LETTING THE BEES DO THEIR WORK 



structure of the flower is such that an insect as 

 it passes down the petals on its way to the nectary, 

 brushes against the anthers, and dusts off the 

 pollen. As the insect passes out, the stigma-shield 

 protects the stigmatic surface completely. 



But as the insect visits another flower, its 

 pollen-covered back comes in contact with the 

 edge of the stigmatic shield and the pollen is 

 scraped off against the receptive surface. 



These, then, are familiar illustrations of the 

 really wonderful adaptations through .which it 

 comes to pass that the bees carry out their part 

 of the ancestral compact that ensures the plant 

 such interchange of pollen as is essential to racial 

 progress. Perhaps the most alluring feature of 

 the entire coalition is that the bee performs its 

 all-important function unwittingly in the course 

 of the quest of sweets that appeal to its appetite. 

 There is no compulsion in the matter; the plant 

 depends upon the more powerful influence of 

 persuasion. 



And to add to the satisfactoriness of the entire 

 arrangement, from a human standpoint, it must 

 be recalled that the efforts of the industrious 

 insect, which thus make possible the work of the 

 plant experimenter, result at the same time in 

 storing the nectar gathered from the flowers to 

 form one of the most delectable of foods. 



[219] 



