THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



bees soon began to visit the flowers, and continued to come in 

 increasing numbers so long as I supplied the syrup. This ex- 

 periment was repeated with many other garden-flowers which 

 were nectarless with similar results. Wild and field flowers 

 also which in one locality freely secrete nectar, as alfalfa, white 

 clover, buckwheat, and goldenrod, and are visited by many 

 insects, are sometimes in other localities nectarless and almost 

 entirely neglected. Insects, therefore, perceive the colors and 

 forms of neglected flowers, and the rarity of their visits is the 

 result of their memory of the absence of food materials.* 



* Readers desiring to pursue this subject further are referred to the follow- 

 ing articles by the author: "Is Conspicuousness an Advantage to Flowers?*' 

 Amer. Nat., vol. 43, pp. 338-349, 1909. "Can Bees Distinguish Colors?" 

 Amer. Nat., vol. 44, pp. 673-692, 1910. "The Pollination of Green Flowers," 

 Amer. Nat., vol. 46, pp. 83-107, 1912. "Conspicuous Flowers Rarely Visited 

 by Insects," Jour. Animal Behavior, vol. 4, pp. 147-175, 1914. "The Evolu- 

 tion of Flowers," Scientific Monthly, vol. 4, pp. 110-119, 1917. 



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