FIFTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 557 



or coldness in that part of the bog. With the large number of blossoms 

 which are produced on cranberry vines, it was also established that bees 

 maintained purposely for their service in pollination were an insurance 

 to cranberry growers who are now maintaining apiaries in proportion 

 to the size of their bogs. It cannot definitely be stated how many col- 

 onies are necessary to a certain area; this will depend upon conditions. 

 It may be suggested, however, that one colony to the acre of bog is none 

 too many bees. 



IN CUCUMBER GROWING. 



The cucumber has been mentioned. In Massachusetts in recent years, 

 cucumber growing under glass has developed. Originally the growers 

 "fertilized the plants" by hand, a most laborious process. Bees were 

 later introduced and found to be indispensable, especially in the larger 

 commercial houses. One grower, for instance, has forty acres under 

 glass. Taking the industry in Massachusetts as a whole, it requires be- 

 tween two and three thousand colonies of bees annually to serve in the 

 cucumber greenhouses. These colonies are largely reduced by the ex- 

 tremely unfavorable conditions of greenhouse life, so that cucumber- 

 growing-under-glass demands that the beekeepers raise bees purposely 

 for greenhouses. Tlie larger commercial cucumber growers, too, have 

 united in certain localities and maintain a circuit beekeeper whose duty 

 it is to care for the bees of the greenhouses. 



IN VARIOUS FRUIT ORCHARDS. 



It might be well to take up some of the other special horticultural 

 pursuits and show how bees are utilized in these, yet a general state- 

 ment may serve. Fruit orchards, that is, the orchards of larger frtiits, 

 are much the same the country over. Within recent years, incorporated 

 or large fruit growing companies have sprung up. With these has come 

 more keen competition. As a natural consequence in order to avoid the 

 failure or partial failure of a crop apiaries have have been maintained 

 for the orchards and within the last two or three years apple growers, 

 particularly in the West, have definitely decided to maintain bees, dis- 

 regarding the honey production factor. In connection with the apple 

 industry of the West I shall show you in the slides an almond orchard 

 in California where bees are maintained purposely to set the almonds; 

 so with the pears and lesser fruits. Peaches, however, are apparently 

 not fully dependent upon bee service. 



With this general survey of the situation I wish now to turn to a 

 more particular examination of the requirement of bees for horticultural 

 service. 



FAILURE vs. SUCCESS. 



In nature, especially wild nature, it is well known that the prevalence 

 of life, either of plant or animal, is subject to fluctuation due to fa- 

 vorable or unfavorable environmental conditions. For instance, in a lo- 

 cality this year there may be a pest of mosquitoes or house flies; next 

 year in the same locality the flies may be scarce and the mosquito more 

 abundant or vice versa. So it is with the game birds, the fish, weeds 

 and whatnot. They are plentiful or scarce from time to time and ac- 



