Miscellaneous. 155 



endeavoured to anticipate Bedriaga over the nomenclature of a 

 reptile by a falsely dated pamphlet. 



I have unfortunately had to call attention in the ' Annals ' to 

 more than one case of dishonest methods to obtain priority ; but 

 this seems to me to be the most glaring example yet brought to light. 



C. Da vies Sherboen 

 (Index gen. et spec. anim.). 



On Bees and Honeysuckles. By Thomas Meehan. 



I was interested to-day (June 18th) in noting that while a few 

 honey-bees persistently collected nectar from the mouths of honey- 

 suckles, by far the larger number collected from tbe fallen flowers 

 only. 



The plant was Lonicera japonica, in the two forms known in 

 gardens as L. brachypoda and L. Jlexuosa, both intertwining and 

 flowering together. I have in the past satisfied myself that a bee 

 which starts from the hive for pollen pays no attenti n to gathering 

 nectar, while the one looking for nectar collects that only. Whether 

 this is the course of labour for that trip from the hive only, or 

 whether these particular tasks occupy the whole day or more, may 

 be an interesting question. I had never noted bees collecting 

 nectar from fallen flowers, indeed had not noted that fallen flowers 

 had nectar ; so that the attention of the bees to them gave the 

 subject a double interest. 



The flowers are white when freshly opened, the next day 

 yellowish, the following they wither slightly and fall. Large 

 numbers are collected by the leaves, on which they mostly lie till 

 they turn brown and shrivel completely. Those which were badly 

 shrivelled seemed preferable to the bees. 



On cutting across the tube of a white corolla near the base, and 

 then gently stripping the flower downwardly, a large globule of 

 nectar protrudes. The same process executed on the older or yellow 

 flower gives about the same quantity, as also does the faded flower 

 of the third day. In the dried flower, taken before much shrivelling 

 had occurred, nearly as much nectar was found. The completely 

 shrivelled and twisted flower could not bo " stripped " of its secre- 

 tion in this way, but it was certainly present and as abundant. The 

 bees carefully sought what would have been the mouth of the corolla, 

 and then extracted the sweets from that point. It soon became 

 evident that the shrivelling and contracting of the tube of the corolla 

 acted in the same manner as the thumb-nail and finger in 

 " stripping," lessening the diameter of the tube, and forcing the 

 nectar towards the mouth and within the reach of the visiting insect. 



As noted, the bees collecting nectar from these dead flowers never 

 visited the fresh opening ones, while the few visiting the fresh 

 flowers never visited the dead or dying ones ; a very careful watch 

 of half an hour satisfied me on this point. It was noted that the 

 latter took considerable time and much laboured effort with each 

 flower. There was an average of fifteen seconds to each flower, a 

 very long time for the average honey -making bee. Those working on 



