Mar 15. 1!I12 



157 



@DD@[PSlD ©®[P[P 



OQ©® 



BEES IN RELATION TO HORTICULTURE 



BY H. HARLEY SELWYN 



That the honeyliee {Aphis mellifica) forms 

 an important link in successful agriculture 

 is now very generally recognized. The large 

 annual production of honey and wax due to 

 the industry of these insects is of very con- 

 siderable ecomonic importance; but in ad- 

 dition they probably play almost as im- 

 portant a part in materially increasing the 

 yield and quality of the various fruits in 

 the orchards and gardens scattered through- 

 out the land. 



That bees are intended by nature to aid 

 in the pollination of flowers, there is no 

 doubt, as the pollen and nectar secreted by 

 the flowers are both absolutely essential to 

 the life of bees, and consequently they are 

 eagerly sought for by them. It is true that 

 other insects, as well as atmospheric condi- 

 tions, aid in this work of pollination to a 

 considerable extent; but these other insects 

 are comparatively few in number during 

 the earlier part of the season, and, besides, 

 they appear to visit the flowers only for the 

 nectar which they contain, whereas the bees 

 are in search of both pollen and nectar; and 

 at the time when the orchards are in bloom 

 the requirements of the hive, on account of 

 the many thousands of young larviP therein, 

 re(iuire large quantities of pollen. P^or this 

 reason, if climatic conditions should be un- 

 favorable for the secretion of nectar, the 

 bees would, nevertheless, visit the blossoms 

 in order to gather the pollen which is so 

 necessary, and in so doing accomplish the 

 end in view, namely, that of transferring 

 particles of pollen from one flower to an- 

 other, or from the stamens to the pistils of 

 individual flowers, and thus bring about 

 their proper fertilization. 



IK THE BEES ABE KEPT AWAY NO FRUIT 

 WILL SET 



Numerous experiments have proved con- 

 clusively that comparatively little fruit will 

 set if fertilization depends solely upon the 

 carrying of the pollen by the wind and other 

 minor agencies. In proof of this it has been 

 recorded that two trees of the same kind, 

 both heavily laden with bloom, were select- 

 ed, the one being protected with cheese- 

 cloth and the other left uncovered, with the 

 result that the former set practically no fruit, 

 while the one left accessible to the bees, of 

 which there were large numbers in the vi- 

 cinity, ow ing to the proximity of an apiary, 

 bore an abundant crop. This is but one of 

 the many striking examples which might 

 be cited to show the importance of bees in 

 relation to horticulture. 



There are, it is true, seasons when fruit 

 trees of all kinds arc so heavily laden with 

 lil(K)m, and the weather conditions are so 

 i<ieal for pollination, that, even with the or- 

 dinary agencies, sufficient fruit is set to in- 



sure good crops. Unfortunately there is 

 also tlie reverse side of the question when 

 the period of fruit bloom is accompanied by 

 dull, cloudy, and possibly wet weather, 

 with but scant periods of sunshine. At 

 such a time the farmer or fruitgrower who 

 is fortunate enough to have a large apiary 

 in or near his orchard will surely benefit 

 greatly, as, even if there are only a few 

 hours of sunshine each day, tens of thou- 

 sands of bees will visit the blossoms during 

 that period and efTect the necessary fertil- 

 ization which otherwise, owing to unfavor- 

 able conditions, might and probably would 

 not have taken place. It would be very 

 difficult to say just how many colonies are 

 required to the average acre, whether it be 

 trees or flowers that the bees are forced to 

 visit; but it is safe to say that most locali- 

 ties are never overstocked with these very 

 necessary insects. In fact, it is generally 

 the reverse; and as a result there are un- 

 doubtedly many tons of honey going to 

 waste annually for the lack of gathering, 

 not to mention the hosts of plants that 

 never succeed in accomplishing that most 

 necessary function, namely, the proper de- 

 velopment of the seed ovary, and conse- 

 quently do not reproduce their species to 

 nearly the extent that nature intended. 



SPRAYING DURING FRUIT-BLOOM INJURIOUS 



So much has been said and written on 

 the subject of spraying and its important 

 relation or efTect on bees that it is hard to 

 deal with the subject in other than a general 

 way in an article of this nature; but perhaps 

 a general resum^ of the main points would 

 be of interest. 



The question of poisonous solutions used 

 in spraying to combat the many injurious 

 insects and fungi peculiar to fruit trees and 

 bushes of all kinds, and the proper time for 

 their application in one which is worthy of 

 careful attention, especially in view of the 

 fact that spraying is now being advocated 

 as the one and only means of insuring the 

 production of perfect fruit. It might be ex- 

 pected that the individual who owns an or- 

 chard, even though it be a small one, and 

 who has become sufliciently familiar with 

 up-to-date methods to practice spraying, 

 would realize the injurious effects such 

 spraying will have on any bees in the neigh- 

 borhood if this work is done during the 

 period of fruit bloom, and, consequently, 

 would refrain from making the applications 

 at .so critical a period; but, unfortunate to 

 relate, there are still far too many occur- 

 rences of this nature as the seasons come 

 around, notwithstanding the elTorts of the 

 numerous beekeepers' associations to en- 

 lighten these misinformed individuals 



BEEKEEPING AT EXPERIMENT STATIONS 



That the importance of beekeeping is be- 

 coming more and more generally recognized 

 in the United States and Canada is evi- 



