28 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION 



than to attract bees and other insects, and to secure cross fertiliza- 

 tion. So the bee, not only when she is gathering pollen, but 

 also when she is gathering honey, becomes the inadvertent agent of 

 flowers in their cross pollenation. 



On examining one of the so called papilionacious blossoms, 

 a pea for example it will be noticed that the keel petals are rigid 

 and that the bee, upon alighting upon the olae, depresses the latter 

 and brings the style of the pistil in contact with the pollen laden 

 hairs of the underside of the bee, resulting in fertilization. Then, 

 as the bee advances and sips up the nectar, a fresh supply of pollen 

 is gotten, which in turn serves to fertilize the next blossom visited. 



For instances of these modifications the interested reader will 

 have to refer to Darwin, and other writers, as we cannot here 

 describe many of them. The famous orchid may, however, be cited 

 here as an example of the employment of a mechanical device to 

 insure cross fertilization. In the orchid there is but one anther, and 

 this is so placed as to come in contact with the head of the bee when 

 she enters the flower. The honey in the nectary is protected by a 

 thin membrane, the irritation of which causes the rupturing of 

 the membrane in such a way as to bring the anther cells in contact 

 with a viscid surface and in turn with the head of the bee. As the 

 bee remains an instant sipping up the nectar the anther has time to 

 set and then the bee emerges bearing a structure resembling a 

 couple of horns on her head. The weight of the anthers bends the 

 appendage down so that, by the time the bee reaches the next flower, 

 the anthers are in the right position to touch the stigmatic surface of 

 the pistil and not be coincident with the anther of the flower visited. 



With this brief discussion of the relation between bees and 

 flowers we will pass to a consideration of some of the leading honey 

 plants. 



Among the first plants to bloom early in the spring are the 

 willows. While affording little or no honey, willows are a great 

 source of pollen, coming at just the time when it is most needed, 

 when the bees are rearing brood and have many developing bees to 

 feed. Dandelions produce pollen at this season and are frequented. 

 Huckleberries are also visited by the bees as well as service 

 berries and barberries. Along the creek bottoms and blossoming in 

 May are many wild gooseberries from which a considerable yield of 

 honey may be had. Fruit trees particularly apples, are now being 



