189G. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



61 



that the flowers are changing the sap 

 into nectar, depositing it into the 

 nectary by such wonderful process 

 that man cannot imitate it even if he 

 had thousands of years to try. In fact, 

 it would be almost like getting a straw- 

 berry from a rose bush, or vice versa. 

 I used to think it possible to work 

 that way, but in actual practice I 

 struck snags on all sides, and had to 

 give it up. 



But some plants have the power of 

 producing nectar under favorable cir- 

 cumstances, such as sweet clover and 

 many others. J'hen th'ere are plants 

 which it seems take spells and pro- 

 duce an extensive amount of nectar 

 one year, and not any for several 

 years following— tropical plants grown 

 in greenhouses are especially so. I 

 remember a peculiar case of this kind ; 

 it was with a plant named " Hoyacar- 

 nosa." It was planted out in a large 

 conservatory, and twined itself to a 

 trellis suspended to the roof, and the 

 year in question it flowered excessive- 

 ly, and secreted so much nectar that it 

 dropped from the flowers, soiling 

 everything underneath them ; and the 

 same flowers produced nectar until 

 they perished, as nearly as I can rec- 

 ollect it, six or seven days from the 

 time they began to produce nectar. 

 Now this plant was handled the same 

 in every way for four years after- 

 wards, and if I had not seen what I 

 have described I would have said that 

 the flowers were destitute of any organ 

 to hold nectar, let alone produce any. 

 What should cause it is a knotty 

 point, but such is the case with all 

 nectar producing plants, which all old 

 bee keepers know. 



Florence, Nebr. 



Grand Offer to Subscribers. 



We will send the Bee Keeper six 

 months, and a box of Seeds contain- 

 ing 12 different packages of Garden 

 Seeds and 3 papers of Flower Seeds 

 (value $1.40) for only 60c post-paid, 

 or the Bee Keeper 1 year and all the 

 Seeds for 75c. Or we will send the Bee 

 Keeper balance of the year and a copy 

 of ' 'How to Manage Bees, " (price 50c) 

 for 50c. The Bee Keeper 1 year 

 and the book for 60c. Remit in pos- 

 tage stamps. 



HORSE OR MOTOR. 



The horse and the motor have entered the 

 lists in a contest for supremacy. Both in 

 Europe and in this country the horseless or 

 autemobile vehicle is announced as the com- 

 ing means of locomotion, not only in cities 

 but in rural localities. And the revolution, 

 as its prophets assure us, will work a change 

 in present methods radical enough to enable 

 the humblest farmer to furrow his fields with 

 a new-fangled plow operated by its own 

 motor. We shall see, also, motor-driven 

 farm wagons loaded with produce en route 

 to market, the living horse left idle in his 

 stall to die a natural death, while his suc- 

 cessor, the mechanical horse, does his work, 

 and does it better, more cheaply, and more 

 quickly. 



In the cities we are promised as sweeping 

 a change in methods of haulage as the street 

 railways experienced wlien the electric and 

 cable cars supplanted the horse cars and 

 caused us to wonder why we had waited so 

 long for so easy and satisfactory a means of 

 covering long distances. We shall have 

 motor-driven delivery wagons, vans, drays 

 and express wagons. Stage-coaches, cabs 

 and all other public conveyances will no 

 longer rattle over the (!ohble-stones to the 

 clatter of lioofs, but will glide swiftly along 

 on rubber-tired wheels actuated by a motor 

 secreted under the seat. All vehicular trans- 

 portation, even to the delivery of the matu- 

 tinal can of milk or the hist bill of goods 

 purchased at a big dry goods shop, will be 

 accomplished by the magic of the motor. — 

 Oliver McKee, in March Lippincctt's. 



