, 1909-09-04
THE BEE AND THE FLOWER.
(Contjnued from Ayis No. 67,)

BY taking the corOlla to pieces we can
understand the structure of the papiliona-
ceous flower. Yes, but until we watch the
bee at work we shall not fully comprehend
the meaning of it. But to stand around
watching q few wild flowers and looking out
for n bee which may never come, is it not
too troublesome, and is it not rather undig-
niicd : Possibly, but if the beauties of ma
ture have any charm for us, we shall put
aside our Incidence, and our vanity, and
give the flowers and the bees a little atten-
ton. Our small effort will assuredIy
give us a rich reward. Did not the wise
old men in advising the rash young king as to
the treatment of his people, assure him
ut thou wilt be their servant this day, then
shall they be thy servants 70" ever? And
if the hot-headed young monarch had listen
ed to their good advice would not the as
surHnce have turned out true AND we too,
III return for q small amount of time and
trouble given to the bees and the flowers
to-day. may gain precious memories that will
last us for the rest of our life. The present
writer has never forgotten his first sight,
many years ago, of the visit of a large black
bee to a flower of the seaside bean or horse
BEAM as it is sometimes called. The plant,
being a lover of the sea-shore, may be seen
running over the sand and amOug the cast
up cOrals or over the seaside bush lat Ju-
dith's Fancy for example), or over fences in
town yards near the sea. The rosy flowers are
borne on long spikes and open in twos and
threes. The standard is erect, and the bee,
when she alights, sits on the cease" made
up Of the other four petals, that is to say
the two wings and the two parts of the keel.
Here comes one, sweeping up to us with that
hum to which all kinds Of evil tidings have
been accredited, but pleasant to US because
1t Is only the prelude to the interesting news
about Natures wonderful works that she is
about to bring to us. She alights on "the
case of one of the flowers and imme-
dlately, as if by magic, the bunch of sta
mems with the pistil in it's midst seems 10
rise up from out OF It's case and touch her
body. That is all she has sucked up the
nectar from the flowers base, and in return
has brought the pollen from the anthers
OF u sister flower to the stigma of the one
we are watching or perhaps will carry it
from the anthers OF this one to the stigma
of another. She has done the work the
flower asked of her and has got the wages
which the flower pays. That is simple
enough. as a result, but it is when we come
to look closely into the method that we find
out how beautifully the flower is adapted to
secure that result. Perhaps you think to
initiate the bee, and you press your finger
on the cease" but you produce no effect
beyond bending down the whole flower and
III all likelihood breaking it off. Why should
you fail where the bee succeeded Plainly
the bee is better placed. You cannot sit on
the flowers wings as she does and you can
not press your head against the standard as
she does, and consequently you cannot push
the wings and keel down as she does, and
the stamens and style will not seem to rise
out of their case. as they do for her. You
saw the bee pushing into the middle Of the
flower and knew that she was seeking nectar,
but you have perhaps. thought that the
~softness of the petal was sufficient to make
it yield to the bees pressure and in that
way she got at the nectar. 1t has never
occurred to you that a weak petal could be
a point of support for the pressure of the
bees head. But is it q weak petal? Let us
take it out and see. Its upper part is no
doubt thin and yielding, it can only serve
as the flag which is hoisted as the attraction
and guide for the bee, but at the lower part
We find two hard projections, made strong
partly by the bend III each and partly also by
a much Increased thickness. It is against
these resisting knobs that the bee presses