From:
Charles Robert Darwin
To:
Gardeners’ Chronicle
Date:
18 Oct [1857]
Source of text:
Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette , 24 October 1857, p. 725
Summary:
Describes his experiments with kidney beans to test the agency of bees in their fertilisation. His results suggest they are essential.
Asks what George Swayne could mean by the advantage of artificial fertilisation of early beans [Trans. Hortic. Soc. Lond. 5 (1824): 208–13].
Has observed that hive-bees, which normally suck nectar from the flower of the kidney bean, will use holes cut through the calyx by humble-bees, though the holes cannot be seen from the mouth of the flower. Suggests hive-bees see humble-bees at work and understand what they are doing and "rationally" take advantage of the shorter path to the nectar. [See also 2359.]
Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
