42 Pollination in Orchanh 



for the hive bee a great preponderance of visits over those of other 

 insects, and it would be a good thing to get the matter cleared up. 



The record of captures at the flowers is of relatively little value, for 

 that takes no note of the number of visits an individual insect may pay. 

 I have watched a bumble bee, Bomhus lerrestris, for instance, pay 

 48 visits to different flowers (not all on one tree) in the course of ten 

 minutes. Note ought also to be taken of the length of time over which 

 the visits may extend. The bumble bee is out earlier by far than is 

 the hive bee, and it goes to rest much later, but is the pollen in a fit 

 state to be carried during all these hours ? The fishy scent of the pear, 

 rather like that of hawthorn, no doubt attracts numbers of Diptera, 

 and midges seem particularly partial to them. 



Some one recently, too, pointed out the great importance of the 

 hairy wild bees in effecting cross pollination in orchards, and, I am sure, 

 it would be a productive piece of work if the investigation were taken 

 up seriously. The Isle of Wight Bee Disease has practically exter- 

 minated the hive bee in many districts, and the cultivation of the ground 

 in and round orchards has destroyed the nesting places of not a few of 

 the insects that, in all probability, effected cross pollination in the past. 



