220 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



When the flowers belong to cultivated plants, whether the plant be alsike 

 or apple, the necessity of having as many flowers fertilized as possible is 

 apparent. Experiments have shown that in the case of fruit trees three 

 to four times as much fruit sets when bees have access to the flowers, and 

 in the case of alsike and white clover, when the bees are prevented from 

 visiting the flowers, no seed is produced. It should be necessary to in- 

 sist further upon the value of bees in the production of flowers, seed and 

 fruit. 



Some flowers produce more nectar than others and the different quali- 

 ties of honey resulting from different species of plants has already been 

 mentioned. Further, certain plants produce more pollen than others. 

 From the point of view of the bee, the profuse production of pollen by 

 such early-flowering plants as the willows, is a distinct advantage, as 

 pollen is necessary for the rearing of brood. 



BEES AND FRUIT. 



In addition to the beneficial relation of bees to fruit trees in the pro- 

 duction of a heavy set of fruit, there are two problems upon which bee- 

 keepers and fruit growers are in danger of entertaining conflicting opinions 

 and as they are important, some reference should be made to them. 



Bee-keepers occasionally suffer losses in the spring by the poisoning 

 of their bees after they .have visited fruit trees which have been sprayed 

 while in bloom. Not infrequently the bee-keeper is at first unable to dis- 

 cover the cause of the dying off of the brood and the workers; disease is 

 suspected but no symptoms can be discovered and finally the true cause 

 of the death of the bees is apparent. They have been foraging on fruit 

 blossons which have been sprayed with an arsenical spray. In these cases, 

 the action of the fruit grower is culpable and in certain of the United 

 States, legislation has been passed forbidding the spraying of the fruit 

 trees while they are in bloom. The fruit grower, however, should not re- 

 quire such legislation as the experimental work which has been carried 

 out has shown that the spraying of the trees while they are in bloom is 

 injurious to the blossoms and to spray at such a time is therefore con- 

 trary not only to the interests of the bee-keeper but also to his own. 

 For the codling moth, on which account this application of the arsenical 

 spray is made, the arsenical should be applied after the petals have lallon 

 and within a week of their falling. 



Fruit growers have complained of the supposed injury to ripe fruit by 

 bees. A few years ago, a series of experiments were carried out in our 

 apiary to discover to what extent bees would injure ripe fruit. It was 

 found, and similar results have been obtained by other investigators, that 

 bees will not injure sound fruit and that they will feed only upon fruit 

 which has already been damaged or injured by some other means. This 

 Is an experiment which any fruit grower can confirm for himself. Bees, 

 therefore, cannot be accused of causing injuries to sound fruit. — Ontario 

 Department of Agriculture. 



