THE HONEY BEE — HAMBLETON 469 



tion is experienced today — in fact, the average yield of both these 

 crops for the United States is slightly under 1 bushel per acre. Yet 

 alfalfa and red clover grow just as well and blossom as profusely as 

 in bygone days. But why has seed production fallen so low ? Could 

 inadequate pollination be one of the contributing factors ? 



There was at one time in this country an adequate population of 

 native insects to take care of all pollination needs. These are insects 

 that maintain themselves and raise their young largely on pollen and 

 nectar. Their whole livelihood depends upon their flower-visiting 

 liabits. As farming operations expanded, the nesting sites of many 

 of these insects were destroyed. Where the population of native in- 

 sects could adequately pollinate a 10-acre field of clover or alfalfa, 

 the same number of insects fall woefully short when the acreage 

 jumped to several hundred acres. Since most plants have blooming 

 periods of short duration, it is only logical that the numbers of pol- 

 linating insects be stepped up in proportion to the increase in acreage 

 if seed yields are to be adequate and profitable. We have gone ahead 

 increasing acreages manyfold but have made no effort to provide a 

 proportionate increase in the number of pollinators. 



Many factors have contributed to the decline of native pollinating 

 insects. The plowing and clean cultivation of large tracts of land 

 deprive these insects, many of which build their nests in the ground, 

 of their natural nesting sites. Rail fences which were so difficult to 

 keep clean of vegetation, afforded ideal places for these insects to 

 nest. The picturesque rail fences have been replaced largely by well- 

 kept wire fences, thus driving the pollinating insects farther and far- 

 ther away from the crops which the farmer can grow profitably only 

 when these insects are within flying range of his fields. Forest and 

 brush fires have further decimated our population of beneficial insects. 

 The tremendous increase in the use of pesticides is taking a huge 

 toll of native bees. Honey bees are also subject to destruction by 

 these chemicals. No way is known to conserve or to encourage the 

 propagation of many of our native pollinators, while honey bees, in 

 the hand of man, can be given some degree of protection from poison- 

 ing. Honey bees are the only pollinators that can be moved from 

 crop to crop in the numbers required for the pollination of these crops. 

 The honey bee, the most numerous of all pollinating insects, is 

 not native to the United States. It was brought to this country by 

 the early settlers and became Imown to the Indians as the "white man's 

 fly." It is now thoroughly at home in its new habitat. Swarms that 

 escape from commercial apiaries make their way very nicely in the 

 protection of a hollow tree or in the hollow pillars of our front 

 porches, a place, incidentally, where they are not always welcome. 



The honey bee, being exclusively a flower-visiting insect, does its 

 share in pollination. It is estimated that honey bees are responsible 



