Jan. 1, 1912 



their insect visitors. It will give some idea 

 of the immense amount of labor involved 

 in its preparation to state that 52*51 visits to 

 flowers by S4'UlifTerent kinds of tlower-visit- 

 ing insects are recorded. 



Mueller had never forgotten his earlier 

 delightful journeys among the Alps, nor its 

 rich and brilliantly colored flora. For six 

 summers he continued with great diligence 

 to investigate its liowers, and the result was 

 his second great work entitled " Alpenblu- 

 men," or the Flowers of the Alps. Here 

 are enumerated 5711 visits by 841 species of 

 anthophilous insects. It is impossible to 

 read this account of the mysteries of the 

 lloral world in high altitudes without long- 

 ing to visit the scene of his investigations. 

 The short summers, the rapid (not to say 

 impetuous) advance of vegetation, the sim- 

 ultaneous blooming of many species, the 

 brilliant hues, the wealth of insects, and es- 

 pecially the great abundance of butterflies, 

 against a background of snowy summits, 

 form a most enticing picture. Mueller pub- 

 lished a third book on flowers, besides many 

 shorter papers. 



To-day there are very few investigators 

 engaged in studying the life histories of 

 flowers. In North America they number 

 less than half a dozen. Most observers are 

 content to restrict their attention to the 

 botanical side of the subject, and ignore the 

 great company of pollinators. Even Charles 

 Darwin and Anton Kerner, whose writings 

 still remain an ever inspiring source of in- 

 formation, gave little heed to the ways of 

 the insect guests. The reason for this is 

 not far to seek. To collect and prepare lists 

 of the visitors and to observe their behavior 

 requires so enormous an amount of lime, 

 labor, and patience that the opportunity is 

 pos-sible to very few people. Suppose that 

 a flower is in bioom for two weeks, then, on 

 every calu. bright day many hours must be 

 devoted to this work, for the guests at the 

 beginning of blooming-time may diff'er from 

 those at its close There follows the almost 

 insuperable task, at least in America, of 

 determining the names < f the captured in- 

 sects. With the exception of the butterflies 

 we have no manuals of the different orders, 

 and the literature is in a truly chaotic con- 

 dition, many papers not being obtainable 

 at any price. It is noteworthy that eafh of 

 the three or four more prominent investiga- 

 tors of floroecology in America has been 

 compelled to work up the classification of 

 the bees in his locality — a rather formidable 

 undertaking in itself. So closely allied are 

 the si)e(ies and genera that no one can dis- 

 tinguish them \\'ithout a special knowledge 

 of the grouj). which in its relations to 

 flowers exceeds all others in importance. 



But the value of an acquaintance with 

 the insect visitors can not be easily over-es- 

 timated; for some species fly only in the 

 spring, others only in the fall; some species 

 visit only one kind of flower, others many 

 kinds; some are most welcome guests, others 

 are mere robbers. I should never have 

 dreamed that the pretty nodding pink 



23 



blossoms of the twin-flower, with its sweet 

 vanilla-like fragrance, are in our northern 

 woodlands attractive to gnats alone. One 

 afternoon a large bed of these delicate 

 flowers was carefully observed, and eight 

 visitors were collected. On examination 

 they were found to belong to a single species 

 of fly {Empis rufesoens). Further observa- 

 tions show that in this locality this fly is 

 probably the only guest. A burly bumble- 

 bee flew over the flowers without paying 

 any attention to them. 



Among aquatic plants living in fresh- 

 water rivers is the bladderwort ( Utrieidaria 

 vulgaris). The whole plant is submerged; 

 but at blooming-lime a flower-stalk is 

 thrust out of the water, which produces 

 deeply two-lipped bright-yellow flowers. I 

 surely expected to find it a favorite of bees. 

 But after repeated o)>servations I have col- 

 lected on the flowers in Maine only the 

 long-tongued syrphid fly HelophiluH eonos- 

 tonms. There is no way in which we can so 

 easily learn the defects of flowers as to watch 

 the behavior of insects upon them. No hu- 

 man eye can discover them so quickly. In 

 a word, if we would fully understand the 

 bright-hued floral edifices which so freely 

 adorn the outdoor world we must study the 

 modus operandi of their architects and 

 builders. 



Waldoboro, Me. 



A FEW RANDOM NOTES ON THE WAY BEES 

 "MAKE" HONEY. 



BY ARTHUR C. MILLER. 



[Most of us think we know all about honey pro- 

 duction: and that is true if we consider the process- 

 es that take place /co*/; the hive to the consniner: but 

 as yet no one has ever gone into details telling: 

 what takes place from the blosnom to the eomb. and 

 for the very good reason that most of us would not 

 take the time to see wiiat is done, even if we knew 

 where and how to look. With a specially con- 

 structed observatory hive by whicli the bees are 

 compelled to build the edge of the comb up against 

 the glass, it is possible to see what has hitherto 

 been denied the ordinary observer. If we are not 

 mistaken, Mr. Miller is the pioneer in the use of 

 this kind of glass hive. In the following article he 

 tells a story that is exceedingly interesting to the 

 student of nature— a story that we believe will be 

 verified by any one else who will take the time to 

 watch the bees work when in the hives.— Ed.] 



The bee returning from the field with a 

 load of nectar does several things which are 

 quite contrary to the rules we have laid 

 down for her. She does not rush for a cell 

 to put it in; on the contrary, she spends a 

 seemingly needless amount of time wander- 

 ing about and inspecting cells. When at 

 last one is found that seems satisfactory she 

 enters it, feet up and back down. If the 

 cell is em]ity she puts her mouth into the 

 upper and rearmost angle, opens her mouth 

 and mandibles, and at once a drop of nectar 

 is seen to well u]) until it touches the cell. 

 Slowly the head is turned from side to side, 

 spreading the nectar against the corner of 

 the cell. All the time the mandibles are 

 kept in motion as if biting, though the tips 

 do not meet. The outflowing nectar fills 



