216 



OLIANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



One member introduced a resolution 

 boosting Prof. H. A. Surface for State 

 Secretary of Agriculture, which was unan- 

 imously adopted, signed by every member 

 present, and later submitted to the Gov- 

 ernor by a committee. The Governor re- 

 ceived the committee kindly, and showed 

 much interest in the needs of the industry. 

 After careful consideration he did the un- 

 usual and unexpected for one in his posi- 

 tion by suggesting to the committee that an 

 independent bill be introduced asking for 

 an appropriation of $50,000 for bee in- 

 spection. This suggestion was acted upon, 

 and the bill is now in the hands of the 

 Agricultural Committee of the House. If 

 passed it will supei'sede the item for that 

 purpose now in the Agricultural Budget. 

 The bill has the endorsement of Secretary 

 Critehfield and the hearty support of sever- 

 al members of the House and Senate who 

 were interviewed. 



If the Pennsylvania beekeepers and fruit- 

 growers will write their repi'esentatives at 

 once, asking them to support the bill, it 

 will stand good chances of passing. With 

 such an appropriation the state can be 

 systematically covered by inspectors, and 

 all bee-diseases brought under control. The 

 beekeepers themselves, moreover, can be ed- 

 ucated to better methods. It means millions 

 of dollars to the citizens of Pennsylvania. 



We hope to have a picture of the conven- 

 tion in the next issue. 



Bees and Orange Culture 



A NUMBER of monographs have been 

 published of late upon the relation of bees 

 to horticulture. These articles and pamphlets 

 upon the general subject of the service of 

 bees in pollinizing fruit-blossoms have been 

 increasing the interest of fruit-men in the 

 honeybees and the realization of both horti- 

 culturists and apiarists that nature has in- 

 dispolubly linked together their interests. 

 It has remained for E. G. Baldwin, A. M., 

 of DeLand, Fla., to discuss the bearing of 

 this new science upon citrus fruits in an 

 article entitled " Honeybees in Orange- 

 groves," written for the DeLand News. 

 Professor Baldwin, a member of the faculty 

 of tiie John B. Stetson University, is a 

 practical beekeeper as well as a close stu- 

 dent of botany and entomology. 



Everybody knows, who has had even the 

 most elementary instruction in botany, that 

 fertilization of a blossom takes place when 

 pollen from the stamen reaches the embry- 

 onic seed through the pistil. In some flowers 

 the process by which this takes place is 

 quite as simple as the foregoing statement 



of the principle; but in far the gi-eater 

 number fertilization is a complex process, 

 requiring the services of one of two outside 

 agents — either the wind or insects. 



In those plants such as some varieties of 

 the strawberry, in which stamens and pistils 

 are borne on different plants, the pollen 

 must be carried a considerable distance in. 

 order that fertilization and development of 

 the fruit may be assured. In Indian corn 

 the pollen from the tassel must fall upon 

 each strand of silk for every grain to be 

 developed. Maize is best produced in coun- 

 tries where the sweep of the wind is almost 

 uninterrupted. 



In the orange-blossom the pollen must be 

 carried from the stamen up to the pistil. 

 To rely upon the wind alone for this service 

 would be about as uncertain as the breezes 

 themselves, so that in places where calms or 

 damp weather are frequent the agency of 

 insects is extremely important in the fertil- 

 ization of these blossoms. 



Here is where the nectar secreted by 

 orange-blossoms is valuable. This thin wa- 

 tery fluid to be found in almost all plants, 

 every beekeeper knows is the base from 

 which the bees make their honey, but 

 beyond this it has no other intrinsic use. 

 Nectar is simjjly a bait to lure the bees, get 

 them to brush against the stamens and the 

 pistils, and thus unconsciously perform the 

 service which the wind only partially ac- 

 complishes, but which is so essential to the 

 production of fruit. 



Damp weather hinders the work of all the 

 insects but the honey and bumble bees. In 

 Florida bumbles are scarce. Upon the 

 honeybees, then, depends the success of 

 Florida orange culture. 



Of the growing i^opularity of bees among 

 orange-gTowers, let Professor Baldwin speak 

 directly : " In some parts of Florida, the 

 citrus-growers are recognizing their need of 

 something more dependable than mere 

 chance to fertilize their groves. Formerly 

 the beemen were too few, or had too few 

 bees in proportion to the number of groves, 

 and there was an antipathy to bees on the 

 part of many, because they thought the bees 

 damaged the trees, blossoms, or fruit, by 

 their coming and going to and fro. As a 

 result, heretofore, beemen have had to pay 

 a rental for the privilege of putting their 

 bees in groves, locating an apiary inside an 

 orange-gTove, for instance. But enlighten- 

 ment is coming. Now the fruit-men actually 

 court the presence of the bees. Notably 

 around Bradentown, the citrus-men actually 

 offer the beemen free rent for beeyard sites, 

 and in many instances even buy bees of their 

 own to place among the trees. It is worth 



