The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-11-19

by far the most serious difficulty in
the process of honey collecting by bees
arises from the extremely minute GUAM
tlty OF nectar which each flower Yields.
and from its being dilute-in some cases
so poor in saccharine matter that its
sweetness is not appreciable to the
tongue. The strength of the suqary
fluid varies in different flowers. and
even in the same flower at different
times. Consequently the most direct
way OF estimating the yield of honey is
to ascertain the actual quantity of sugar
in each flower. This can easily,be done
by chemical methods. If we take a
large number of flowers, wash out their
nectar and determine the sugar in the
solution, we can calculate 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 to
contain little more than the tenth part
OF grain of sugar. In monkshood the
amount was rather less than the tenth
part of grain, while in the everlasting
pea it was found to be rather three.
twentieths of a grain for each flower,
In smaller flowers the quantity is pro-
portlonately less. Thus each flower of
the little naturalized American water
blink only contained six-hundredths of
a grain, and in those minute flowers
which grow together in compact mass
es the amount was still smaller. A
raceme, consisting of twenty flowers of
the vetch, only yielded -hundredths
OF a grain, or a little over one five
hundreth for each horet. One head Of
common red clover gave little over
one tenth of a grain (exactly 1924.
Now each head of clover contains about
sixty distinct flower tubes, each of
which must therefore have portion of
sugar not exceeding the one five
hundredth part of a grain. The
proboscis of the bee must con-
sequently be inserted into FIVE hundred
clover tubes before one grain of sugar
can be obtained. There are 1000 grains
in a pound, so that for every pound Of
sugar procured in this way 10000
flower tubes must be emptied. Honey,
however, only contains three-fourths of
its weight of dry sugar; so that every
pound of honey is equivalent to more
than two and half millions of clover
tubes sucked by bees.
This shows what an amazing amount
of labor they must perform. Their in
dustry would appear to be indispensa-
BILE to their very existence. These
amounts also reveal to what an extent
the visitation of flowers must 90 on in
the insect world, and help us to under
stand how it is that flowers are so de-
pendant on insects for fertilization, so
that we can well believe the forms of
flowers to have been determined in ref
erence to the insects frequenting them,
and that the colors of the petals may
serve to attract insects by way of adj
vertisement, 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 COM
MERGE, nevertheless it is the view to
which science now gives undivided
support. We have been so long accus-
toned to look on the beauty of the
floral world as if it were exclusively for
mans qualification, that it is difficult
for US to believe that the delicately
perfumed and snowy petals of the rose
and lily should be primarily intended
for the benefit of the plant possessing
them. But it must be remembered
that each organism lives for itself, has
it's own laws, and does not possess any
organ which is exclusively for the adj
VANTAGE of another. Good Words.