Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1881-12-22
NUMBER liz.
What Bees accomplish.


By far the most serious difficulty ia
the process Of honey collecting BY bees
arises from the extreme minute
quantities Of nectar which each flower
yields, and from its being diIuted-in
some cases SO poor in saccharine matter
that its sweetness is not appreciable to
the tongue. The strength Of the
sugary fluid varies in different flowers,
and even in the same flowers at dif-
ferent times. Consequently the most
direct way Of estimating the yield of
honey is to ascertain theactuaI quantity
Of sugar in each flower. This can
easily be done by chemical methods.
If we take large number Of flowers,
wash out their nectar and determine
the sugar in the solution, we can cal
culate from the number OF flowers used
the average amount Of sugar in each
flower with the greatest precision.
Experiments conducted in this way
showed each flower Of the fuchsia 10
contain little more than the tenth part
Of grain Of sugar. In monkshood the
amount was rather less than the tenth
of grain, while in the everlasting pea
it was found to be three-twentieths of
grain for each flower. In smaller
flowers the quantity IL proportionately
less. Thus each flower OF the little
naturalized American water-blink only
contained six -hundredths Of q grain, and
in those minute flowers which grow
together in compact masses the amount
was still smaller. A raceme, consisting
Of twenty flowers Of the vetch, only
yielded five-hundredths Of e grain, Or d
little over one fve-hundredth for each
foWret. One head of common red
clover gave little over one-tenth Of q
grain (exactly 1924. Now each head
Of clover contains about sixty distinct
flower tubes, each of which must there
fore have portion Of sugar not exceed
ing the one five-hundnedth part Of
grain. The probosis of the bee must
consequently be inserted into Eve
hundred clover tubes before one grain
Of sugar can be obtained. There are
1000 grains in pound, 50 that for
every pound Of sugar, procured in this
way, $4,000 flower tubes must be
emptied. Honey, however, only con-
tains three-fourths Of Its weight Of dry
sugar, so that every pound Of honey is
equivalent TO more than 100000 on
clover tubes sucked by bees.
This shows what an amazing amount
Of labor they must perform. Their
industry would appear to be indispensa-
ble to their very existence. These
amounts also reveal to what an extent
the visitation Of flowers must GO on in
the insect world, and help us to under
stand how it is that flowers are so
dependent on insects for fertilization,
SO that we can we'll believe the forms Of
flowers to have been determined in
reference to the insects freqaenting
them, and that the colors of the petals
may serve to attract insects by way of
advertisement, as colored bills attract
the eyes Of busy men. This view Of the
use Of color and odor in flowers may
seem to smack too much Of trade and
commerce, nevertheless 1t is the view To
which science now gives undivided
support. We have been 80 long &C.
customed to look on the beauty OF the
floral world as if it were exclusively for
mans qualification. that it is dificuli
for us to believe thaanthe delicately
perfumed and snowy gtals Of the ose
or lily should be prfhIlfly intended for
the benefit OF the plant possessing
them. But it must be remembered that
each organism lives for itself, has its
own laws, and does not possess any
organ which is exclusively for the ad-
vantage Of another.-G Good Words.