RECORD: Darwin, C. R. 1861.09.05-11. Visited 2 fields of Red Clover. CUL-DAR46.2.C40. Edited by John van Wyhe (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Christine Chua and edited by John van Wyhe 8.2022. RN1
NOTE: See record in the Darwin Online manuscript catalogue, enter its Identifier here. Reproduced with permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and William Huxley Darwin. The volume CUL-DAR46.2 contains Notes for Natural selection.
F. Smith is probably Frederick Smith, a specialist on the Hymenoptera, employed in the zoological department of the British Museum. No such letter from Smith has been found. Darwin stated in Origin, pp. 94-5, that only humble-bees visited red clover, because hive-bees could not reach the nectar.
[C40]
Sept 5. 1861. Visited 2 field of Red Clover, which had been mown this summer. Plants fine & tall with large heads. Many Hive-Bees & far more Humbles.— The Hive-Bees flew from Head to Head, but on close inspection never once sucked a corolla, but some secretion deep down between calyces.—
[left margin:] Dichogamy
[right margin:] (Boring)
The Humble-Bees sucked the same; but more commonly the corollas; & I saw them actually insert their probosces, most clearly.—
Sept 6 William observed again & saw Hive-Bees at same work— neither of us could discover any secretion between the calyces or on the bracts. F. Smith writes that he saw Hive-Bees visiting red clover just recently in Suffolk: probably same case.
Sept 11th again saw the Hive-Bees at work. I notice that apparently those Humble-Bees which suck the corollas all Ø
[C40v]
suck corollas, those that insert their head around the flowers always do so.— I have found that all the Heads of flowers thus visited have a hole bitten through the corolla. — The hole is below anther just close calyx
habits of Bees
Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
File last updated 28 August, 2023