1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



77 



it), he is also in business for the money 

 there is in it For the leng'th of time he 

 has been stiulyinj;' bees it would be hard to 

 find one who is better posted in all that 

 pertains to the studj' of the little bee. — Ed.] 



THE FORMATION OF NECTAR. 



Translaled from (he French by Frank Benton, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C 



BY DR. MAKCKL MIKANDR, 

 Laureate of the Institute of France. 



[The clear and instructive article following this note 

 was presented by Dr. Marcel Miraide before the Api- 

 arian Society of Savoy. France. Dr. Mirande is a rec- 

 ognized authority in plant physiology and his views 

 are. therefore, well worthy of con<;ideration. The ar- 

 ticle was published in the Revue Intei nalionale d' Api- 

 culture. Vol XXV., No. 10. for October, 190:i Upon a 

 careful peiusil of it a number of interesting and prac- 

 tical features suggest themstlvcs at once. 



Fit St. The occurrence of real honey dew direct from 

 the plants without the intermediary <'f aphids or plant- 

 lice has often been questi ned, and few writns on api- 

 culture have been disposed to admit thit such produc- 

 tion takes place. My own observations placed me 



comprehend somewhat better the prerequisite condi- 

 tions for nectar sec-etion. Further, the suggestion 

 comes naturally that the nectar-secretion of many cul- 

 tivated crops which are not ordinarily irrij-ated might, 

 under certain conditions be greatly increased through 

 irrigation. Hven in some countries where the rainfall 

 is not dericitiit, irrigation of certain crops is practiced 

 to increa .e the larmer's returns. The U S Depart- 

 ment of .Agriculture has con>^idered this feature of the 

 irrigition question as of sufficient importance to war- 

 r int the sending of an expert to Italy, one of the coun- 

 tries in this category, to study the subject of the bene- 

 fits 'rom irrigation in regions not deficient in normal 

 rainfall. 



77;/;rf.— Frequent light cultivation of crops— that is, 

 keeping the surface broken and pulverized —draws 

 moi->ture to the surface and increases deposition. This 

 is, then, in a measure, a substitute for irrigation or 

 rainfall, and as such wo Id in the same manner in- 

 crease nee ar-pro luction by the plant. It follows nat- 

 ural !}• that plants producing nectar when growing 

 wild, would, under cultivation, increase their yif-ld 

 Here. then, is a factor which should come largely into 

 any consideration of the question of increasing pastur- 

 age for be< s through the cultivation of special crops. 

 — Translator's Note ] 



Green I This is the color upon whose in- 

 finite chromatic scale our eye rests when 

 viewing" carpeted meadows, the foliage of 

 woods, or the somber backg-round of pine 

 forests. Monotony! a morose spirit woald 



farmI':r's txHiBir of beekeepfrs' supplies. 



long ago on the affirmative side of this cjuestion, and 

 in my manual.* the first edition of which was pub- 

 lished is l«y6, I said on page oS; 



Under ppcaliar conditions of the atmosphere, sweet exu- 

 dations, also known as honey-dew, drop from the leaves of 

 certain plants, and are eagerl.v taken up b.v the bees. This 

 subst tnce is sometimes very abundant and of excellent 

 quality. It should not, however, be confounded with the se- 

 cretions of extra-flornl ghmds such as are pos?.essed by the 

 cow-pea, horse-bertii, partridge-pea, and ve ches. These seem 

 to be natural productions for the purpose of attracting in- 

 sects to the plants, while the former i- apparently an acci- 

 deu al exudation through the plant-pores, brought about, 

 very likely, by some sudden change of temperature. Both 

 are. however, merely the saccharine juices of l he plant, and 

 when refined by the bees may become very excellent honey. 



.Second — We understand from Dr. Mirande's expla- 

 nation of the manner in which nectar is produced how 

 it is that plants subjected to irrigation often produce 

 such wonderful yields of nectar. In fact, we begin to 



* Bulletin No. 1, n. s , Division of Entomology, U S. 

 Department of Agriculture "The Houej-bee ; a Man- 

 ual of Instruction in Apiculture.'' First edition, 1.S96. 



say; marvelous charm, harmony! would ex- 

 claim the pott, who sees in this fresh color- 

 ation the happi.st transition from the dull 

 and daik color of the earth to the blue of 

 the heavens, a background upon which flow- 

 ers of various tints, and the red or golden 

 fruits which succeed them, stand out sharp- 

 ly. He would sing the richness of tones 

 that Nature, with her brush, finds in green 

 for the ideal picture that she offers us. 



But here comes Science. Will she hi in 

 accord with Poetry? Whilst the latter ex- 

 claims with enthusiasm, the former casts 

 at you a cold, barbarous word, the word 

 chlorophyll, by which term she designates 

 the coloring-matter of leaves. She txplaias 

 to you, in the language of chemistry, near- 



