6 



Beekeeping 



In addition to the value of the honeybee as -a honey- 

 producer, it has a value to agriculture which is probably far 



greater. Peculiarly 

 enough, the bee- 

 keeper is usually not 

 the one who receives 

 the greatest profit 

 from the presence of 

 his bees in the com- 

 munity. The honey- 

 bee is one of the 

 most beneficial of 

 those insects which 

 carry pollen from one 

 flower to another. 

 Such cross-pollina- 

 tion is frequently es- 

 sential to the pro- 

 duction of fruit and, 

 among all the insects 

 which serve the fruit- 

 grower, the honeybee 

 occupies a unique 

 position. In the spring, the time when their services are 

 most needed, other insects are often few in number and 

 there is no way of prop- 

 agating them. In the 

 case of the honeybee, 

 however, it is relatively 

 easy to carry to the or- 

 chard thousands of in- 

 sects, which are ready, in 

 favorable weather, to aid 

 the fruit-grower in return 

 for the small amount of 

 nectar obtained (Fig. 2). 



In many orchards the FIG. 5. An old Greek hive. 



FIG. 4. Group of Caucasian hives. 



