1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



48: 



form a ring around the stem, they 

 open first on the side toward the sun. 

 In the shade the colors of many flow- 

 ers are paler than in the light. The 

 flowers of the chickweed will not open 

 except in light, and some other flow- 

 ers develop imperfectly in darkness. 



The Effect of Low Temperature 



Numerous chemical analy.ses show 

 that sugar accumulates in plant tis- 

 sues at low temperatures. When the 

 surrounding temperature is below 50 

 degi'ees F., sugar accumulates in po- 

 tatoes and in various parts of plants. 

 Kenoyer found that the leaves of 

 white clover had 30 per cent more 

 sugar and the flower-stalks 58 per 

 cent more sugar at 50 degrees F. 

 than at 77 degrees F. Ten flowers of 

 alfalfa, after being kept in a tem- 

 perature of 50 degrees F., for four 

 days, contained a third more reduc- 

 ing sugar than 10 flowers kept in a 

 temperature at 61 degrees F.. for the 

 same length of time. In explanation 

 of the accumulation of sugar it has 

 been suggested that starch is convert- 

 ed into sugar more rapidly than it can 

 be used by the plant at a low temper- 

 ature. If a warmer temperature fol- 

 lows, as when a warm day follows a 

 cool night, nectar secretion is greatly 

 stimulated, since there is a surplus of 

 sugar available, and the warmth ren- 

 ders the membrane of the nectary 

 more permeable. 



It is well known to beekeepers that 

 cool nights and warm days are more 

 favorable to nectar secretion than a 

 uniform temperature. According to 

 the 29-year record of honey produc- 

 tion at Clarinda, Iowa, the largest 

 amount of honey was stored on days 

 having the widest range of tempera- 

 ture. The early goldenrods. in north- 

 ern New England, as the early 

 goldenrod (Solidago juncea) and the 

 field goldenrod (S. nemoralis) which 

 bloom in July, when the nights are 

 warm, yield little nectar; while the 

 late goldenrods, which bloom when 

 the nights are cold, as the tall, hairy 

 goldenrod (S. rugosa) and the bushy 

 goldenrod (S. graminifoHa) , are the 

 source of a large surplus of honey. 



In the Alps and in all mountainous 

 regions the nights are much colder 

 than the days. As we ascend a moun- 

 tain the air grows thinner, or less 

 dense, and at a height of 3.5 miles 

 the pressure per square inch is only 

 one-half as much as on the earth's 

 surface (14.7 lbs.). It also contains 

 much less water vapor. Water vapor 

 acts as a great blanket to the earth's 

 surface and vegetation. If the 

 amount of vapor is small, the tem- 

 perature will fall i-apidly. Hence the 

 cold nights at Alpine height?. Dr>' 

 air is not sensibly warmed by the sun- 

 light passing through it, but if it con- 

 tains much water vapor its tempera- 

 ture rapidly rises, but the soil re- 

 ceives less heat. In the daytime the 

 earth at high altitudes receives a 

 large amount of sunlight, which the 

 soil absorbs in a much greater degree 

 than does the air. Thus on a clear 

 September day, in the Pyrenees, at 

 a height of 9,400 feet when the air 

 was at 50 degrees F., the soil was at 

 91 degrees F. The warm soil raises 



the temperature of the layer of air in 

 contact with it so that the dwarfed 

 plants of Alpine heights find both 

 soil and air very much warmer than 

 at night time. As has been pointed 

 out, this wide range of temperature 

 is favorable to nectar secretion. 

 Contrast Between Alpine Vegetation 

 and Flowers 

 The profusion of Alpine flowers is 

 not accompanied by a luxuriant vege- 

 tation, as perhaps might be expected, 

 for the leaves and stems are small, 

 stunted, and poorly developed. The 

 trees are often dwarfed and gnarled, 

 with spreading, twisted branches, 

 forming impenetrable scrubby 



growths. The shrubs are low and 

 prostrate, the branches of the willows 

 nestling close to the ground. The 



favors the production of more and 

 larger flowers, and a more ample se- 

 cretion of nectar. 



Blossoms 01 I'ir 



ed or willow-herb 



herbaceous plants do not produce 

 long stems, but great numbers of 

 short tufted stems, or else matted 

 growths. The leaves are also smaller 

 than those of plants growing in the 

 lowlands. The dwarfing of plants at 

 high altitudes is due to various causes, 

 as the severity of the storms and the 

 winters, the cold nights, the low tem- 

 perature of the soil below the surface, 

 the excessive evaporation of water 

 due to the thinness and dryness of 

 the air and the intense light, and the 

 difficulty of absorbing moisture from 

 the soil. 



In general, throughout the plant 

 world, a check in vegetative growth, 

 or of the foliage and stems, favors 

 the production of flowers. The 

 girdling of an apple tree hastens its 

 blooming, and the same result may 

 be obtained by root-pruning. Many 

 cultivated vegetables, growing in a 

 damp, rich soil, do not flower as early 

 as when gi-own in a dryer soil. A 

 check in vegetative growth renders a 

 larger amount of food available for 

 the production of flowers. The 

 dwarfing of Alpine plants, which is 

 the result of the general conditions at 

 high altitudes, probably, therefore. 



SELECTING A LOCATION 



By L. H. Cobb 



There are places where conditions 

 are especially favorable to the bee- 

 keeper and where honey is a big crop 

 every year. There are plenty of good 

 locations, in these districts, yet to be 

 taken up, but most of us want to keep 

 bees where we are, if we can do so 

 with any assurance of success. The 

 average honey production of the vari- 

 ous States with the exception of one 

 or two is about the same. It has 

 been improving in many States, as 

 sweet clover and alfalfa have become 

 generally grown. Even without these 

 there has been a fair production in 

 most places. It is not so much a par- 

 ticular part of the country as the par- 

 ticular spot chosen. One location will 

 be extra good while but a few miles 

 away we may find nearly every year a 

 failure. 



A good location is not very hard 

 to find if the conditions needed are 

 considered. White clover, sweet clo- 

 ver and alfalfa are three main 

 sources of supply. Basswood, hearts- 

 ease, buckwheat, Spanish needle, and 

 some other nectar yielders, may be 

 sufficiently plentiful to help out 

 greatly, and in some localities special 

 plants native of the country, such as 

 the red raspbei-ry of the northern 

 cutover lands and the mesquite of 

 the southwest, will make these places 

 especially good, but the clovers fur- 

 nish the main honey supply for a 

 large part of our land. 



While we have had only one year 

 here, from my experience with sim- 

 ilar locations elsewhere I am sure it 

 will prove a good place. We have no 

 great supply of white clover, yet it 

 is scattered well all around. Sweet 

 clover is quite plentiful along the 

 roadways, though I do not know of 

 a field where it is grown for hay or 

 seed. There are several fields of al- 

 falfa of small acreage around us, and 

 timbered creeks each way within a 

 mile. Several home orchards are 

 close, with about two acres of fruit 

 trees on the farm. There is no low 

 land that I know of within three or 

 four miles, so we have no wet soil 

 plants to depend on. 



One year I had my bees close to a 

 large swampy field where the grain 

 stubble soon showed green and pink 

 with heartsease, and nearly every 

 year the bees found nectar here to 

 send them into the winter full up 

 with honey and with a force of young 

 bees to winter over. That swampy 

 ground was an asset, and timber is 

 also. The timber starts them off' 

 early and the heartsease carries them 

 late, though we cannot depend on 

 heartsease on uplands, as it does not 

 yield nectar in dry years. Buckwheat 

 can be sown freely to help out, but if 

 we get a dependable natural flow, it 

 makes our location better. Be sure 

 you have the standard sources first, 

 and then look out for these special 

 sources. Kansas. 



