FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 



233 



FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 



or, and probably does more good than any 

 other species." 



At a joint meeting of the National Pomo- 

 logical Society and the National Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association, occuring on Sept. 12,1901, 

 at Buffalo, a number of valuable papers were 

 read— all of them testifying to the invalu- 

 able office of the bee in pollenating fruit- 

 blossoms. Space will permit us to give only 

 two references. Frof. James Fletcher, of 

 the Ottawa Experiment Station, among 

 other things said : 



It will be found that not only are flowers abso- 

 lutely necessary to bees as the source of their food 

 — nectar and pollen — but that bees and other insects 

 are no less necessary to most flowers, so that their 

 perpetuation may be secured. 



This fact should be recognized by the fruit-grower 

 above all others; for were it not for insects, and 

 particularly for the honey-bee, his crop of fruits 

 would be far less than they are every year, and even 

 in some cases he would get no fruit at all. 



Failure in the fruit crop is more often due, I think, 

 to dull or damp weather at the time of blossoming, 

 which prevents insects from working actively in the 

 flowers, than to any other cause. 



At the same joint meeting of bee and fruit 

 men, II. W. CoUinwood, already mentioned, 

 editor of the Rural New - Yorker^ said : 



We can easily forgive the bee his short working 

 days when we consider the good he does. There is 

 no question about the debt fruit-growers owe him. 

 People talk about the wind and other insects in fer- 

 tilizing our flowers; but I am confident that any 

 man who will really take the time and pains to 

 investigate for himself will see that the bee is 

 nearly the whole story. 1 have seen the certain 

 results of liis good work in a neighbor's orchard. 

 Those bees broke the trees down just as truly as 



though they had climbed on the trees by the million 

 and pulled on them. The appearance of those trees 

 after a few years of bee-keeping would liave con- 

 vinced any fair-minded man that our little buzzing 

 friends are true partners of the fruit-grower. 



In addition to all this we may state that 

 there has been a demand of late on the part 

 of a large number of extensive fruit-growers 

 of Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and 

 Pennsylvania, asking bee-keepers to locate a 

 few colonies in orchards neaj- which there 

 have been no bees. Indeed, the fruit-grow- 

 ers have offered to furnish the space and the 

 buildings necessary to accommodate the 

 bees and appliances, free of charge to the 

 bee-keepers. It is needless to say that the 

 latter have availed themselves of the oppor- 

 tunity, for honey from fruit-blossoms is some 

 of the very finest ever produced, and the 

 fruit-grower profits immensely in his turn. 



In one of the leading fruit-journals of the 

 country. Better Fruit, for July, 1909, appears 

 a very strong article from the Oregon College 

 Experiment Station, showing the almost in- 

 dispensable service performed by bees in 

 pollenating fruit-trees. It is shown conclu- 

 sively that many varieties are sterile to their 

 own pollen; that wind itself is not a very im- 

 portant factor in carrying it from one tree to 

 another; that the bee is practically the sole 

 agent in doing this important work. 



If any one desires to secure more facts 

 relative to flower- fertilization, he may con- 

 sult "Mueller's Fertilization of Flowers," 

 an authority on the subject ; also see Pol- 

 len, in this work. See also "Bees and 

 Fruit,'' issued by the publishers. 



