THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



The scarlet hue of the poppy has been said to repel bees, 

 but bee-keepers who have seen their bees freely visiting these 

 gaudy flowers do not need to have this assertion refuted. 

 (Figs. 95 and 96.) Although an acre of poppies would not 

 produce an ounce of honey, there are occasional reports of 

 bees being stupefied by gathering nectar from poppy blossoms 

 and lying about on the ground unable to fly; but all such 

 stories are mythical. The hundreds of large, beautiful, purple 

 flowers displayed by the garden-clematis (C Jachnanni) 

 contain no nectar, and bees visit them only occasionally to 

 gather the scanty supply of pollen. But the wild clematis 

 (C virginiana) produces a profusion of small white flowers 

 which are nectariferous. The yellowish-green, dilated fila- 

 ments act as nectaries and secrete small drops of nectar on 

 their inner surface. With age the filaments lengthen and turn 

 white and then cease to produce nectar. Thus it is only the 

 young blossoms which offer a sweet booty to their guests. 

 From the bright-yellow flowers of the common loosestrife 

 {Lysimachia vulgaris) a little, black, solitary bee {Macropis 

 ciliata) gathers its entire supply of pollen for brood-rearing. 

 (Fig. 97.) 



The poppy and the rose produce a bountiful store of pollen, 

 but otherwise remain passive, making no effort to place it on 

 the visiting insect. On the other hand, there are many highly 

 specialized pollen-flowers which possess varied devices for 

 bringing the pollen in contact with the visitor. In the purple 

 nightshade {Solanum Didcamara), one of the simpler forms, 

 the anthers unite in a cone around the style and a shower of 

 pollen falls from pores in their tips, when a bee inserts its tongue 

 between them. In the pulse family {Leguminosw) there are 

 a number of species, which although they have lost the power 

 of secreting nectar still find the pumping and explosive mecha- 



196 



