58 



FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



cries may '-'ontradict present ideas, I take 

 up my subject. 



It may be safely said tliat bees pollin- 

 ate the greatest number of flowers of 

 any insect. Generally speaking, too, 

 every horticulturist is indebted for their 

 inestimable service. But it is a fact that 

 until lately the horticulturist has not 

 made any attempt to retain or maintain 

 bee service, thereby insuring crops. To- 

 day, fortunately, he is more awake to the 

 .situation and ready to acknowledge the 

 beneficial agencies of bees, to the end of 

 a better crop, thereby meeting that im- 

 portant, yet keen competition. " 



In the light of the activity of the bee, 

 her service to the horticulturist may be 

 briefly stated as the result of her efforts 

 to secure either nectar or pollen, foods. 

 Pollen of course is the male element of 

 the flower. In her search for nectar or 

 pollen, the bee transports the pollen of 

 the anther of one flower, to the stigma 

 (which is the female organ containing 

 ovules) of another, thereby effecting pol- 

 lination, which ultimately results in fer- 

 tilization if the elements are correct. As 

 has been intimated above, many flowers 

 have shown repeatedly that they require 

 for satisfactory fertilization cross-pol- 

 lination. Likewise cross-pollination has 

 been repeatedly shown to result in better, 

 larger, more fully developed and rounded, 

 oftentimes more highly colored, fragrant, 

 luscious fruit. 



The Classes of Bees Which Serve in the 

 Orchard and Garden. 



It is of extreme importance to recog- 

 nize that there are two general classes 

 of bees (roughly grouped) which- may be 

 found in flowers. These are spoken of 

 respectively as solitary and colonial or 

 social bees. The solitary bees live iso- 

 lated and singly; the others grouped or 

 collectively. The social bees comprise a 

 number of genera and species which may 

 be typified by the common bumble bee 

 and the honey bee. The solitary bees are 

 usually disregarded or -not seen. All or 

 any of these include the honey bee. This 

 may be wild, but it should be remembered 

 that the honey bee is not essentially a 

 wild insect. The wild honey bee is mere- 

 ly escaped from the hive, or, if you wish, 

 escaped from cultivation. Notwithstand- 

 ing there are a vast number of these 

 wild insects, it frequently happens in well 

 cultivated localities that the honey bees 

 outnumber all other wild forms. As has 

 just been intimated these honey bees 

 may not come from apiaries under the 

 control of some bee-koc-per. but may 

 conr:e from the woods. Were it possible 



to calculate the value derived in pollin- 

 ating by the honey bees alone, .these re- 

 turns without doubt would far eko'eed the 

 total income derived through the produce 

 of honey, bees and wax. Thus, .as has 

 already been said, the honey bee is of 

 inestimable value to the orchardist or 

 horticulturist. Moreover, she serves in a 

 double capacity; she is a source of double 

 income. 



Fruit and Vegetables Visited by Honey 

 Bees. 

 It might be well to mention some of 

 the more common fruits and vegetables 

 which are essentially in need of the serv- 

 ice of the honey bee. The list. might be 

 made much longer than that which. I shall 

 give, yet, it is generally estimated that 

 honey bees are important in the setting 

 of the apple, pear, plum, quince, peach, 

 raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, (to 

 some extent and according to locality) 

 the mulberry, peas, bean, currant, grape, 

 squash, melon, cucumber and cranberry. 

 The tomato apparently is not dependent 

 upon the service of bees, yet, in green- 

 houses for tomato culture, bees have 

 been seen to work on the flowers, appar- 

 ently for pollen. 



The Effect of Season and Climatic 

 Conditions. 



It should also be borne in mind that 

 season, locality and climatic conditions 

 are tremendous factors in the activities 

 of bees on these and other plants. For 

 example, the strawberry may be cited. 



The writer has seen, in some localities, 

 large areas of strawberries devoid of 

 bees, while, elsewhere, the honey bee was 

 active on' this plant. This is repeatedly 

 observed with other plants and in dif- 

 ferent localities and seasons. 



In Cranberry Culture. 

 In cranberry culture the value of the 

 honey bee -has but recently been recog- 

 nized. The cranberry industry of Massa- 

 chusetts, for instance, is worth between 

 ■ one million and a million and a half dol- 

 lars annually. It had be^n observed that, 

 in certain years, certain parts of the 

 cranberry bogs fail. Dr. Franklin, at the 

 experimental bog in Massachusetts, has 

 carried out some " experiments, the de- 

 tails of which show that bees are of 

 service and explains that the failure of 

 bogs or parts of bogs may be attributed 

 to the inability or lack of . bees to work 

 the blossoms while the vines are in 

 bloom. It has been shown, too, that the 

 inability of bees to visit these bogs was 

 due to clim.itic conditions, the prevalence 

 of winds or coldness in a part of the bog. 

 With the large number of blossoms which 



