BOTTLING HONEY 
127 
ers which face the earth protects them 
from rain. The anthers mature long be¬ 
fore the stigmas. Each anther contains 
about 120,000 grains of pollen. 
Honeybees constantly visit the flowers 
for both nectar and pollen. Two groups of 
flowers, one containing five and the other 
four flowers, were watched for 10 minutes. 
The first received 15 and the second 13 
visits from honeybees. The value of the 
blue corollas in attracting bees was shown 
by the following experiment. When they 
were all removed from the flowers of the 
first group, the visits of the bees ceased 
entirely. To reach the nectar the bee hangs 
under the flower and inserts its tongue 
between the stamens. The anthers open 
slowly and the free pollen falls out into the 
conical chamber between them. On each 
anther there is a tooth-like projection. 
When a bee grasps with its claw the handle 
on the lower anther, it is pulled downward 
and the pollen is sprinkled over its body. 
As soon as released the anther springs back 
in place, and later more pollen collects in 
the conical chamber. The stigmas are at 
first concealed beneath the anthers; but 
after all the pollen has been removed they 
grow out and become receptive. The flow¬ 
ers are also visited by bumblebees and 
solitary bees. 
The eagerness with which bees visit the 
borage blossoms shows that it possesses a 
fine flavor, and the honey is reported to be 
excellent. The plants can be easily grown 
from seed, and produce a profusion of 
flowers from midsummer until frost. In 
the extreme southern part of Australia, 
where there is abundant rain, borage has 
spread sparingly, and is of medium value 
as a honey plant. It will not, however, be 
found profitable to cultivate borage for 
honey alone. The leaves are sometimes 
used in salads and in medicine. 
BOTTLING HONEY.— When honey is 
put into any other container than glass it 
is impossible to determine its character, its 
color, or its specific gravity, that is, how 
thick it is. When put in glass its color 
attracts the eye and teases the palate. 
When a bottle of it is turned upside down 
a large air bubble in the form of a beauti- 
tiful transparent sphere will slowly rise, 
thus indicating that the contents are not 
only beautiful in color, but thick and 
waxy. 
There are thousands upon thousands of 
people who do not eat honey. In order to 
interest them it is first necessary to tease 
their appetite by showing them an article 
that is intrinsically beautiful. For this 
reason honey in a retail way and for table 
use is usually sold in glass just as jellies 
and jams and all other commodities of like 
nature are sold. After the consumer, or 
more exactly the housewife, who buys the 
food, discovers what honey is from the 
purchase of a small bottle she will be in¬ 
terested in getting a larger bottle and final¬ 
ly 2 1 / 2 > 5, and 10 pound pails or tin cans. 
The experience of the trade shows very 
clearly that she is going more and more to 
the large sizes. This is encouraging in that 
