The Sources of Nectar and Pollen 361 
but serves a definite function in the plant’s life-cycle. There 
are numerous adaptations of plant structure and physiology 
which serve to bring about cross-fertilization, by which the 
ovule of one flower is fertilized by pollen from another 
flower, often from another plant of the same species. Pollen 
of certain species is carried from flower to flower by the 
wind but one of the most common methods is through the 
agency of insects. The insects which perform this mission 
are usually attracted by the nectar which the flowers secrete 
and, in going from flower to flower to get this nectar for food, 
they act as unconscious agents of cross-fertilization by carry¬ 
ing pollen from the stamen of one flower to the pistil of 
another. The nectar is therefore the attractive object in 
this process. 
Many insects do this work j some flowers are visited 
most frequently by flies, others by small wild bees, but a 
honeybee not only goes for nectar for its own food but also 
carries it to the hive for food for the brood and for the adults 
in adverse seasons. It therefore-makes many visits. The 
honeybee is unique in many ways, not the least wonderful 
of which is its hoarding instinct. That the honeybees gather 
at times more than they need makes it profitable for the 
beekeeper to care for them so that he may take this surplus. 
In the adaptations of Nature, nectar is first of all to 
attract insects, then when honeybees gather it, they do so 
to feed themselves and their brood. The surplus honey 
is therefore simply a by-product, an over-production due 
to the prodigality of Nature, by which the beekeeper profits. 
Unless gathered by the bees and appropriated in part by 
the beekeeper, much of this nectar would simply dry up, 
consequently honey-production is the conservation of a 
natural resource, which if not taken immediately is lost. 
Variations in nectar. 
Nectar varies with each individual species of plant. 
Since plants vary in the color of flowers, shape of leaves 
and in innumerable other characters, it should not be a mat- 
