9? 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



size of a pin-head. Section these little 

 bodies, examine them with the proper 

 magnifying power of the microscope, 

 and you will find that they are filled with 

 minute bacteria which, as is well known, 

 have the ability to absorb from the air 

 the nitrogen needed by the clover, and 

 to supply the soil with the nitrogen of 

 which it too has need. The bacteria 

 supply to the clover the substance that 

 it must have to thrive, and the clover 

 gives to the bacteria what to them is 

 desirable for their welfare, but which to 

 it is a waste product. To the farmer the 

 plant is important, since, among other 

 purposes dear to him, it may be used to 

 restore the fertility to an exhausted soil. 

 But aside from this valuable quality, 

 clover without seed is unmanageable, 

 and without bumblebees clover will not 

 produce seeds. Bumblebees are there- 

 fore one of the farmer's most valuable 

 assets, and to assist in the cultivation of 

 •clover, bumblebees have been carried 

 from England to New Zealand, and from 

 the United States to the Philippines. 



In his "Origin of Species" Darwin 

 savs : "Humble-bees alone visit red clo- 

 ver, as other bees cannot reach the nec- 

 tar. It has been suggested that moths 

 may fertilize the clovers ; but I doubt 

 whether they could do so in the case of 

 the red clover, from their weight not 

 being sufficient to depress the wing- 

 petals. Hence we may infer as highly 

 probable that, if the whole genus of 

 humble-bees became extinct or very rare 

 in England, the heart's-ease and red 

 clover would become very rare, or wholly 

 disappear. The number of humble-bees 

 in any district depends in a great degree 

 on the number of field-mice, which de- 

 stroy their combs and nests ; and Colonel 

 Newman, who has long attended to the 

 habits of humble-bees, believes that 

 'more than two-thirds of them are thus 

 destroyed all over England.' Now the 

 number of mice is largely dependent, 

 as every one knows, on the number of 

 cats, and Colonel Newman says, 'Near 

 villages and small towns I have found 

 the nests of humble-bees more numerous 

 than elsewhere, which I attribute to the 

 number of cats that destroy the mice." 



While the bumblebee is satisfying its 

 taste for nectar, it naturallv becomes 



dusted with pollen which it carries to 

 another head of clover, thus effecting 

 the necessary cross-fertilization. The 

 ordinary honeybee will not do this for the 

 red clover, because the proboscis is too 

 short to reach to the bottom of the deep 

 and narrow blossoms, where the nectar is 

 stored, but the bumblebee's long probos- 

 cis is well adapted to the purpose. 

 Hence it follows that with no bumble- 

 bees, no clover seed ; plenty of bumble- 

 bees, plenty of clover seed. 



In the Philippines there were no bum- 

 blebees and no clover, until both arrived 

 from the United States. The clover, as 

 a desirable citizen, got there first with 

 the usual seedless result. But the 

 Bureau of Entomology in the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, has sent a col- 

 lection of bumblebees in charge of two 

 returning Filipino students, and another 

 later consignment by one of the trans- 

 ports. Professor L. O. Howard, Chief 

 of the Bureau, reports their arrival in 

 good condition, with every probability 

 that they will become established. 



It has been said that "The Filipinos 

 with their scanty clothing may have some 

 painful adventures before they learn to 

 treat the American bumblebees with 

 proper respect. Almost any person who 

 has had experience would rather be stung 

 by a honeybee than a bumblebee. A 

 bumblebee is a splendid thing to keep 

 away from when his temper is tried." 



WHAT IT ALL MEANS. 



"To add to the resources of one's 

 life — think how much that means ! To 

 add to those things that make us more 

 at home in the world ; that help guard 

 us against ennui and stagnation ; that 

 invest the country with new interest 

 and enticement; that make every walk 

 in the fields or woods an excursion into 

 a land of unexhausted treasures ; that 

 make the returning seasons fill us with 

 expectation and delight; that make ev- 

 ery rod of ground like the page of a 

 book, in which new and strange things 

 may be read; in short those things that 

 help keep us fresh and sane and young, 

 and make us immune to the strife and 

 fever of the world." —From the intro- 

 duction to The Nature Library, by John 

 Burroughs. 



