SPRIXG BLOSSOMS. 221 



open only in order to attract these winged visitors, 

 to whom they owe their due impregnation. But, 

 if one watches, say, a yellow jasmine or a bush of 

 gorse on a sunny morning in the very coldest 

 months of the whole year, no very long time will 

 ever be found to ela[)se before a bee appears upon 

 the scene with extended jjroboscis, eager to rifle 

 the freshly opened flowers of their honeyed store. 

 It is for this reason that the plants bloom at such 

 an apparently inclement and unsuitable season. 

 They want to attract the stray bees, whose atten- 

 tion they secure more easily at such a time than 

 in the late summer, when so many other compet- 

 itors are striving to gain a portion of their useful 

 services. On the other hand, it is equally desir- 

 able for the bees — especially wild ones — that 

 there should be some such winter-flowering plants, 

 because they need honey all the year round, and 

 fly about in the very depths of winter on every 

 bright and sunny day. Hence there is really not 

 a single absolutely flowerless month throughout 

 the whole year in our northern climates. The 

 bee begins his floral calendar with gorse and 

 aconite and jasmine in January, and continues the 

 succession of his honey-bearing blossoms all the 

 year round till he ends with camomile and daisies 

 and Christmas roses in late December. It is a 

 balanced system of mutual accommodation. The 

 flowers supply the hungry bee with fresh relays of 



