IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 

 Observation for 36 square feet of Clover Field. 



It has often been said that there are not enough bees to secure pol- 

 lination of red clover. It seemed important, therefore, to determine 

 the number of flowers visited by bees. In this work we were assisted 

 by 'Mr. E. E. Garner. The following table indicates that there is much 

 variation in time spent in a single flowel" by a bee. This is no doubt 

 due in part to the fact that in some cases flowers had previously been 

 visited by a bumble-bee and had little nectar. In other cases it was 

 difficult to follow the bee because it would visit a few flowers and then 

 fly to another portion of the field. Only a few observations were made 

 on the honey bee ; in one case three flowers were visited in five seconds, 

 and in another six flowers in ten seconds. In nearly every ease, how- 

 ever, the bumble-bee would confine its visits to the red clover, though 

 white clover, alsike, partridge pea, and other plants were in abundance 

 in the immediate vicinity. 



