1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



79 



sudation, in order to indicate its origin. 

 Sometimes this exudation occurs by means 

 of special orifices, the water-bearing stom- 

 ata ; very often it takes place simply thro igh 

 slits and through slight lacerations brought 

 about on the surface of various parts of the 

 plants. It is through a slit produced at the 

 tips of meadow grasses that the water es- 

 capes in successive droplets, mistaken some- 

 times for dew. In the morning the sun 

 shines on these droplets with a play of 

 sparkling light which everybody has ad- 

 mired. 



Very frequently the exuded liquid es- 

 capes directly from the plant through its 

 epidermis. Many times the water, before 

 running out in very fine drops, has been 

 obliged to pass through portions of the tis- 

 sues in which the plant has collected for its 

 use reserve materials, sugar principally. 

 In this case the exuded liquid is sweetened, 

 and this is what is commonly called nectar 

 ^the nectar which greedy insects come and 

 gather, and which bees carry to their hives 

 to make into honey. The portion of the 

 body of the plant where the sweetened re- 

 serve is stored up is dissolved by the water 

 which passes through it, and constitutes 

 what is called a nectary. 



Nothing is more variable than the form 

 of the nectaries and their position on differ- 

 ent plants; a special chapter would be need- 

 ed to give a full review of these organs. In 

 the case of the ferns, on the elder, on the 

 vetches of our fields, on the almond and the 

 plum tree, the nectaries are found on the 

 leaves. But it is particularly in the flower, 

 whose parts are in reality only transformed 

 leaves, that nectaries are found in the most 

 diverse forms and positions. 



But for the present let us bear in mind 

 only this single important fact: The pro- 

 duction of nectar is due to chlorosudation, 

 a phenomenon due itself to the slackening 

 of chlorovaporization. Chlorovaporization 

 varies in intensity with the conditions of 

 the exterior medium: temperature, hygro- 

 metric condition of the air, wind, etc. By 

 modifying these conditions, plants which 

 were not nectar- bearing have been made so, 

 and reciprocally the pouring-out of the 

 sweetened liquid from plants furnished with 

 the nectaries has been suppressed. The 

 conclusion from this is that it is to chloro- 

 phyll that we owe honey- production. Chlo- 

 rophyll, then, is what starts into action all 

 those forces which result in the sweet har- 

 vest with which our hives are filled. But 

 this is the least of the benefactions which 

 we owe to this green substance. We owe 

 our lives to it. 



Yes, our lives! The plant, in fact, fixed 

 in the soil, draws from this soil the miner- 

 al elements with which it makes living sub- 

 stances perfect in all parts. The roots 

 bring to the plant phosphorous, azote (or ni- 

 trogen) , and various minerals. The leaves 

 give it oxygen from the air, and there is 

 lacking in this combination only the princi- 

 pal body, carbon, without which the plant 

 is reduced to parasitism. The chlorophyl- 



lian corpuscle, through the admirably sim- 

 ple mechanism of which we have given 

 above a rapid sketch, is the assimilative 

 agent for this indispensable substance. Of 

 all living beings, plants alone are those 

 which make living matter by means of 

 purely mineral elements. Animals them- 

 selves can be nourished only from living 

 matter; this matter they take from the ob- 

 ject which makes it, from the plant direct- 

 ly, in case they are herbivorous; or indi- 

 rectly if they are flesh consumers. The 

 plant kingdom, then, is the bond which 

 unites the inanimate kingdom with the ani- 

 mal kingdom. Human life is, therefore, de- 

 pendent upon plant life, which, it might be 

 remarked, places agriculture in the first 

 rank among social labors. But as the 

 plant in turn exists only through the opera- 

 tion of chlorophyll, and this operation is 

 due to solar energy, it is seen at last that 

 the sun is the source of all life upon the 

 Earth. 



Poetry, join, then, with austere Science 

 in a song — a duet of love and recog- 

 nition to Nature, who is able, with extreme- 

 ly simple means, to accomplish the most 

 marvelous phenomena. Intone a hymn to 

 the sun, as in the times of those distant 

 peoples who adored the deified Astra^a. 



MODERN QUEEN-REARING. 



As Practiced at (he Root Co.'s Yards ; a Brief and 



Comprehensive Treatise on the Latest and Best 



Methods, Gleaned from all Sources. 



Continued from Last Issue. 



BY GEO. W. PHILLIPS. 



One frame of sealed brood (preferably 

 hatching) and one of honey with enough ad- 

 hering bees to cover both will be enough 

 for a nucleus, if the weather is warm; but 

 if not, the strength must be increased. As 

 a rule, it will be necessary to shut up these 

 little colonies for three days in order to let 

 them remain in their new location, although 

 where one knows how to manage, he can 

 choose brood and bees of such an age that 

 the confinement will be unnecessary. By 

 giving twice the number of bees and all 

 hatching brood, one can obtain a nuc'icusof 

 desired strength even after the older bees 

 have deserted. These nuclei can be formed 

 in regular-sized hives, and a division-board 

 adjusted to the size of the cluster. 



Uppcr-siory nuclei. — Divide a hive-body 

 into three compartments, the same as rec- 

 ommended for cell-building; only, instead 

 of using perforated zinc division-boards, 

 use wirecloth on a framework of wood. 

 Tack a screen of the same material on the 

 bottomof the hive- body. Bore threeone- inch 

 holes near the bottom edge to act as en- 

 trances, one in each side and one in one 

 end. Put it on as upper story to some 

 strong colony, letting the hole in the end 

 turn in the direction opposite to the entrance 

 of the colony. Form three nuclei in it as 

 advised above. This kind of arrangement 



