BEES AND FLOWERS 



281 



naturalist give her a more profound significance than 

 all the high organisation of the honey-bee. The garden 

 in which she lives is in large measure her own work, 

 for its flowers and fruits are responses to the stimuli 

 that countless generations of her descendants have 



FIG. 57. Adaptive structures of the Hive Bee for comparison with fig. 58. 

 A, Feathered hair for collecting pollen. B, Hind-leg of worker. C, 

 Inner surface of the part marked x in B to show the stiff hairs for 

 gathering pollen and the wax-pincers. D, Spur on the middle leg for 

 removing pollen. E, Comb on the fore-leg for cleaning hairs. (After 

 Folsom. 'Entomology.' London: Messrs. Rebman, Ltd.} 



successively applied to corolla, stamens, and stigma, 

 as their tongue grew longer, their legs more capacious, 

 their wax plates more generous. The history of 

 flowers would almost be a blank, but for the Prosopis 

 and her vast following ; a hundred thousand varieties 

 would ^disappear if the bees did not visit them ;^ 



