Abstract
I SHOULD like to add to the remarks on bee visitors to the flower of the scarlet-runner bean contained in my letter in NATURE of July 28, p. 684, the following further observations. Some ten days from the time of making the original notes a complete change was found in the insect visitors to the flowers and in their behaviour towards them. Instead of the smaller black and black with grey humble-bees busy over the blooms in what I termed the legitimate way, there were numbers of a larger, yellow-banded species of humble-bee that had bitten every newly developed bloom and were searching the nectaries through the perforations made in the base of the flower. They all unhesitatingly scrambled to the underneath part of the blooms, which in every instance had been bitten before the observation was made. Many honey-bees were following in their wake, busily draining the exposed nectaries of every particle of the sweet liquid that had been left or had newly formed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LOWE, H. Bees and Scarlet-Runner Beans. Nature 107, 747 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/107747d0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/107747d0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.