Becker, L. E. to Darwin, C. R.
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Sends letter clipped from Manchester Courier on CD's accounting for scarcity of holly berries by scarcity of bees, and writer's explanation of latter.
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Transcription
[Enclosure: 1]
HOLLY BERRIES AND THE BEES.
To the Editor of the Manchester Courier.
Sir,—I was much interested in reading in your impression of
yesterday the paragraph by Mr. Charles Darwin on ``the scarcity of
holly berries'' in different parts of the country this season. He
traces reasonably the cause to be the rarity of bees last spring, but
he cannot account for that rarity. I have had much experience in the
habits of bees, and I have noticed in early spring that snow on the
ground with bright sunshine causes large numbers of bees to leave
their hives, <a>nd they are then generally weak and they alight on
the snow and thousands thus perish. I think the abundance of snow last
spring accounts for it.—Yours. &c., | W. E. BURCHAM.
Failsworth, January 13th, 1877.