COLOUR OF FLOWERS—ITS INFLUENCE ON BEE-LIFE. 943 
in a straight line from one clump of yellow-flowered Wnthera to 
every clump of the same plant in the garden without turning an 
inch from their course to plants of Lscholotzia and others with 
yellow flowers, which lay a foot or two on either side.” “In 
these cases,” he continues, “the bees knew the position of each 
plant in the garden, so that they were guided by experience and 
memory.” Their experience was that the @nthera contained more 
food, and Nature had taught them that it would be impossible to 
fertilise the ovaries of @inthera with the pollen from Lscholotzia. 
Darwin on “Self-fertilisation of Plants” says :—‘‘ Not only do 
the bright colours of flowers serve to attract insects, but dark- 
coloured streaks and marks are often present, which Sprengel 
long ago maintained served as guides to the nectary.” If such be 
the case, how the poor bees must be troubled to find the nectary 
in self-coloured flowers. I think we have more unicolour flowers 
than striped ones. If Sprengel maintained it was so long ago, 
then it may have been so; but I maintain, that now in these 
latter days it is not so. 
Grant Allen, in “The Story of the Plant,” has written some 
fanciful pictures on the influence of the markings and colours of 
flowers and their attraction for bees. I know the work is not a 
text book. He says :—‘“ The lines or spots so often found on the 
petals of highly-developed flowers act as honey guides to lead 
the bee or other fertilising insect direct to the nectar.” He 
then goes on to describe the “so-called nasturtium.” ‘The 
upper pair (of petals) are broad and deep-lined with dark veins 
which all converge about the mouth of the spur, and so show the 
inquiring insect exactly where to go in search of honey. The 
lower three on the other hand, have no lines or markings, but 
possess a curious sort of fence running right across the face, 
intended to prevent other flying insects from alighting and rifling 
the flower without fertilising it.” Now, if any insect, flying, 
creeping, or crawling, were to enter the nasturtium and rifle the 
flower of its pollen and carry it to one where the stigma was 
receptive, and the part of the insect’s body with pollen on it 
came in contact with the stigma, fertilisation would be the result. 
But why do the markings that converge about the throat of any 
act as guide-posts to them, while we have so many unicolour 
flowers that are destitute of such markings—to wit, the whole of 
the pumpkin family and hundreds of others. Pumpkins, &e., 
cannot be fertilised other than by insects, and the blooms have 
no finger-post erected saying, ‘‘Here you can get good honey and 
pollen !” 
Yesterday I was watching the bees working the pumpkin 
flowers, and none of them were at a loss to find the pollen or the 
nectary. There was no hesitancy. The only finger-post for bees 
in flowers is the food they contain. 
