1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



479 



with the nuisance. Of course, if there is some 

 particular colony that seems to disregard the 

 thick bars, that would be an exception to the 

 rule, and would really cut no figure. 



As to the Hoffman ends not being suitable 

 for any hot climate, that point we have prac- 

 tically conceded for several years, and yet 

 there are some who will have them in the sun- 

 ny South. In Cuba most bee-keepers there 

 insist on having them, although we have rec- 

 ommended unspaced or metal-spaced frames. 

 —Ed.] 



WHY NECTAR DOES NOT SECRETE FROM THE 

 FLOWERS. 



Do Moonlight Nights have Any Thing to Do with 

 the Matter? 



BY A. J. WRIGHT. 



This question is raised on page 649, 1899, 

 by Mrs. L. Harrison. I think the editor also 

 asks the question somewhere. 



The leaves of all trees and plants are the 

 stomachs and lungs of the plants themselves, 

 and in a sense are the parents of every blos- 

 som. The sap flows from the roots to the 

 leaf-bud, and the leaf is formed, and in this 

 leaf-stomach the sap is digested, and a change 

 takes place (the delicate process can be ob- 

 served with the microscope), and is then car- 

 ried to the blossom-bud ; and as the supply is 

 kept up the bud unfolds into the perfect blos- 

 som. No surplus nectar is deposited up to 

 this time, it being all consumed in the nour- 

 ishment of the blossom until its full develop- 

 ment, and, in fact, is not sweet at all. But 

 when the blossom is perfected this juice is de- 

 posited at its base, and a chemical change 

 takes place at night, transforming this juice 

 rapidly into nectar, to be used up in various 

 ways during the day — by the bees, evapora- 

 tion, etc. 



Now, I don't plant my vegetables in the 

 moon, but in the ground ; and I find that 

 plants generally grow much faster during 

 light nights than dark. I also find it is a fact 

 that blossoms that come to maturity at the be- 

 ginning of moonlight nights secrete large 

 quantities of nectar, while others secrete little 

 or none. Just why this is so, or what particu- 

 lar action this subdued light has, I am unable 

 to say ; but if you have any doubt on this sub- 

 ject, just carefully make some observations. 

 I believe you have a grove of basswoods. 

 Now, if these trees come into full bloom just 

 at the commencement of moonlight nights, 

 and the sky is clear during the whole time 

 that the trees are in bloom, you will have a 

 honey-flow from basswood ; and just in pro- 

 portion to the amount of moonlight will be 

 the honey-flow. 



My observations along this line confirm the 

 views here given. I do not believe a particle 

 of nectar is deposited in the daytime, but it 

 is, as I have stated, deposited at the base of 

 the blossom, and is carried off by various 

 agencies during the day ; and in many plants 

 having but a small reservoir and few nectaries, 

 it is exhausted early in the day, and no more 



is deposited until night comes. A very famil- 

 iar instance of this is found in buckwheat — 

 bees seldom working on it after midday. 

 Bradford, N. Y. 



[On receipt of the above it was submitted 

 to our good friend Prof. Cook, who replies as 

 follows : ] 



VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY ; NECTAR SECRE- 

 TION, AND UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS ; 

 HOW PLANTS BREATHE AND GROW. 



Dear Mr. Editor : — In response to yours of 

 Feb. 28, let me say that nature is so complex 

 that we can not afford to be dogmatic. We 

 often think we are sure of a thing, and sud- 

 denly awake to the fact that it was all a mis- 

 take. We are rapidly getting at the truth in 

 nature by the slow process of accurate observa- 

 tion. We often draw conclusions too quickly. 

 We are sick. We take a little medicine, get 

 well, and for ever dose with and recommend 

 said medicine. This often leads to great mis- 

 takes. Patent medicines are a terrible fraud 

 upon the public, but in just this way are per- 

 petuated from year to year, often aided by per- 

 sons of whom we should expect better things. 

 I fear your correspondent may have general- 

 ized too hastily. It takes more than one swal- 

 low to make a summer. To take up the points 

 in the article seriatim : 



The leaves are not in any sense a stomach, 

 as I understand it. They may be called lungs, 

 for they do take in the carbon dioxide, and, 

 with other elements of food, form elaborated 

 sap, or the nourishing material of the plant. 

 The writer speaks of the leaves digesting food. 

 Plants never digest food except in a few c'ases 

 where insects are supposed to be digested and 

 absorbed by the plant. The writer also speaks 

 of the deposit of nectar from the sap. I do 

 not understand this to be quite accurate. At 

 the base of the flower are special cells or glands 

 which take elements from the sap and form 

 the nectar. We all know that tte sap of a 

 plant at the time of the blossom and the nec- 

 tar in the flower are quite different materials. 

 Again, it is quite a new thought that moon- 

 light is necessary for the secretion of this nec- 

 tar. I am sure that I have noticed many 

 times very rapid nectar secretion when there 

 was no moon at all. I would not care to say 

 that moonlight might not have a slight influ- 

 ence, but that it is material I greatly question. 

 There are many plants, like the evening prim- 

 rose, that secrete nectar only late in the day. 

 These certainly do not depend upon moon- 

 light for this power. I think there is no 

 question but that the nectar is secreted to at- 

 tract insects. The power has been developed 

 in relation to the valuable work of insects in 

 cross-pollinating the flowers. The nectar then 

 will appear when it is needed to attract just 

 those insects that visit the flowers and carry 

 the pollen. Some flowers like buckwheat se- 

 crete almost wholly in the early part of the 

 day, though even this is not always true. I 

 hope all bee-keepers will observe this point, 

 and I believe they will find that the matter of 

 full moon has very little to do with nectar se- 

 cretion. Maximum fruitfulness depends upon 

 fullest cross-pollination. Such an important 



