SOURCES OF NECTAR 47 
very freely in some seasons, while in others with a large amount 
of bloom the bees will starve, or fare very poorly at best. Con- 
ditions that are favorable to the secretion of nectar with one 
plant seem to have the opposite effect on another. When white 
clover produces the heaviest flow in the Mississippi valley, alfalfa 
in adjoining fields will produce no nectar. Scientists are now 
studying the problems connected with nectar secretion, and it is 
hoped that the reasons for the great variation may shortly be 
better understood. 
It accordingly becomes necessary for the bee-keeper not only 
to know the plants that furnish the raw material for honey pro- 
duction, but to be familiar with their behavior under the par- 
ticular conditions with which he has to deal. Some years the 
honey crop will be good or bad over a large scope of country, 
while in others not more than five or six miles will be necessary 
to pass from a neighborhood where no honey is being stored to 
one where a profitable crop is gathered. The wide-awake bee- 
keeper can thus frequently, by moving his bees but a short dis- 
tance, convert failure into success, and instead of having to feed 
his bees to get them safely through the winter, market a crop 
of honey. 
One of the most successful bee-keepers of the Middle West 
has a location in the hills overlooking the Missouri River. Tis 
location is very desirable, for he has practically all. important 
honey plants of that region within reach of some of his yards. 
His home vard is within easy reach of a large linden grove which 
furnishes some honey about two years in five. White clover in 
nearby pastures furnishes something about four years in five, 
and a good yield two or three seasons in five. Sweet clover, which 
is one of the surest honey plants, is also present in large quantity, 
and the bees also have a large area of Missouri River bottom 
land within reach. In this latter area they have access to large 
quantities of heartsease, wild sunflower, and other fall flowers. 
In such a location the chances of failure are reduced to the 
minimum, and seldom is there a year in which he does not get a 
