182 FLOWERS IN RELATION TO BEES. 



or the mature pistil, as the case may be, or, in fact, 

 just the state of things required, if only the pollen can 

 be carried and placed where it is wanted. If, in any 

 flower we may be looking at, we see that the stamens 

 have died away, and the pistil is ready and ripe, we 

 may be almost sure that, somewhere near, there is a 

 flower which is not in such a forward state, but where 

 only the pollen is ready. 



And now, I think the great truth, to which all this 

 leads will already have occurred to you, and when the 

 question is asked, ' How can the mature pistil get the 

 mature pollen which it requires .'' you are ready with 

 the answer that it is done, not only by the wind, but 

 by the work of bees and other insects, which when 

 they come searching for honey, get the pollen on to 

 their bodies, and so carry it from flower to flower. 



Yes, this is the great truth ; and the honey, — which 

 is situated in what is called the ' nectary ' of the 

 flower, — is by the wonderful care of Nature so situated 

 (its situation being varied according to the form and 

 situation of the stamens and pistil), that, when a bee 

 gets into the necessary position on, or in the flower, 

 in order to gather the honey, its hairy body must of 

 necessity touch, in the first place, the ripe pollen on 

 the stamens, which at once, like dust, sticks to its 

 hairs, and so is carried away, and then rubbed off again 

 by the ripe pistil of another flower, which,— on account 

 of the position of the nectary, cunningly situated, — 

 cannot fail to touch the body of the bee as it makes 

 an effort to obtain the honey. 



The bee thus does the very thing which is needed 

 to cause the seed of the flower to come to perfect 



