THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



lacinia. When these two sharp points are moved back and 

 forth on the outer side of a nectary they may puncture it, mak- 

 ing either a single sht or two small holes side by side. 



The fly -honey suckle {Lonicera ciliata) is a graceful, slender 

 shrub, which blooms in northern woodlands during the last 

 weeks in May. The flower-stalk bears at its summit two 

 pendulous, yellowish-green flowers, which are tubular and half 

 an inch in length. The nectar is secreted and lodged at the 

 base of this tube, where it can be reached by the long tongues 

 of bumblebees, by which the flowers are pollinated. The fe- 

 male of Bombus vagans was often observed stealing the sweet 

 secretions through holes in the buds. Sometimes the perfora- 

 tion was near the apex, but usually it was near the base of the 

 tube, and in one instance I found the corolla nearly circumcised 

 and held only by a few threads. (Fig. 50.) 



Bumblebees also puncture at the apex (usually on the under- 

 side) the buds of the common skullcap {Scutellaria galericulata), 

 even when they are quite immature. The flowers are bilabiate, 

 or two-lipped. In two instances I observed a narrow slit on 

 the under-side of the corolla-tube, and in a third case the 

 whole upper portion of the tube was cut away, leaving the lips 

 suspended by a mere thread. Hundreds of spurs of the w^ild 

 balsam (Impatiens hiflora) are perforated on the under-side; 

 sometimes there are several holes, in other cases a single slit. 

 After the punctures are once made honey-bees rob the flowers 

 as well as bumblebees, making about ten visits per minute. 



The garden-columbines secrete nectar very plentifully. If a 

 flower of the white variety be held so that the light shines 

 through its translucent tissue, the nectar may be seen filling a 

 tenth of an inch of the hollow spurs or nectaries. Both the 

 purple and white varieties are punctured by bumblebees. 

 Mueller observed a bumblebee, after a fruitless endeavor to 



98 



