It would appear that either the taste or the odour of the nectar of
certain flowers is unattractive to hive or to humble-bees, or to both;
for there seems no other reason why certain open flowers which secrete
nectar are not visited by them. The small quantity of nectar secreted by
some of these flowers can hardly be the cause of their neglect, as
hive-bees search eagerly for the minute drops on the glands on the
leaves of the Prunus laurocerasus. Even the bees from different hives
sometimes visit different kinds of flowers, as is said to be the case by
Mr. Grant with respect to the Polyanthus and Viola tricolor. (11/9.
'Gardeners' Chronicle' 1844 page 374.) I have known humble-bees to visit
the flowers of Lobelia fulgens in one garden and not in another at the
distance of only a few miles. The cupful of nectar in the labellum of
Epipactis latifolia is never touched by hive- or humble-bees, although I
have seen them flying close by; and yet the nectar has a pleasant taste
to us, and is habitually consumed by the common wasp. As far as I have
seen, wasps seek for nectar in this country only from the flowers of
this Epipactis, Scrophularia aquatica, Symphoricarpus racemosa (11/10.
The same fact apparently holds good in Italy, for Delpino says that the
flowers of these three plants are alone visited by wasps: 'Nettarii
Estranuziali, Bulletino Entomologico' anno 6.
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