THE MUSEUM. 



TH 



is which looked like beautiful wands 

 which had blossomed by enchantment. 



The mouths of the llowers are lars;e 

 enoufjh to admit a bumble-bee readily, 

 but become narrowed quickly, with a 

 constriction at the base just outside 

 the nectaries where the sweet fluid lay 

 safely stored, just out of reach of the 

 black tongue of the bee, who scrab- 

 bled and pushed, in his vain endeavor 

 to get in just a little farther. Then 

 he would tumble out. to try the same 

 scramble up the throat of another 

 tlower with no better success. 



And as I still stood watching, half 

 admiring the elegant beauty of the 

 flowers, half smiling at the awkward 

 efforts of the bees, I beheld a new 

 comer who was exercising new tactics. 

 He too was a bumble-bee. hut made 

 no attempt to enter the front-door 

 which stood so temptingly wide open. 

 He went- — flew I mean — round to the 

 back, and climbing up the flower till 

 he reached a point just above the con- 

 striction, he raised the green leaves of 

 the calyx which lay over the shoulders 

 of the corolla like a cape, and almost 

 before I knew what he was doing, had 

 made an incision and thrust his mouth 

 parts through the back wall of the 

 flower, and across to the spot where 

 the sweet fluid lay. — Then away he 

 went, and to perform the same neat 

 trick at another flower. 



Was this not curious and interest- 

 ing.' Here was one bumble-bee who 

 never tried to go in at front door; 

 there was the other who never tried 

 anything else I 



As cjuickly as humbler number two 

 came, the ear said, "Another species 

 from number one;" and the eye said, 

 "Number one is our Bombus — the 

 common bumble-bee of our clover- 

 fields in the Eastern United States. 

 Number two is the \'irginian Carpen- 

 ter-bee common over the same coun- 

 try." 



By kneeling on the ground and peer- 

 ing up into the flower I could see the 

 mouth-parts of the latter bee, when 

 they came through the wall of the 



corolla, and watch them fumbling and 

 feeling about till they touched the 

 right spot, which they did with con- 

 siderable precision as if by the result 

 of long experience. 



In other days we boys distinguished 

 these two species of bees by calling 

 the Carpenter bumble-bee the "white- 

 head" buinble-bec from his white face, 

 as against the black head or face of 

 our commoner bumble-bee. This dis- 

 tinction w-as of value and interest since 

 white-head could not sting, having no 

 stinger; whereas black-head certainly 

 could as we sometimes learned to our 

 sorrow, through eyes which speedily 

 closed to the light of day for a season. 



Now the (juestion comes to us — 

 Why does "white-head" know this 

 trick, and "black-head" not know it.-* 

 Is "white-head" more intelligent than 

 "black-head'" — or was this an instinct 

 implanted in one bee but not in the 

 other.' Or is it that "black-head" has 

 not strong enough or large enough 

 mouth-parts to perform the cute oper- 

 ation whereby to outwit Dame Na- 

 ture who evidently did not grow the 

 fox-glove with a view to feeding bum- 

 ble-bees.' 



One thing is true whatever the so- 

 lution of the problem may be, — that 

 the wood-cutting Carpenter-bee, as his 

 habits of tunneling in timber require, 

 has stronger, more highly developed 

 mouth-parts than his relative who 

 founds his colony in some old field- 

 mouse nest or other prepared cavity in 

 the ground. 



But as I had no time to spend in 

 spyingmore closely into this matter 

 of bees and fox-gloves, I can but hint 

 at its possible solution. This is a 

 small riddle which bids you do a little 

 observing for yourself. And glad I 

 am to leave it so, if even one reader 

 may be led to try and fathom the lit- 

 tle mystery for himself, gleaning at 

 the same time that peculinr pleasure 

 which comes through the use of our 

 powers in the work of original re- 

 search. 



