. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. Dec. 8, 1910.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 485 self-fertilising, and, assuming this to be so, still I think all will agree that cross- fertilisation gives more vigour and pro- ductiveness, and that in this way the bee plays a very important part towards the success of the crop. The pollen is not yielded by this flower in any quantity, as may be seen by the small loads brought home by the bee. When taken from the flower the colour is a pale yellow, and I expected to find that on the leg of the bee of much the same colour, but was surprised to
. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. Dec. 8, 1910.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 485 self-fertilising, and, assuming this to be so, still I think all will agree that cross- fertilisation gives more vigour and pro- ductiveness, and that in this way the bee plays a very important part towards the success of the crop. The pollen is not yielded by this flower in any quantity, as may be seen by the small loads brought home by the bee. When taken from the flower the colour is a pale yellow, and I expected to find that on the leg of the bee of much the same colour, but was surprised to observe, when watching the bees working on white clover, that when packed into a pellet with an admixture of saliva it turned a dark dull green. further stage; but even this does not ap- pear to be final, for although it is the form generally found, it will sometimes be more advanced—that is, the Avrinkling will become more acute until it almost hides the processes, and appears as shown at c when in formalin. I may here explain that the lines in the drawings indicate it is the same pollen- grain seen in different positions, or an enlargement of it, or the development in the same media. d shows a grain one of the processes of which has burst, the fovilla escaping; E an empty pellicle; and f a grain with s pollen-tube growing. These conditions are Vry^.. in Honev. The form of the grains is ovoid, with flattened ends and three long depressions or flutings extend- ing from one end to the other (see Fig. 3, a), and set ecjiiidistant round it, so that a cross- section appears tri-circular almost like .its leaf (Fig. '3, a a). The measurement 1S TnVe * TOO"' or 1J x f 1000th parts of an inch. This, of course, i s the average measure- ment, as indivi- dual grains vary a little in size. Many pollen- grains when in contact with moisture change their form en- tirely, a n d dif- ferent media will sometimes alter them still more. In contact with water the grains under consideration a
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