CHAPTER V 

 BUMBLEBEE-FLOWERS 



THE English nation owes its power and wealth largely 

 to bumblebees. This statement sounds a bit sensa- 

 tional, not to say improbable. But it was the opinion 

 of a distinguished German scientist, Carl Vogt, and is indorsed 

 by an eminent living biologist, Ernst Haeckel, of Jena. Let us 

 examine the evidence. 



Red clover {Trifolium pratense) is chiefly pollinated by bum- 

 blebees, and is, therefore, called a bumblebee-flower. (Fig. 

 35.) In the absence of bumblebees this valuable and exten- 

 sively cultivated fodder-plant yields little or no seed, as may be 

 easily proven by covering a small bed of red clover with netting 

 to exclude bees. According to Carl Vogt, one of the most 

 important foundations of the wealth of England is found in the 

 cattle, which feed principally on red clover. "Englishmen," 

 says Haeckel, "preserve their bodily and mental powers chiefly 

 by making excellent meat — roast beef and beefsteak — their 

 principal food. The English owe the superiority of their brains 

 and minds over other nations to their excellent meat." There 

 is no need to enter here into any discussion as to whether 

 Haeckel's logic is sound or not, but it will be hardly denied 

 that the production of this meat depends to a great extent on 

 the industrious bumblebee. 



Incidentally it may be added that Darwin pointed out that 

 the number of bumblebees in England was determined by the 

 number of cats. Mice rob bumblebees' nests and are in turn 

 killed by cats; consequently if there are few cats there are 

 many mice and few bumblebees. Here Huxley suggested that, 



70 



