 

 while on the higher ground of one of the counties on the eastern border 

 I visited a beautiful piece of alfalfa near an apiary, but no bees were 

 found. They were at that time flying over the alfalfa to the knotweeds 

 beyond. A strong point in favor of this plant, as shown by Muller, is 

 that it continues to secrete nectar as long as the blossom flourishes. A 

 greater part of the alfalfa produced in this state is cultivated for forage, 

 and, since for this purpose it is not often cut while in full bloom, the 

 honey crop is materially less than it would be if alfalfa were allowed to 

 mature. During a dry period bees will fly over alfalfa fields in bloom 

 to a field which has been irrigated a few days previously and has begun 

 to bloom. . 



The bees gather the nectar from the blossoms, and at the same time 

 insure the formation of seed where the blossom was. The results noted 

 show that seed crops upon which bees worked were two-thirds greater than 

 the crops taken from alfalfa dependent upon other insects for pollination. 



Many flowers cease to secrete nectar after being pollinated. Alfalfa 

 continues to secrete nectar until the blossom begins to wither. The only 

 objection found with alfalfa is the not infrequent removal of the plant 

 for hay during the blooming stage. It is no unusual thing, however, to 

 find within range of the apiary several thousand acres of alfalfa. Here 

 the second crop is in bloom before the first is all in the swath, and this 

 continual blossoming places the coveted nectar before the bee from the 

 15th of June until the middle of October. 



