reddish or brown, leaving the flowers containing nectar erect and 
fresh. This shows the bees just where the nectar has aheady been 
gathered, and prevents unnecessary work. The clovers are a nectar 
secreting flower, and when this is ready to gather they send out a deli- 
cious perfume. 
The basswood or linden tree has small flowers, from which the 
honey bee gathers quantities of nectar. Buckwheat, thyme, sage, 
dandelion, goldenrod, wild aster and many other wayside flowers and 
weeds jdeld nectar to the honey bee. 
In the flower garden the honey bee is very fond of the Caryopteris 
or blue spirea, Scabiosa, and the Clethra or sweet pepper bush, this 
latter also attracts many other insects. The hollyhocks give only 
pollen, as do so many of the garden flowers, but they are very popular 
with the honey bees. 
Of the five thousand species of the pea family, most of them are 
sought after by the bee; the bean, clover, locust, the vetch and a host 
of others are among them. In this family it is interesting to study the 
many different ways in which the flower applies the pollen to the bee's 
body. Sometimes it is pumped out or brushed out, while some flowers 
use an explosive mechanism. A flower whose clever little device may 
easily be seen is the sheep-laurel, in whose blossom " the stamens are 
elastic and when touched by the legs of a bee, the anthers which are 
held in little pockets in the corolla, are released, and flying upward 
throw the pollen over the bee." Bees in collecting pollen or nectar, 
are faithful to one species of flower, so that the pollen is never wasted, 
but is always carried where it can fertihze. 
There are flowers which aie pollenized by bumble bees. Among 
these are the Aquiligia, or columbine, the Delphinium or larkspur, 
and the Aconites or monkshood. This last family is so dependent on 
bumblebees that it cannot be grown in countries where there are none 
such as Australia, Arabia, South Africa and New Zealand. Red clover, 
a bumble bee flower, was taken to New Zealand and planted. It grew 
well and was filled with bloom, but of course produced no seed much 
to the disappointment of the farmers who were experimenting with 
it. When they learned the cause of its sterility they imported several 
species of bumble bees from England, which have multiplied rapidly, 
and the clover seed industry in New Zealand is now a success. There 
is a pretty little legend about the red clover and why it does not yield 
nectar to the honey bee. In the Middle Ages the monks kept bees, 
whom they expected to observe their religious rules. One Sabbath 
morning a field of red clover opened, and the bees, regardless of the 
holy day, worked all day long. Ever since, for punishment, the 
red clover has been denied them. Sometimes after seasons of drought 
19 
