Nectar Collection Research Articles

New Methods Applied to Studies on the Sugar Content of Nectars1

Results of recent experiments by the writer show that the honeybee changes the concentration of nectar or sirup only very slightly while gathering a load and carrying it to the hive. The change is a decrease instead of an increase as has been assumed by many heretofore. The amount of decrease varies directly with the concentration of the nectar or sirup. Observed decreases varied from one-fiftieth of 1 per cent on a 13 per cent sirup to 1.8 per cent on a 64 per cent sirup. The average decrease for Iowa nectars commonly gathered by the honeybee is about 1 per cent. For most practical purposes, it may be considered that the honeybee does not materially change the concentration of nectar while gathering a load of it and carrying it to the hive. Honeysac contents of honeybees captured while gathering nectar from a given plant species, may be used with much confidence for the purpose of obtaining a very close approximation to the actual concentration of the nectar as found in those flowers.

The Quantitative and Qualitative Effect of Weather Upon Colony Weight Changes

Correlations were made during the spring honey flows of 1922 and 1923 at Somerset, Maryland, between changes in weight of a colony of bees and daily variation in temperature, relative humidity, hours of sunshine and solar radiation. By use of the formula for multiple correlation, exact response to changes in weight of the colony to changes in each of these weather factors was calculated. A variation in colony weight depends upon two factors acting jointly, namely the nectar secretion activity on the plants and the behavior of bees engaged in gathering nectar and pollen From the above mentioned calculations the exact weight was given to each of the weather factors considered. A variation from the average temperature was thus noted to have either a positive or a negative effect upon the weight of the colony which in turn could be expressed in terms of grams depending upon the number of degrees the temperature varied from the average. For example, when the daily temperature was four degrees above the average, there resulted from this an increase in colony weight of so many grams due to this one factor alone. Although the other weather factors were constantly affecting the weight of the colony, at the same time the results attributed to temperature, for instance, represent that factor alone since corrections were made in each case for the effect of other factors. A quantitative as well as a qualitative analysis is given for all the weather factors enumerated above.