226 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
lutely from a single source. But here on the hills 
the bees are not tempted by glowing gardens with 
their feeble, washy sweets ; nor are they led aside 
by the coarse-natured privet, or horse-chestnut, 
or sunflower. There is only one trencher to their 
banquet, but this is a vast, illimitable one. They 
have nothing to do but to wend out and home all 
day long between their hives and a single field. 
It is difficult to guage with anything like 
approximate truth the amount of honey that one 
flowering crop will yield. But probably, when all 
conditions are most favourable, every acre of 
Dutch clover will produce about five pounds of 
pure honey for each day it is left standing in full 
bloom. The nectar is obviously secreted by the 
flower as an attraction to the bee, who, blundering 
into it with her pollen-smothered body, uncon- 
sciously effects its fertilisation. Directly this 
object is gained, the flow of nectar in each particular 
floret appears to cease, and the bee passes it by. 
The student of old books on apiculture is often 
surprised to read so much in praise of honeydew, 
while in the modern bee-garden he hears of it 
nothing but hearty condemnation. He is told 
that directly the bees begin to gather honeydew 
the store-racks must be removed from the hives, 
or the good honey will be ruined both in colour 
and flavour. He is shown some dark, ill-looking, 
watery stuff carefully sealed up by the bees, and 
is informed that it is nearly all honeydew. But, 
