BEES THE FRIEND OF THE HORTICULTURIST. 43 



where the gentle breezes are often wafted into gales, the rich pollen of 

 our fruit trees is often wafted into Kansas, or vice versa into the Da- 

 kotas, while we seek for a cause as to why our fruit has not been plen- 

 tier or better formed. Nothing is so admirably adapted to the fertili- 

 zation of flowers as the bee as she flits from flower to flower in quest 

 of either nectar or pollen. The particular construction of her feet 

 and legs renders her especially valuable for this work. And here 

 in Nebraska, where the absence of wild bees in any considerable 

 numbers is so marked, I am fully persuaded that apiculture and 

 horticulture should be consolidated together, so far as the needs of the 

 latter would require the good offices of the former. We might with 

 as much propriety wait for our neighbor to pull the weeds out of our 

 strawberries as to wait for his bees to pollenize the blossoms for us. 

 The first instance of the value of the honey-bee as a fertilizer of fruit 

 brouglit to my notice was four years ago. The weather being wet 

 and cold, the honey-bee was able to fly but little, and as a direct 

 result what at first promised to be an abundant crop dwindled into 

 insignificance with a small amount of imperfectly formed fruit. In 

 my own orchard on this occasion sufficient fruit formed to have made 

 a good crop, but on account of its imperfect fertilization dropped off^ 

 soon afterwards. On this occasion, and while my cherries were in full 

 bloom, the weather was such as to allow my entire apiary to work on 

 them for two days. As a result I harvested 150 bushels of fine cher- 

 ries, which brought in the orchard ten cents per quart, while my neigh- 

 bors, whose trees were equally as well cared for as mine and were 

 equally as well loaded with blossoms, got none. Do you think I erred; 

 in attributing this crop to the little honey-bee? An eminent horticult- 

 urist of our state, when approached upon this subject, attributed the 

 failure to continued rains which washed the pollen from the flower 

 and prevented its proper fertilization. This being the case, to what! 

 cause are we to attribute those orchards which, being visited by the 

 bee, bore an abundant crop; for in Saline county, when rain falls at 

 all it falls alike upon the just as well as the unjust, and of which I am 

 persuaded the latter are in a very large majority, and lay no claim to 

 being bee-keepers. 



In introducing the red clover into Australia it was found that this 

 plant did nicely in that fertile island of the sea, but the clover pro- 

 duced no seed. Finally, the great companion of the red clover blossom^ 



