Gleanings in Bee Culture 



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Louis Scholl, New Braunlels, Texas 



BEE CULTURE AND AGRICULTURE; SHOW- 

 ING THE MUTUAL INTERESTS OF BEE- 

 KEEPER, FRUITGROWER, 

 AND FARMER 



Outside of the beekeeping world it is not 

 generally known nor even understood that 

 honeybees were created, not so much for the 

 purpose of furnishing the delicious honey 

 for mankind, as for carrying pollen grains 

 from one flower to another, so that these 

 may bear fruit and seeds. The pollen is 

 gathered by the bees from the flowers, and 

 carried to the hives in little bright-colored 

 pellets on their hind legs, which many per- 

 sons suppose is the wax from which the 

 combs are built. The bees, however, must 

 gather this yellow dust or pollen from the 

 flowers, to prepare the partly digested food 

 for their young larvae. This is absolutely 

 necessary; and if they are unable to secure 

 a sufficient amount of pollen the progress of 

 the colony is delayed considerably. In 

 gathering either pollen or honey the bees 

 come in contact with the pollen grains of 

 the blossoms, which adhere to their hairy 

 bodies, and are thus carried from one flower 

 to another. These pollen grains thus come 

 in touch with the stigma, or the female 

 part, so to speak, of the next blossoms visit- 

 ed. Cross-pollmation is thereby assured, 

 and the thorough setting of fruits and seeds 

 the result. 



Bees are most important distributors of 

 pollen, because they appear in larger num- 

 bers than other insects, and especially in 

 the early part of the season. It is this 

 reason, as well as their greater activity, that 

 makes them more useful in this great work 

 they help to perform, the value of which, as 

 estimated by good authorities, is far greater 

 to our country than the value of the honey 

 crops. It is certain that the bees, on ac- 

 count of their greater numbers, visit a far 

 greater number of blossoms, and do this 

 work more thoroughly than other insects. 



THE SEX IN PLANT LIFE 



Sex in plants or flowers exists very much 

 as in animals, and it is just as necessary 

 that fertilization take place before fruit or 

 seeds develop. In many plants the male 

 and female exist in the same flower. In 

 others the male is found in one and the fe- 

 male in another flower of the same plant, 

 while in still others each sex is found in the 

 flowers on separate plants entirely. No 

 matter what the arrangement, however, it 

 is necessary that the pollen grains from the 

 anthers of the male part of one blossom 

 reach the stigma of the female part of anoth- 

 er. The pollen grains of one blossom ripen 

 earlier or later than the stigmas, so that self- 

 fertilization is prevented, and the bees car- 

 rying the pollen to the other blossoms in 

 the right stage to receive it efifect and com- 

 plete the fertilization, after which the de- 



velopment of fruit and seed follows. With- 

 out this pollination the blossoms would 

 wither and die in^stead of bearing fruit. 



SOME STRIKING EXAMPLES 



During the most favorable weather condi- 

 tions the pollen grains may be blown about 

 by the wind, and pollination of the blos- 

 soms take place so that fruit may be borne. 

 But even under such conditions the bees 

 play a great part in making the work more 

 thorough, as they visit many flowers and 

 blossoms that may not be reached by pollen 

 driven by the wind. It is well known that 

 such ideal weather conditions do not always 

 exist; and during such conditions, when the 

 weather is damp and the pollen sticky, the 

 wind does not blow it about so easily, and 

 it is then that the insects, and especially 

 the bees in their large numbers, play the 

 most important part in the crop of fruit and 

 seeds that will be harvested. Where certain 

 varieties of plants or fruit trees are isolated 

 from others of their kind, and when there is 

 a great distance between them, the chances 

 of pollination are not certain, and the bees 

 must be depended upon to carry the pollen 

 from one to another. Where bees are not 

 present, and the wind only depended upon, 

 there are instances on record of trees that 

 bore no fruit on the windward side, but 

 an abundance on the other side. The pres- 

 ence of bees would have insured the polli- 

 nation of the blossoms on the windward 

 side, and a better setting of fruit on all 

 parts of the tree. 



DO BEES PUNCTURE FRUIT? 



It has often been stated that our bees 

 puncture fruit; but numerous experiments 

 show that this conclusion is ungrounded, 

 their mouth parts being so constructed that 

 they can not break the skin of any kind of 

 fruit. They appear only after birds or in- 

 sects have caused the skin to break, and 

 then only to gather the sweet juices from 

 the bruised fruit. Many experiments in 

 which sound fruits were hung in hives of 

 bees have proved absolutely that the bees 

 can not puncture the skin of sound fruit, even 

 if they are starving for want of food. 

 ■*. 



POISON-SPRAYS AND BEES 



As the insect depredations are becoming- 

 more and more harmful to various crops, 

 man must protect himself against these in- 

 sect pests or bear considerable loss. For 

 this reason spraying is being practiced more 

 generally. The thinking person will not 

 kill his best friends, the bees, by spraying 

 during bloom, for the greatest authorities 

 have shown that it is not only unnecessary 

 but dangerous. In many States there are 

 stringent laws against spraying during fruit 

 bloom. 



