HENRY J. FRANKLIN. 203 



Great Central Plain, because these bees seem to be consider- 

 ably less abundant in this middle portion of the continent. 

 The bulk of the red clover crop is at present produced in the 

 Central States. There are evidently other insects which are 

 capable of cross-fertilizing this clover, for the writer has 

 been informed, by the Agriculturist of the Transvaal, through 

 Prof. C. P. Lounsbury, Government Entomologist of Cape 

 Colony, (per litt.), that red clover ripens seed of a fair 

 extent in the Transvaal, where no bumble-bees are present. 

 Dr. L. Peringuey, Director of the South African Museum, 

 Cape Town, in a letter to Prof. Lounsbury, states that, in 

 that region, they have numerous Anthophora {Podalirms) as 

 well suited as any Bombus for the cross pollenation of red 

 clover. 



Prof . W. W. Froggatt, Government Entomologist, Sydney, 

 New South Wales, writes me that, in his opinion, bumble- 

 bees would not do any particular good in Australia, if they 

 could be successfully introduced there, as other long tongued 

 bees are fairly common (Podalirius spp., and other genera). 

 He states further that red clover is grown in Tasmania and 

 also, to some extent, in Victoria, but only on experimental 

 plots in New South Wales. Great quantities of lucerne are 

 grown in New South Wales and it produces good seed there. 

 The introduction of bumble-bees in New Zealand probably 

 did much good as that country does not appear to have any 

 native long tongued bees. 



In New England, there is a great variation from year to 

 year in the abundance of bumble-bees. In the summer of 

 1910, they were exceedingly scarce, at least in the south- 

 eastern portion, but, strange to say, in the same section 

 they were very abundant during the summer of 1911. The 

 1910 scarcity was so marked that it was everywhere spoken 

 of by the cranberry growers on Cape Cod. It seemed to 

 be the common opinion among these growers, moreover, 

 that the berries did not set as well as usual that season. A 

 marked cranberry fruiting failure on account of bumble- 

 bee scarcity would, perhaps, be surprising, as it has been 

 shown by experiment that the honey bee is efficient as a 

 fertilizing agent for this fruit. 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC, XXXVIII. 



