PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 15 



the honey; all the Rosacete, especially the dog-rose, and 

 PrimulacecB, the OrchidecB, CaryophyllacecB, Polygonex, 

 and the balsamic lilies ; clover is very attractive to them, 

 as are also tares ; and the spots on those leaves of the 

 bean which appear before the flower, and exude a sweet 

 secretion ; also the flowers of all the cabbage tribe. Be- 

 neath the shade of the lime, when in flower, may be heard 

 above one intense hum of thrifty industry. The blos- 

 soms of all the fruit-trees and shrubs, standard or wall, 

 and all aromatic plants are highly agreeable *to them, 

 such as lavender, lemon-thyme, mignonette, indeed all 

 the resedas ; also sage, borage, etc. etc. ; but the especial 

 favourites of particular genera and species I shall have 

 occasion subsequently to notice in their series ; but to 

 mention separately all the flowers they frequent would be 

 to compile almost a complete flora. Bees are also en- 

 dowed with an instinct that teaches them to avoid cer- 

 tain plants that might be dangerous to them. Thus, 

 they neither frequent the oleander {Nerium Oleander) 

 nor the crown imperial {Fritillaria imperialis) , and 

 they also avoid the Ranunculacea, on account of some 

 poisonous property ; and although the Melianthus major 

 drops with honey, it is not sought. It is a native of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, and may be attractive only to the 

 bees indigenous to the country, which is also the case 

 with other greenhouse plants equally rich in honey, but 

 which not being natives, possibly from that cause the 

 instincts of native insects have no affinity with them. 



Bees may be further consorted with flowers by the 

 analogy and parallelism of their stages of existence. 

 Thus, the egg is the equivalent to the seed ; the larva 

 to the germination and growth ; the pupa to the bud ; 

 and the imago to the flower. The flower dies as soon 



