Gleanings in Bee Culture 



probably does more good than any other 

 species." 



In an article read before the Ontario Bee- 

 keepers' Association in December, 1900, by 

 the late Dr. James Fletcher, he said: "It 

 can be shown that, owing to its size, weight, 

 and habits, no insect is so well calculated to 

 ensure the fertilization of fruit-blossoms as 

 the honeybee, which flies rapidly from plant 

 to plant, and, by running over the flowers 

 in search of pollen or nectar, brushes ofT the 

 pollen and carries this vitalizing element on 

 the hairs of its body to the next flower visit- 

 ed. The habit of the bees, which has fre- 

 quently been noticed, of confining the vis- 

 its, when collecting largely to the same kind 

 of plant, is taken advantage of by the bee- 

 keeper to store up at certain seasons partic- 

 ular kinds of honey, such as apple, raspber- 

 ry, basswood, clover, and buckwheat hon- 

 eys. This habit is also manifestly advan- 

 tageous to the plants on account of the pol- 

 len which is carried by the bee being of the 

 kind necessary for the fertilization of its 

 flowers, which could not be affected if the 

 pollen were that of some other kind of plant. ' ' 



In some work done at the Michigan Agri- 

 cultural College it was shown that, of all the 

 insects collected on apple trees in bloom, 

 none were so abundant as the honeybee. 

 On the other hand, similar collections made 

 at the Connecticut Experiment Station at 

 New Haven show^ed very few honeybees. 

 The latter results may be explained by the 

 fact that, in the preceding winter, over sev- 

 enty-five per cent of the colonies of honey- 

 bees in that section of the country died, and 

 by the fact that bee diseases had probably 

 further reduced the number of bees in that 

 section, as they are abundant in that State. 

 Moreover, we should not expect to find 

 many bees in a city on the seashore. The 

 growing of cucumbers under glass is an im- 

 portant industry in Eastern Massachusetts 

 and in other parts of the United States. 

 The Massachusetts cucumber-growers annu- 

 ally use about 1000 colonies of bees in their 

 greenhouses to pollinate their blossoms, in 

 place of the former method of pollinating by 

 means of a camel's-hair brush. 



While the honeybee is, perhaps, no better 

 equipped than other insects, especially oth- 

 er bees, for carrying pollen, there is one re- 

 spect in which it outranks all others as a 

 valuable asset to the fruitgrower. AVe are 

 not able to propagate other insects in quan- 

 tity, and introduce them to orchards at the 

 proper time; but it is a very simple matter 

 to carry in colonies of bees to insure a crop, 

 if the weather is fit for bees to fly. Many 

 orchardists realize this, and keep bees solely 

 for the benefits derived from cross-fertiliza- 

 tion of the fruit-blossoms. 



COMMON INTERESTS OF THE BEEKEEPER 

 AND FRUITGROWER. 



The interests of the beekeeper and of the 

 fruitgrower are identical. In the past there 

 has arisen from time to time bad feeling be- 

 tween these two classes of farmers. The 

 fruitgrower claims that the bees destroy his 

 ripe fruit; but this has been entirely dis- 



proven. Bees never suck ripe fruit unless 

 it is previously punctured by birds or in- 

 sects, such as wasps, or unless it is decayed. 

 On the other hand, the beekeeper claims 

 that the fruitgrower sprays his trees while 

 they are in bloom, thus kifling the bees. 

 This procedure is not recommended by any 

 entomologist, and is not practiced by well- 

 informed orchardists. It is prohibited by 

 law in New York and in some other States. 

 Cases of this antagonism are still to be 

 found, but they are becoming more and 

 more rare. Let us hope that the time will 

 soon come when the beekeepers and fruit- 

 growers will meet in common conventions 

 to discuss their problems in common. 



The production of the millions of dollars' 

 worth of fruit in the United States depends 

 largely on insect pollination; and no insect 

 is so important in this work as the honey- 

 bee. It is a most conservative estimate to 

 claim that the honeybee does more good to 

 American agriculture in its office as a cross 

 pollinator than it does as a honey gatherer. 



Washington, D. C. 



HOW POLLEN IS COLLECTED 



The Part Played in the Process by the Auricle 



BY F. W. L. SliADEN, F. B. S. 



The pollen dust gathers on the body hairs 

 of the bees as the result of the visits paid to 

 the flowers. These hairs, as seen under the 

 microscope, are branched, and therefore are 

 admirably adapted to hold the pollen. 



In the bumblebee (and probably also the 

 honeybee) the pollen dust in the hairs on 

 the thorax is collected on brushes on the in- 

 ner sides of the metatarsi, or basal joint of 

 the foot, of the middle pair of legs, which 

 are moistened with honey from the tongue 

 to make the dust cohere. The pollen dust 

 in the hairs on the abdomen is collected on 

 brushes on the inner sides of the metatarsi 

 of the hind legs, and this is probably moist- 

 enetl by rubbing the hind legs together. 



After this the pollen is transferred to the 

 corbicula (or pollen-basket) on the tibiie of 

 the hind legs, where, as every one knows, it 

 accumulates into a great lump as the result 

 of repeated contributions from the metatar- 

 si. But how does it get there? It is evident, 

 as Cheshire observed, that the pollen on the 

 right metatarsus is transferred to the left 

 corbicula, and the pollen on the left meta- 

 tarsus is transferred <o the right corbicula. 

 Cheshire supposed ("Beesand Beekeeping," 

 1886) that the metatarsus discharges its pol- 

 len on the corbicula by scraping its brush 

 on the upper side of the tibia; but I find 

 that this is not the case. The pollen is 

 scraped ofT the metatarsal brush by a comb 

 (c) situated at the end of the tibia on the 

 inside, and it passes into a small concave 

 receiver (d) that joins the comb; then, 

 when the leg is straightened, a projection on 

 the metatarsus called the auricle (e) closes 

 upon the receiver, compresses the pollen, 



