214 Afjncultural Gazette of N.S. IF. [J/r/r. 2, 1908. 



bi'ouiflit int.) plav in tli ■ furmi')' work, aurl her motions are as systeniatii- and 

 various as the figures in a country dance. How differently she goes tu wmk 

 in collecting honev. Her head bends towards every expanried flower, and 

 her tongue is thi'ust into every nectary. At some she pauses monieiitarilv — 

 siMiie insect lias iieen tliei'e liefDre liei' : at others her stay is lon^^cr ; slie lias 

 her reward. 



Notwithstanding an insect may have rilled the nectary of its honev, and 

 when visited by the hee found to he empty, in a few minutes another or the 

 same hee will revisit it, and this lime her stay may l)e InnLicr, because 

 between the two visits the nectaiv will ha\-e secretetl ani»ther supplv. ilie 

 indecision of the iiee at a llctwci' is rm pniuf that she is lnoking f(ir the |)<isit inn 

 of the nectary. 



To-day bees may be industi'iouslv at work upon n flower of certain colour, 

 and to-morrow tbi'sake it for one of less conspicuous shade. "It would 

 appear," says Darwin, "that either the taste or the odour of the nectary of 

 certain flowers is unattractive to hive bees, (»r to Innnhle bees, oi- to both. f<ir 

 there seems no reason whv certain open flowers which secrete nectar are not 

 visited by botii. The small (piantitv of nectar secreted by some of thf-.se 

 flowers can hardly be the cause of their neglect, as hive-bees search eagerly 

 for the minute drops on the glands of the leaves of the Prumis knirocerdsiis.' 



"The small (juantitv of honey secreted " is the cause. Within a near 

 I'adiiis there were, undoubtedly, IIonvcis that were secreting lai'ger (piantities 

 of honey, and both humble and hive-bees always visit flowers where they can 

 gather the greatest quantity in the shortest space of time. When the hi\e- 

 l)(»es were searching " eagerly for the minute di'ops on tht^ glands on the 

 lea.ves of the I'raims lauroccra.siiH, the hone\- tlow must have been scarce 

 elsewhere. I have seen bees in time of a honey famine st^arch the most 

 unlikelv ])laces in the liojje of getting somethini;- to take home. " A drow niiig 

 man will catch at a straw," and a hee on short allowance will seai-ch anything 

 and anywhere to keep the cupboard full. 



Some years ago, at Cooma, in a dry .reason, a bed of turnijis ran to llower. 

 They were sown on a sandy, thirsty soil. For three or four days they \\ei-e 

 beseiged by bees. Almost suddenU- the bees ceased to visit the tiiinip Mooms, 

 although thev were still expandinL;. The cause of their forsaking the turni]is 

 became e\ident. Ab(Hit one-third of a mile away, on the banks of a creek, a 

 small paddock of lucerne had tloweivd, and the bees were bestowing their 

 attention on it, because it was yielding a greater supjily of food. Their 

 harvest from tlm lucerne lasted but a day or so. Th(> scvthe stopped the 

 honev flow, an<l the bees returned to the turnijis. Was it the dark-blue 

 llower of the hiceiaie that caused the bees to forsake the creamy yellow flower 

 of the turniji, or the superior (juantity of honev contained in the lucerne? 

 Undoubtedly the latter. The whole family of trefoils are well known to be 

 great honey-] iroducers. 



Whatever may have been the reason for plants to have brightly-coloured 

 fiowers, and to be otherwise decorated so as to attract insects to aid in the 

 work of the development of the vegetable world in past ages, it is evident 



