HONEY. 117 



the aphides. In order to give all sides a hearing, we will 

 cite a letter from Mr. Bonnier on this subject, and leave 

 the reader to draw his own conclusions : 



"Plant lice are seen even on trees that have no extra floral 

 nectaries. They do not produce exudations (properly speaking), 

 but bore the tissues to eat the contents. Their presence on the 

 plant has no connection with that of the nectar. The excremen- 

 tal liquid of aphides is not equally sweet in all the species, and 

 the bees harvest only that which is very sweet. They generally 

 prefer the true honey-dew {/nielUe), which exudes from the leaves 

 at certain times, and contains mannite and saccharine matter. 



" 1 have seen bees, however, harvesting the sweet liquid of the 

 aphides and the true miellee at the same time, on the aspen, maple, 

 and sycamore. 



" I have rarely seen the extra floral nectar of the special nec- 

 taries overflow and run in drops, but the true mielUeot trees may 

 fall in small drops, and some observers conclude, from this fa.ct, 

 that it is produced by aphides. I have often seen some.trees, and 

 even all the trees, of a timber, covered with an abundant mielUe, 

 falling in small drops, although there was not a single louse on 

 the higher limbs. 



" To sum up, we must not confound the three kinds of sweet 

 liquid, which may be produced outside the flowers: 1st, The 

 extra-floral nectar proper, produced, like the nectar of flowers, 

 from special sugar tissues ; Zd, The true miellee, produced on the 

 surface of the leaves of trees or shrubs, without the action of 

 aphides; 3d, The excretion, more or less sweet, sometimes con- 

 taining very little sugar, abundantly produced by a great num- 

 ber of aphides.^' 



260. In some blossoms, as in the red clover, the corolla 

 is so deep and narrow, that the nectar is out of reach of the 

 honey-bee. Larger insects, such as the bumble-bee, or 

 smaller ones, as some wasps, enjoy it to the exclusion of 

 our favorites. Yet in some seasons, we have seen bees 

 working on red-clover bloom, and have attributed this to 

 the corollas being shorter, owing to drouth, or scant growth. 

 Mr. Bonnier has discovered that, in some such flowers, the 

 nectar is sometimes so abundant that the bees can reach 

 it. It is true that insects, and even bees, can tear the 



