240 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



One of the auiaries ot A. i". Wagner, 101 Centro. Cal. 



produced partly by selection and partly by 

 hybridization. The corolla may be pure 

 white, yellow, red, blue, purple, or black, or 

 there may be manifold combinations of 

 these hues. These striking diversities re- 

 sult from various mixtures and modifica- 

 tions of two pigments contained in the epi- 

 dermis — violet- colored sap and yellow gran- 

 ules. In the pansy the spur at the base of 

 the lower petal contains the nectar. The 

 anthers lie close together, forming a cone, 

 into the center of which is shed the dry pol- 

 len; and directly in front of this cone stands 

 the stigma, on the lower side of which there 

 is a flexible liplike projection. To reach the 

 nectar a bee must run its tongue through 

 the center of the cone of anthers; and when 

 it is withdrawn the grains of pollen cling to 

 its moistened surface, while the lip of the 

 stigma bends it away so that self-pollina- 

 tion is prevented. But when the proboscis 

 is inserted in another flower a portion of the 

 pollen is lodged on a receptive part of the 

 stigma where it soon germinates. 



The pea, bean, clovers, vetch, locust, and 

 a host of leguminous allies, are grouped to- 

 gether in the pea family, or Papilionacefe 

 — a name derived from the Greek word for 

 butterfly, because of a fancied resemblance 

 of the flowers to that insect. All of the 

 5000 described species appear to be bee flow- 

 ers, though it is claimed that a few species 

 are butterfly flowers, and at least thirteen 

 species are known, which, in the absence of 

 bees, are infertile. For the most part nine 

 of the ten starhens unite to form a tube, at 

 the bottom of which lies the nectar, if pres- 

 ent. Four of the petals interlock around 

 this tube, while the fifth, called the stand- 

 ard, is broad and erect, and brilliantly color- 

 ed to attract the attention of insects (see a 

 flower of the sweet pea). In order to obtain 

 the nectar, a bee rests upon the two lateral 

 wing petals, which act as levers, braces its 

 head against the standard, when, if it is 

 strong enough, the keel is depressed, and it 



may introduce its 

 tongue in an open- 

 ing at the base of the 

 staminal tube. In 

 this family the pol- 

 len is applied to the 

 under side of the 

 bee's body in four 

 different ways: It 

 may escape through 

 a valve, or it may be 

 pumped out or brush- 

 ed out, or there may 

 be an explosive ar- 

 rangement. 



But what if it is 

 not strong enough to 

 depress the keel? 

 Then it does not get 

 the nectar. Notwith- 

 standing their beau- 

 tiful hues and hon- 

 eylike perfume I 

 have never seen the 

 flowers of the sweet 

 pea [Lathyrus odoratus) visited by bees, 

 and this is also essentially true of the gar- 

 den pea [Pisum sativum). Why is this? 

 So strongly are the petals locked together 

 that none of our bees appear able to depress 

 the keel and obtain the nectar. Doubtless 

 in their transatlantic home (for neither 

 species is endemic in America) there are 

 bees strong to push open the flower. But 

 as both of these bee flowers are easily self- 

 pollinated they are very prolific, even in the 

 absence of insects. 



Many of the flowers of the pea family, in 

 fading, undergo a change in position and 

 color. In the white clover the white cen- 

 tral flowers contrast with an older outer ring 

 of rose-colored flowers. In the yellow clover 

 the newer flowers contrast with a ring of 

 chestnut brown. In the wild vetch ( Vieia 

 craoca) the older flowers bend downward and 

 turn from violet blue to dark purple, while 

 the purple flowers of Desmodium become 

 green in withering. In this way the bees 

 are enabled to determine the older, nectar- 

 less flowers w^hich have been pollinated, 

 from the young flowers which have not yet 

 been visited. 



In the mint family [Labiatce) and fig- 

 wort family {Scrojihulariacerr) the flowers 

 are two-lipped, and often bear a crude re- 

 semblance to the heads of reptiles and other 

 animals, as is indicated by such common 

 names as snapdragon, turtlehead, dragon- 

 head, painted cup, beardtongue, and mon- 

 key flower. Many of the larger flowers are 

 pollinated exclusively by bees, not a few be- 

 ing bumblebee flowers; but fly flowers and 

 hummingbird flowers also occur. In these 

 families the pollen, in many species, is plac- 

 ed on the back of the insect and not on the 

 under side. 



The brilliantly flowered snapdragon is a 

 bumblebee flower. So firmly are the lips 

 closed together that the smaller bees can 

 not force them apart, and thus the nectar is 

 protected for the rightful guests. But as 



