26 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



Salicine.e. 



The Goat-willow (Salix caprea) is visited both for pollen and 

 nectar. I have also seen the bees on the pistillate flowers 

 of one of the Poplars (Populus nigra), presumably for the 

 sweet (?) secretion which is found on the whole inflorescence. 



Tride.e. 



The bees occasionally visit the flowers of a dark blue species 

 of Iris in my garden ; I have not seen them on flowers of 

 any other colour. 



Crocus. Several observers have recorded them from white 

 flowers, but on no other colour. 



Amaryllide^:. 



The Snowdrop (Galantlius nivalis) is one of the few white 

 flowers visited by humble-bees. 



Narcissus. I have notes of the bees visiting single and 

 double Daffodils, single Jonquils, and both white and yellow 

 hybrid Polyanthus Narcissus. In all those flowers having a 

 tube-like corona, the bees alight on the perianth and pierce 

 the tube to reach the nectar. 



Ltliace.e. 



Tulips are frequently visited by humble-bees, so also are 

 Hyacinths. In many gardens I have noticed that the 

 latter flowers are visited legitimately, while in others in a 

 different district, three or four miles away, the perianths 

 are invariably pierced by the bees. There is no doubt that 

 when once a humble-bee has learned the art of getting 

 nectar in an easy manner, it teaches others the art, so that 

 all in a district acquire it. Growers of hyacinths in districts 

 where the bees pierce the flowers, were this last spring in 

 despair over the wholesale destruction of their favourite 

 flower. 



There can be no doubt that the list of flowers given above is still 

 very incomplete, and others who will take the trouble to record their 

 observations will be able to supplement it largely. It will be of 

 interest also to watch whether as the bees increase, they extend their 

 visits to flowers which at present are passed over. 



Another point worth noting is as to the " swarming " of humble- 

 bees. The life-history and social economy of these insects are quite 

 different from those of hive-bees, and the habit of ,'swarming in the 

 former is not at first sight a probable one, yet both in Britain and in 

 this colony, it has been affirmed that swarms of humble-bees have 

 been seen. There is evidently ample room for observational work in 

 connection with the development of Bombus terrestris in New Zealand. 



