. The honey-makers. Bees. The Bee's Tongue 33 inner surface of the trap-door A at the top of the sac. The back of the round anther is visible in the illustration, but the stigma within cannot be seen. The space X forms an opening into the upper part of the sac. One could not remain in that orchid-grown forest in- definitely, so there was nothing to do but to take a number of the mysterious and handsome blos- soms home. They were still wonder- ful in the full daylight, and yet there is no denying they left a part of their charm in the mystery of the woods. Their color is a beaudful pink, not li
. The honey-makers. Bees. The Bee's Tongue 33 inner surface of the trap-door A at the top of the sac. The back of the round anther is visible in the illustration, but the stigma within cannot be seen. The space X forms an opening into the upper part of the sac. One could not remain in that orchid-grown forest in- definitely, so there was nothing to do but to take a number of the mysterious and handsome blos- soms home. They were still wonder- ful in the full daylight, and yet there is no denying they left a part of their charm in the mystery of the woods. Their color is a beaudful pink, not like that of the rose and yet suggest- ing it. The full pink sac is adorned with bronze streamer-like sepals that heighten the color effect and increase the charm. There was a large queen bombus to welcome them to their new home, — a splendid creature that may well have held the rank in the insect world that they did in the world of plants. She flew at once to the new flowers, and although her observer had no thought of her entering the orchid, or if so, of her being able to extricate her large body through the proper opening, she scattered theories to the winds by at once introducing her head through the slit in the front part of the sac and licking the inside of the flower as far as her long and flexible tongue could reach. Then she forced herself in a little farther to reach yet unexplored sweets. Evidently orchid nectar was entirely to her mind, for presently she crowded still farther in, and in a moment more the lips of the sac closed triumphantly over her receding form and the first act in the romantic drama of the love of the orchid had been played, 3. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Morley, Margaret Warner, 1858-1923. Chicago, A. C. McClurg and company
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Photo credit: © Central Historic Books / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherch, booksubjectbees
