>Question 2: Peter D'Amato once told me that pitcher plants in cultivation on
>the west coast (US) don't get naturally pollinated, 'cause the bees don't
>know what to do wit h them. He did say that all up and down the east coast
>(US) , bees will pollinate pitcher plant flowers naturally. I've found in the
>DC metropolitan area of (where we have natural stands of S. purpurea venosa
>and are relatively close to historical stands of S. flava) that mine had to
>be pollinated artificially. Perhaps it has something to do with the
>decimation of the wild be populations, perhaps not.)
>Jay Lechtman
>L235@aol.com
There was a news article recently on TV which reported on huge losses of
wild and domesticated bees do to infestations of mites. If I remember
correctly, losses of somewhere around 60%-75% of bee populations across the
US. I have no idea if this report was accurate, or if this has
had serious repercussions for flowering plants. But for bees to forget how
to harvest pollen and nectar seems a little strange.
John Phillips Email: phillips@library.ucsf.edu
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