The Sources of Nectar and Pollen 361 



but serves a definite function in the plant's life-cycle. There 

 are numerous adaptations of plant structure and physiology 

 which serve to bring about cross-fertilization, by which the 

 ovule of one flower is fertilized by pollen from another 

 flower, often from another plant of the same species. Pollen 

 of certain species is carried from flower to flower by the 

 wind but one of the most common methods is through the 

 agency of insects. The insects which perform this mission 

 are usually attracted by the nectar which the flowers secrete 

 and, in going from flower to flower to get this nectar for food, 

 they act as unconscious agents of cross-fertilization by carry- 

 ing pollen from the stamen of one flower to the pistil of 

 another. The nectar is therefore the attractive object in 

 this process. 



Many insects do this work ; some flowers are visited 

 most frequently by flies, others by small wild bees, but a 

 honeybee not only goes for nectar for its own food but also 

 carries it to the hive for food for the brood and for the adults 

 in adverse seasons. It therefore makes many visits. The 

 honeybee is unique in many ways, not the least wonderful 

 of which is its hoarding instinct. That the honeybees gather 

 at times more than they need makes it profitable for the 

 beekeeper to care for them so that he may take this surplus. 



In the adaptations of Nature, nectar is first of all to 

 attract insects, then when honeybees gather it, they do so 

 to feed themselves and their brood. The surplus honey 

 is therefore simply a by-product, an over-production due 

 to the prodigality of Nature, by which the beekeeper profits. 

 Unless gathered by the bees and appropriated in part by 

 the beekeeper, much of this nectar would simply dry up, 

 consequently honey-production is the conservation of a 

 natural resource, which if not taken immediately is lost. 



Variations in nectar. 



Nectar varies with each individual species of plant. 

 Since plants vary in the color of flowers, shape of leaves 

 and in innumerable other characters, it should not be a mat- 



