The American Apiculturist. 



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ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WENIIAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER, 



rublished Monthly. Henry Alley, Manager 



VOL. IV. 



WENHAM, MASS., SEPT. i, 1886. 



No. 9. 



For the American Amculturist. 



THE SECRETION OF 

 NECTAR, ETC. 



G. W. Demaree. 



I DOUBT if any branch of modern 

 apiculture is as poorly understood 

 as are the laws that govern the se- 

 cretion of nectar in flowers. Yester- 

 day my bees were swarming on the 

 l)Iooniof a second crop of red clover, 

 in a field adjoining my apiary. To- 

 day not a bee can be seen in the field. 

 But then the wind has changed to the 

 north since yesterday? Yes, that 

 is true, but in the early part of the 

 season my bees succeeded in find- 

 ing nectar in the flowers no matter 

 wiiich way the wind was blowing. 

 In the year 1882, although the crop 

 of flowers surpassed anything I 

 ever witnessed in that line, there 

 was no sealed honey in my apiary 

 till the month of August, when we 

 had a flow of hone^^ contrary to all 

 general rules in this locality. But 

 that was an exceedingly rainy 

 season? Yes, but in the season of 

 1883 our bees gathered honey rain 

 or shine, and gave the heaviest 

 yield of honey ever stored by bees 

 in one season. It rained often that 

 season, and yet as soon as the 

 showers ceased the bees would rush 

 out to the fields and return loaded 

 with nectar. 



As a general rule north and east 

 winds are unfavorable to secretion 

 of nectar, but the difficulty in my 

 way is that the same conditions, so 

 far as I can see and judge, do not 

 always work oat the same results ; 

 24 



hence I conclude that there is some- 

 thing about this matter that we do 

 not fully understand. While speak- 

 ing of nectar, I am reminded of 

 some things I have seen in print 

 which surprised me very much. 

 Among the apicultural writers of 

 this country we have a few who 

 are able to tlive into intricate ques- 

 tions of science. In my candid 

 opinion Prof. Cook stands at the 

 head of these. 



He says that honey is nectar 

 mixed with gastric juice ; that 

 nectar undergoes partial digestion 

 in the honey sac. I do not intend 

 to quote verbatim. Mr. Cheshire, 

 who claims to be more accurate 

 than an}' otlier author, makes a like 

 assertion. It is not my intention 

 to controvert the position taken by 

 high authorities, as I have been 

 unable to demonstrate the truth or 

 falsity of their position. But to 

 my plainh' tutored mind the whole 

 thing is a physical impossibility. 

 I believe that all lawyers and jurists 

 agree that a "physical fact" is the 

 most powerful evidence known to 

 the science of jurisprudence. Well, 

 a pound, live weight, of field 

 woi"ker bees may and sometimes do 

 gather from five to twenty-five 

 pounds of crude nectar in ten hours. 

 That a single pound live weight of 

 bees could secrete gastric juice in 

 sufficient quantity to change in any 

 material sense so great a quantity 

 of crude nectar in so short a time is 

 simply a physical impossibility. 

 We hope our scientific brethren will 

 reconsider their startling position 

 in this matter, and give us a posi- 

 (197) 



