324 



BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



has failed to grow, because there has been no diver- 

 sion of nutrition towards it. Cutting it across with 

 a knife, we find its hollow cheek lies opposite 

 the unfertilised dissepiment [u, B), containing only 

 shrivelled pips. Pears are less impatient of imper- 

 fect insect action than apples, though the structure 

 of the flower is the same. Amongst small fruits, 

 gooseberries are proterandrous, and absolutely de- 

 pendent on insects. The failure of this crop is not 

 so uniformly the result, as some suppose, of frost 



H! ric no 



Fig. 70.— Raspberry (Rubus id.eus, Order Rosacea) being Fertilised, and 

 Section of same. 



A, Flower (Magnified Twice)— p, p, Petals ; a, a, Anthers ; s, Stigma ; no, 

 Nectary Openings ; nc, Nectar Cells ; D, Drupels. B, Section through Core, 

 or Torus (C) and Drupels (D)— ud, Unfertilised Drupel; us, Withered Stigma ; 

 iva, Withered Anther. 



(this browning the exposed fruits) ; cold weather at 

 the critical time, keeping bees within, often being 

 the chief cause, and showing itself in the dropping 

 of the open flowers from the protected branches. It 

 is here significant, that currants, which ripen their 

 pistils and anthers simultaneously, are said to be less 

 tender than gooseberries. 



