SEED IN RED CLOVER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2913, 17 March 1891, Page 2

SEED IN RED CLOVER.

TO THE EOITOH. Sin,—ln recent issues of your paper (March r>th and to-day's lie 10th) I notice some remarks regarding t'us comparatively huge quantity of s-ed there is in the red clover this season, and also some conjecture us to the cause. In my opinion (which as a beekoeparmaynot bcc->nsider<H impartial) the cmdit is due to the common honey-bee, which during the mouth of January and beginning of February in particular, worked a deal on red clover, gathering both honey and pollen from it. i counted over a dozen at work at one time, from where 1 stood. It is said by some that the humble b"e is of assi-iance to the ordinary bee. in f.h-j lertili/.itiou of reJ clover n>; it punctures the small tubas of the flowers (in which the honey is secreted) at the base, thus making them uecessabla to the shorter tongue of the common bee. The bees I observed gathering honey did not work ;it the base of the flowers, but gathered the honey from the mouth of the flower in the usual fashion. Each head of clover has some dozens of small trumpet like tubes, each of them opening like a snap dragon when pressed at the sides. The bee thrusts its head into this opening after which its tongue can be seen running nearly to the bottom of the transparent tube. After several licks it withdraws its tongue and passes on to the next tube. Although in most cases the boo co.ild not quite reach the bottom of the flower, jvt it evidently got enough honey to satisfy it. At times there is very little honey in the ved clover, and the bees are consequently unable to reach any. This accounts for their scarcely working on it at all some seasons. Though continually on the look out, I have not yet seen any humble bees about. There is a Ijmj or fly (which ever it may bo) something like an Italian bee, with the exception of its having no sting, which I believe is sometimes taken tor the humble-bee. That there are humble-bees in the district there is no doubt, but as yet their number is so sm ill that I think there is little reason of Ihrir being crelited with the f'Ttili/Vition of the lame amount of red clover that has taken place this se.ison, especially when other b'Ms have been seen so hard at work at it. it is worthy of note that on the .spot where [ saw so many bees at work on led clover, that on crushing up the head of some (lowers that had just faded I found them to contain a large number of young clever seeds.—l am, etc., A. K Houiw. Hamilton East, March 10th.