THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3993, 23 September 1930, Page 11

THE APIARY.

TO CORRESPONDENT.

“ Novice,” Oamaru, writes as follows: — Would you answer the following through the Apiary column in the Otago Witness:—l am intending to put up a building to hold a modern beekeep_er’s outfit, including extractor (45 or 20-frame), honey tank, etc. As lam putting up the building for other purposes at present, what do you consider the right size? Would it be necessary to put a large door in it to allow extractor, etc., to be put in, and what would be the cost of the building ? The apiary instructor of the Department of Agriculture, Dunedin, to whom we submitted the foregoing, says that beekeepers are rather inclined to cramp the space allowed for operations. etc., among bees, and advocates providing ample room. In deciding on the plan of an apiary building, an important factor would be the number of colonics it was intended to serve, as would your methods of operation. Since you can use the extra space for other purposes in the meantime you should estimate liberally your ultimate space requirements, as ample room for work and the storage of equipment will greatly help your operations. The house should be soundly built with a wellsupported floor, and be perfectly beetight. The part used for extracting should be lined throughout, and be well lighted. A wide door which will permit the passage of honey extractor, tanks, and other appliances will afterwards be convenient for general use. The cost should ap proximate that of a similar sound shed in your distruct plus the extra cost of the lining.

MATING OF FLOWERS. Romance is the keynote of the animate universe. In our own lives it exercises a dominant and all-powerful influence, and if we descend through a million varied organisms to the lower and less intricate forms of life we shall still find it. In the plant world (says Searl’s Garden Magazine), we have the tender maiden flower opening her petals to the sun and using all manner of coquettish arts —colour, perfume, and honey to attract the love messenger, the bee, to her bosom. All the beauty we see in the blossom is not placed there for our admiration. It is there because it had a definite office to perform, in the process of reproduction. There is no great difference, however, between the romance of man and that of a plant. The flower has to attract not another flower, but an insect. Each part of the flower is contrived for this purpose,_ and the ingenuity displayed in the various devices is one of the most wonderful things in Nature. Each organ is designed to meet a specific requirement, and .no organ is useless. The honey is the bait for the insects—theirs is cupboard love at the best. The petals that make the flower conspicuous, the green outer sepals that protect the delicate inner mechanism, the stamens and the pistil which are the male and female organs of the flower, are of such shape and so situated as to be of the greatest efficiency.

Flowers vary in colour and smell, according to the kinds of insects they want to attract. The favourite colours of the honey bee are blue, violet, crimson, purple, and deep violet blue. Particularly butterflies and bumble bees are very partial to scarlet, ’ which is also a favourite. Night-flying insects favour white and yellow, a circumstance easily accounted for, since the deeper-coloured flowers become invisible as the twilight falls.

Odorous flowers are of two kinds, fragrant and offensive. The former are chiefly visited by bees, and the latter bycarrion flies and dung beetles. There are some plants which, though odorless to man. appeal to the olfactory organs of the insects. Such are the flowers of the Virginia creeper, in which we can detect no scent; but they- must have some scent which is apparent to bees, otherwise it would be impossible to account for the readiness with which they find the flowers, which are insignificant in size and green in colour, and quite indistinguishable among the leaves. Colour and smell form the advertising department of the flower; what of the goods they offer ? Nectar or honey is undoubtedly the chief object of the insect quest, and is presented in a variety of forms. The nectar is not identical with honey, but is converted into th<material of making honey by admixture with the salivary secretion at the time it is sucked by the insect. The pollen, too, is an attraction to. a great many insects. ’ It contains the precious elements, nitrogen and phosphorus, and is easily devoured. Pollen grains are produced in large quantities, especially in plants which are fertilised by- wind agency —that is when the pollen is blown by the wind from the male to the female plant. In the majority df insect-fertilised flowers the pollen grains are rough or sticky The reason for this is obvious. The rough and sticky kinds are adapted for clinging to insects, and by this means are carried from flower to flower. The smooth kind are adapted for dispersion by- the wind, for the lightest breeze can easily take them up.

Having laid his bait of honey and pollen and attracted the insect to the feast by- colour and smell, the plant makes further preparations for its guest. In some cases it provides a platform on which the insect can alight, and indicates the place where the honey can be found by signposts, consisting of markings on the flower converging on the spot where it has hidden its store. It strengthens certain parts of the flower to bear the ■weight of the insects, and does everything possible for their experience. ’ Thus every part of the flower has some reference to the task of reproduction. It is a living machine for producing fertile seed and'actual method of fertilisation for every separate plant. Thus in the sweet pea, when the bee alights on the platform or the lip of the flower it presses it down, and this causes a brush to move forward mechanically and sweep the pollen on to the breast of the bee.

When the bee visits another flower some of this pollen becomes attached to the stigmatic surface, and fertilisation ensues. In the flower of the sage the pollen-bearing anthers are placed on a P l '??' When the bee inserts its head in the flower the pivotal anthers swing round and strike on the back. In the common barberry, the stamens spring up and scatter their pollen on the head of the bee as it thrusts its proboscis into the nectar. In another case the anthers a IP Piovided with clips which become attached to the legs of the insects, and are thus carried to fresh flowers.

areas of tea-tree country in iNorth Auckland deserve greater attention as a source for honey- production, in the opinion of the secretary of the Auckland branch of the National Beekeepers’ Association (Mr L. Wintie), who has just returned from a trip to the north (savs the New Zealand Herald). Tea-tree honey, being one of those with a pronounced flavour, was especially suitable for use in households where economy- was a consideration, becaus-e it would “go further than the more delicately-flav-oured clover honey, he said. As the teatree flowered during the winter, beekeepers using it as a source could place their product on the market earlier than tire main output.