NOTES ON OBSERVATORY HIVES 71 



The salvia and snap-dragon (see figure 190), for instance, seem to 

 be specially constructed for the honey bee and humble bee respec- 

 tively. Other instances should, if possible, be observed, and noted. 



The story of the vanilla is probably well known to many, but with 

 it we may aptly close this chapter. The fruit of this plant is so 

 largely used for flavouring chocolate that its cultivation has been 

 tried in many places. It was found, however, that although the 

 plants lived and throve in their new quarters, they bore flower but 

 never fruit. The flowers remained sterile because the pollen could 

 never fall into the stigma and so fertilise the ovules. A young slave, 

 a native of Reunion, in 1841, discovered a way in which by inserting 

 a small bamboo point into the flower, fertilisation could be brought 

 about, and a number of flowers were made capable of bearing fruit. 

 In the original home of the vanilla, in Central and South America, 

 this office is performed for the flower by a small bee. Should the 

 student wish for further information on this highly interesting 

 subject, the best book for him to consult is Darwin's " Fertilisation 

 of Orchids," but it must not be forgotten that these written accounts, 

 fascinating as they are, should not stand in the way of actual observa- 

 tion on the part of the student himself. 



Lastly, it should not be forgotten that just as many plants have an 

 elaborate apparatus for securing cross-fertilisation by means of 

 insects, so, as Belt was the first to point out, " Many flowers have 

 contrivances for preventing useless insects from obtaining access to 

 the nectaries." * The leaf cup of the common teazle, the slippery 

 surface of the petals of snow-drop and cyclamen, the hairs and 

 sticky secretion of many plants, all serve the same purpose. 



* " A Naturalist in Nicaragua," by Thos. Belt, pages 131 and 133. 



