112 



FOOD OF BEES. 



In some other flowers, as in the Fritillaria imperialis, the 

 nectar contains as much as nine- 

 ty-five per cent of water. If 

 we except dry and warm days, 

 we can safely assert tliat, in most 

 cases, the proportion of water 

 in the nectar varies between 

 sixty and eighty per cent. 



250. The quantity of nec- 

 tar produced by the flowers 

 decreases during drought, and 

 increases on the first or sec- 

 ond day after a rain. But it 

 is then more watery. In some 

 seasons the saccharine juices 

 abound, while in others they 

 are so deficient that bees can 

 obtain scarcely any food from 

 fields all white with clover. A 

 change in the secretion of honey 

 will often take place so sud- 

 denly, that the bees will, in a 

 few hours, pass from idleness 

 to great activity. 



As a rule, the quantity of nectar, exuded by the plants, 

 varies according to the time of day and atmospheric condi- 

 tions. Usually, it is most abundant in the morning. Its 

 quantity decreases as the sun rises higher. At three 

 o'clock in the afternoon, the flowers give the least nectar. 

 Then the yield again increases till dark. In Algeria, Africa, 

 in the neighborhood of Blidah, bees cannot find honey later 

 than eight in the morning. 



251. It is when the blossom is ready for fertilization, 

 that the nectar is most abundant in it ; if it is not gathered 

 by insects, it is re-absorbed by the plant and serves, 



