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 instanees 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 
