REPORT OF THE SOCIETY 



51 



a remarkably sweet smell which apparently proves a strong attraction to 

 syrphid flies. The honey bee you will notice, while an important factor is 

 not a very great one with mangels. This would imply that mangels of different 

 varieties could be planted closer together than many other plants such as, for 

 instance, onions. With onions the honey bee over two months of July and 

 August proved the greatest factor of all, as the following table will show. 



JULY 



Honey bees 

 Solitary bees 

 Syrphids 

 Bumble bees 

 Coleoptera 



56% 



24% 

 1'3% 



AUGUST 



Honey bees 80% 

 Fossorial Wasps 1 1% 

 Solitary bees 7% 

 Syrphids 2% 



Bumble bees 1% 



Here we find that honey bees at all times greatly exceeded all other insects 

 in numbers and activities. The onion produces flowers in great numbers 

 upon a large compact, globular head. These flowers are largely self fertile, 

 and strictly the honey bee is not an absolute requisite to the plant. The strong 

 odor, however, must prove a great attraction. Unfortunately in this connec- 

 tion as with others in which note is taken of honey bees, I have no way of dealing- 

 accurately with the question of the desirable distances at which plantations 

 should be separated. The apiculturists claim that when the honey flow 

 is light honey bees will travel five miles for pasture. I do not imagine in a 

 practical commercial way that it would be necessary to set onion plantations 

 of different varieties five miles apart to ensure a pure strain of seed, although 

 the danger of cross pollination might be present. We would doubtless not 

 be far wide of the mark to estimate that a seed district of 2^^^ miles is sufficient 

 to devote to the production of one kind of onion seed. 



Carrots. 



With carrots the following analysis was obtained which brings to our atten- 

 tion the importance of the honey bee at two different periods of the year. 

 During July Coccinellids appeared in great number on the seed heads and 

 honey bees were entirely absent; while in August the honey bee became the 

 most important factor. 



