THE HONEY BEE — HAMBLETON 471 



milk, butter, and eggs depends heavily on clover-rich pastures and 

 alfalfa, we might give some credit to the bees for these commodities. 

 Further, we should not lose sight of the many indigenous, insect- 

 pollinated plants that play such an important part in soil and water 

 conservation. However, it is evident that a prejudiced person could 

 place an absurd value on honey bees. It is equally apparent how diffi- 

 cult it would be to arrive at a monetary evaluation of their worth to 

 agriculture. It may suffice to say that without honey bees American 

 agriculture would be in a sad way to the extent, certainly, of several 

 times the value of the annual crop of honey and beeswax. 



Pollinating insects have certain human characteristics. They will 

 not fly farther for food than they have to and always select the richest 

 and most easily obtainable. Sweetclover is a favorite source of nectar 

 and pollen for honey bees and for many other pollinating insects. In 

 the case of most flowers, bees readily and, of course, accidentally trans- 

 fer pollen to the stigmas irrespective of whether the primary purpose 

 of the visit is to obtain nectar or pollen. An alfalfa flower is an 

 exception to this general rule in that the pollen is not exposed until 

 a pollen-seeking bee "trips" the flower. When alfalfa and sweetclover, 

 to name only two plants competing for bee visitation, are growing 

 within the flight range of honey bees, the preference of the latter for 

 sweetclover is conspicuous. Under such circumstances the chances 

 for a crop of alfalfa seed are slim. The alfalfa flower not only has to 

 be tripped by insects — it also has to receive pollen from another alfalfa 

 plant. 



By and large, insect pollination has been taken as a matter of 

 course — something that nature ordinarily provides. In the event of 

 crop failure it is seldom that insufficient insect activity is thought of 

 as a reason. Neither farmers nor agricultural experts have paid much 

 attention to how the proximity of one crop affects the pollination of 

 another. Wlien the natural flora is more attractive to bees than the 

 planted crops, meager seed and fruit production can be expected. 



As fields of single crops grow larger, adequate pollination becomes 

 more and more critical. In our modern agriculture, pollination must 

 be consciously provided. Since for most localities the number of 

 pollinators is limited, attention should be given to the sequence in 

 planting crops that compete for the visitation of pollinating insects. 

 Plant breeders could well incorporate factors such as copious nectar 

 secretion to make plants more attractive to pollinators. Protective 

 nesting sites will encourage the propagation of wild pollinating 

 insects. Growers can maintain apiaries of their own or better still 

 they can encourage beekeepers to establish permanent apiaries within 

 flight range of their fields. 



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