636 



TH® MMEKICMr* . BEE) J©^RNMlr. 



flowers of Phaseolus roultiflorus fail to 

 produce seed because of perforations. 



I doubt whether there are many 

 flowers in which one can hnd more per- 

 forations than in Symphytum Ottici- 

 nale. In stocks which have several 

 thousand flowers, hardly one can be 

 found which is not perforated. Several 

 stocks in the Botanic Garden gave me 

 ample opportunity of seeing the results 

 from perforated flowers. I did not un- 

 dertake to count the ripened fruits, but 

 the greater number of flowers devel- 

 oped some nutlets. At this time I had 

 not seen Loew's experiments on this 

 plant. His results are so striking and 

 conclusive that I give them somewhat 

 in detail : 



On the nth of June, 1885, he took 

 several branches which had passed an- 

 thesis. On these he had 73 flowers, 

 and was careful to remove later flowers; 

 on the 4th of August, 46 flowers were 

 drv, while the remaining 27 flowers had 

 matured .51 nutlets, so that 37 per cent, 

 of the flowers were more or less fertile. 

 The full fertility of many plants, as 

 Darwin has shown, depends largely 

 upon cross-pollination. Insects do not 

 commonly visit flowers unless they get 

 nectar or pollen in return, so that, 

 when a flower is constantly robbed, the 

 regular pollinators do not receive their 

 due share of nectar or pollen, their 

 visits are fewer, and consequently there 

 is less chance for cross-pollination. If 

 the plant is capable of self-pollination, 

 seeds may be developed, and often in 

 great abundance, yet Darwin has 

 shown that the progeny of self-fertilized 

 flowers is less vigorous than from cross- 

 fertilized flowers. 



If the structure of a flower is such 

 that self-fertilization is prevented, and 

 insects do not go to it in the regular 

 way, sterility may result. But in most 

 of the flowers perforated there is an 

 abundance of nectar, and insects which 

 perforate flowers are very hasty in 

 their visits, and therefore always leave 

 some nectar, as can be seen in many 

 cases where the perforator first robs 

 the flowers, after which numerous 

 other insects use the perforations to 

 get nectar, while others again visit the 

 flowers in a normal way. On the whole, 

 I am inclined to think that sterility re- 

 sults more from the disharmonic action 

 of perforating insects than is usually 



supposed 



Insects certainly show considerable 

 intelligence in making perforations, or 

 using those made by other insects. One 

 of the most remarkable cases is that 

 observed by Francis Darwin, in a cul- 

 tivated variety of the everlasting pea, 

 where the nectar is enclosed within a 

 tube formed by the united stamens, at 

 the base of which are two natural open- 

 ings, one on each side, the left being a 

 little the larger. Humble-bees which 

 bite holes through the standard petal, 

 always operated on the left-hand side, 

 so as to reach the larger passage. . . . 



Muller records an interesting case 

 where a female of Bombus terrestris 

 entered a flower of ^'icia Faba in the 

 normal way. Being unable to get the 

 nectar, the insect forced its head under 

 the banner, and stretched its tongue as 

 much as possible, but, being still un- 

 able to reach the nectar, it withdrew 



its head from the flower, and after 

 cleaning its tongue with its forelegs, 

 flew to another flower, where the same 

 performances were repeated ; but in the 

 fourth she bit a hole in the corolla 

 above the calyx 



Humble-bees show preferences in the 

 flowers they perforate. Dr. Wm. Ogle 

 states that in Switzerland he collected 

 100 flower-stems of a blue variety of 

 Aconitum Napellus without finding a 

 single flower perforated, while on 100 

 stems of the white variety, growing 

 near by, every one of the open flowers 

 had been perforated. This difference, 

 Darwin thinks, may be due to different 

 amounts of acrid matter contained in 

 the flowers, the blue variety being dis- 

 tasteful to bees 



Why should insects perforate flowersV 

 Darwin believes that, as a general rule, 

 flowers are only perforated when they 

 grow in large quantities close together 



Flowers grown in large masses are 



conspicuous, and therefore attract 

 many insects; and, as the perforated 

 flowers usually contain considerable 

 nectar, the number of insects visiting 

 the flowers at any one time is very 

 large, and, as Darwin has shown, some 

 of the nectaries are sucked dry ; now, 

 in order to save time, for the flowers 

 would have to be probed for their nec- 

 tar, the insect makes perforations. To 

 this rule there are exceptions, as has 

 been shown in some of the cases cited, 

 where an insect, unable to get the nec- 

 tar in a normal way, takes to perforat- 

 ing flowers. Muller, Loew, and others, 

 have shown that there is a certain cor- 

 relation between the length of the 

 tongues of Hymenoptera and the 

 flowers they perforate, as can be seen 

 by consulting their tables on flowers 

 and their visitors 



To summarize :— It has been shown 

 that flowers with deep-seated nectar 

 are often perforated, and that in most 

 cases the perforations are made by in- 

 sects which are unable to get at the 

 nectar in a normal way ; that Bombus 

 mastrucatus is more addicted to this 

 habit than any other European humble- 

 bee ; that there is a certain correlation 

 in the length of the tongues of Apidoe 

 and the flowers they visit in a normal 

 way, but when this limit is reached, 

 flowers are often perforated ; that con- 

 spicuousness of plants may account for 

 some of the perforations, but most of 

 them are attributable to the non-adapt- 

 ability of the insect to the flower ; that 

 the insect uses considerable ingenuity 

 in perforating flowers, attacking them 

 in close proximity to the nectary ; that 

 this is individual experience, and not 

 inheritance on the part of insects ; and 

 that perforated flowers are not neces- 

 sarily sterile, but are often quite pro- 

 ductive. 



St. Louis, Mo. 



HONEY PRICES. 



AlM'ays ifleiilioii your Post-OflBce, 

 County and State when writing to this 

 office. No matter wliere you may happen 

 to be for tlie hour when actually writing— 

 never mention anything but your perma- 

 nent address. To do otherwise leads to 

 confusion, unless you desire yoiu' address 

 changed. In that case state the old as well 

 as the new address. 



Criticisms on the Quotations of 

 Commission ]ncn. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY C. r. MUTH & SON. 



The Editor has kindly sent us the letter 

 of a correspondent to answer, to which we 

 have no otijections whatever, as the ques- 

 tion has been asked us many times. The 

 correspondent says : 



" I would like to see an explanation of the quota- 

 tlona given in the American Bee Jouunal. For 

 instance, Mesars*. Mutli & Son quote extracted 

 honey at 5 to 8 cents per pound; but upon writing 

 to them, they sent quotations asking about 10 to 12 

 cents for extracted clover honey. Now, why do 

 they not quote correctly. 5 to 12 cents per pound? 

 I do not mean Messrs. Muth & Son alone, but simply 

 suppose it were they, or any other commission 

 house, why do they do it ?" 



Our quotations in the American Bee 

 JouKNAi, and other bee-papers quote ex- 

 tracted honey at ,5 to 8 cents on arrival. 

 This means that we buy honev at that 

 range ; i. c, good standard qualities, for 

 which we have a pretty steady demand. 

 Those quotations are known to our custo- 

 mers as, L L (a certain grade of Southern 

 houey), tall honey, basswood, mangrove, 

 clover and belle-'tlower honey, the last 

 heing from Cuba. It has a peculiar flavor of 

 its hwn, but is a nice article, and having 

 sold ahnut 40,000 pounds since last spring, 

 we believe to have created a demand for it. 

 When reordering, the majority of our cus- 

 tomers call for houey by the aliove names. 



The above are onrbuyina prices, bul;they 

 do not hinder us from buying occasionally 

 at 4 cents a pound, or even for less ; or at 9 

 cents a pound, as the case may be. Our 

 range of prices is from 5 to 12 cents a pound 

 when selling. It would not have been 

 proper to say, from .5 to 1.5 cents, although 

 we do sell a single pound of the best clover 

 honey at 15 cents, >.. pound at 8 cents. Our 

 conscieucedoes not trouble us any when 

 we sell to one party a pound of honey at 

 15 cents, to another a barrel of the same 

 quality at the rate of 10 cents, or five barrels 

 at il cents a pound ; and to another party .50 

 pounds in a tin can and crate for $7.00. We 

 make no secret of our prices, because we 

 prefer, at anv lime, to sell a barrel of honey 

 instead of a pound. Most of our customers 

 are manufacturers or dealers, and unless we 

 give them a margui, we cannot expect to 

 make the sale. It is our business to sell, 

 and we are sorry to refuse the purchase of 

 a lot because our stock on hand is too large. 

 At our farm we have one class of custo- 

 mers onlv, and one price for all. There we 

 do as other producers do, or should do, and 

 dispose of all we can. 



Cincinnati, O. 



[The quotation of a certain sum "on 

 arrival," is understood to mean that the 

 persons so quoting it, pay that amoiuiton. 

 arrival, and take all that arrives. That 

 phrase is misuiuierstood, and should not be 

 used, for Brother Muth has no intention of 

 conveying that idea. 



Of cour.=;e the prices quoted in our Honey 

 and Beeswax Market must be understood to 

 indicate the prices that honey brings tor 

 the producer— not the prices at which the 

 dealers sell it at retail.— Ed.] 



Scatter the I^eallets. — Look at the 

 list (with prices) on the second page. 



