Early references to bee pollination

> I have evidence in a humble and hive bee sent me by Professor Westwood, with pollinia attached to them; and Mr. F. Bond informs me that he has seen pollinia attached to other species of bees ...  as soon as the bee arrives near the summit of the spike she will again withdraw fresh pollinia, will fly to the lower flowers on another plant, and fertilise them; and thus, as she goes her rounds and adds to her store of honey, she will continually fertilise fresh flowers and perpetuate the race of our autumnal Spiranthes, which will yield honey to future generations of bees

> M. Ménière (in Bull. Bot. Soc. de France, to,. i. 1854, p. 370) says he saw, in Dr. Guépin's collection, bees collected at Saumur with the pollinia of Orchids attached to their heads; and he states that a person who kept bees near the Jardin de la Faculté (at Toulouse?) complained that his bees returned from the garden with their heads charged with yellow bodies, of which they could not free themselves. This is good evidence how firmly the pollinia become attached. There is nothing to show whether the pollinia in these cases belonged to the genus Orchis or to other genera of the family, some of which I know are visited by bees.

Darwin, C. R. 1862. On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing. London: John Murray.

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> In this species the nectaries are very large and double, one on each side of the filament at the base of the petals.	In C. alnifolia they are smaller and apparently single, situated between the filament and the petal. Fertilization is effected almost altogether by honey bees.	They alight on the outspread petals and thrust the head down by the side of the style frequently touching the stigmas. In crawling around over the side of flowers almost every part of the body comes in contact with the stigmas.	Cross-pollination is thus abundantly provided for as Usual both by proterandry and the visits of insects.

The Anthers of Clethra. Author(s): C. R. Barnes Source: Botanical Gazette, Vol. 5, No. 8/9 (Aug. - Sep., 1880)

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> Of native insects, the most common visitors I have observed on A. Sullivantii, are humble bees (Bombus separatus, B. Pennsylvanicus, and B. scutellaris) and Danais Archippus.	The feet of humble bees reach down as far as the bases of the petals. After a pollinium has been introduced into the chamber, hive bees always have difficulty in breaking the retinaculum, and they lose their lives on account of this as well as on account of the difficulty in drawing their claws through the slit.	

Notes on the Mode of Pollination of Asclepias. Author(s): Charles Robertson Source: Botanical Gazette, Vol. 11, No. 10 (Oct., 1886)

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> There are few questions bearing on physiological botany that have attracted greater attention than those relating to the pollination of flowers. Aside from the interest that scientists take in this question, it has a practical bearing on horticultural and agricultural problems. When we remember that horticulturists are turning their attention to the improvement of our native fruits by cross fertilization and hybridization, we must accord to this subject a prominent place. Darwin's work "On the Fertilization of Orchids," published in 1862, gave an impetus to the study which has continued till the present time. 

> INSECT POLLINATED FLOWERS. In order to fully understand the wonderful adaptations between insects and flowers it will be necessary to consider the structure of certain parts of insects. Insects have been divided up into several orders. In point of importance they may be arranged as follows: Hymenoptera. Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera and Neuroptera. In pollination the last three may be excluded. The most important pollinators in the order Hymenoptera are honey-bees, bumble-bees, wasps, Halictus, Andrena and Anthophora. 

A lecture on pollination of flowers: Cross and self-fertilization in plants By Louis Hermann Pammel (1891)

Peter Loring Borst 
Ithaca, NY  USA 
peterloringborst.com

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