ORCHARDISTS REALIZE THE VALUE OF BEES §5 



worth between one million and a million and a half dollars annuallv It 



ail ' Dr t::Tr ''%' i? ^^^*^'" 3'-rs certain part« of the cranbe? y^og 

 tail. Dr Franklin, at the experimental bog in Massachusetts has carrieH 



^n.hn-f ^h%f^'i"/e of bogs or parts of bogs may be attributed to the 

 nabihty or lack of bees to work the blossoms while the vines are in bloom 

 It has been shown too, that the inability of bees to visit these bogs was 

 of the br'^wr'.'"?' '''' P--1— of -"^ds or coldness fn thS pa? 

 of the bog With the large number of blossoms which are produced on 

 cranberry vines, it was also established that bees maintained purposely for 

 their service in pollenation were an insurance to cranberry growers who 

 are now maintaining apiaries in proportion to the size of tiieir^bor 



In Cucumber Growing.—The cucumber has been mentioned In"Massa- 

 S 1, ".,"''"* ^'"'.h '"^"'"^^^ growing under glass ha devlped 



prof ss Ve" I7:i\ ''T'f" '}'' PJ""'^" ^^ "^"^' ^ -o^t laborfous 

 process. Bees were later introduced and found to be indispensable esnp 

 cially m the larger commercial houses. One grower, for "nSce has fo?tv 

 acres under glass. Taking the industry in Mlssach^setts as a whok ft re 

 quires between two and three thousand colonies of bees annuaUy to serve 

 in the cucumber greenhouses. These colonies are largely reduced by the 

 extremely unfavorable conditions of greenhouse life, so that cucumber 

 freTnh<fuse"s ""''" '^"'"'^ *'^' ''' ^^^"^^^^-^ -^^ bees purposely for 

 A $3800 Crop Due to Bees.~l have in mind a specific instance reported 

 by one of our Agricultural Experiment Stations. In one of the Western 



?im ar lo'ca'tfon "'I ^^^^^t^- "^^'^ ''''''^'''' '' ^^^^^ equal acreage, of 

 similar location and age, each in a "pocket" in the foothills of an ad 



Sard hn ",;' '^•f',^'^^'^ ^^^" drained and protected from fost. One or 



tSh Jlie tZ I ^"' ^"f ^^^ir y'^''' '" ^'^ °th«^ tl'^'-e was no crop, al 

 though the trees blossom heavily each spring. In despair of financial ruin 



oliT"/''/'^ the assistance of a sWExperime^nt Station 1 pom-' 

 ologist and entomologist was sent, who examined critically all the conditions 

 n each of the orchards. He was about to return withou^t solv nAhe prob 



lelive witlout'fn'r ^""' ''"• ^^ *^" experiment station mL v^as 'about 

 to leave without finding any apparent reason for failure lie chanced to spp 

 a stream coming in one of the orchards from underneath a ni^e of swale 

 S^ng-^r^— ^^^ ^tnSle-t^afifSS 

 ot;e^?^thrneiTgro^nt:cTo7 "-' '^ ''^ ^^'^^"^ ^^^ 



Orchardists Realize the Value of Bees.-There has been a 

 marked change in sentiment on the part of the fruit growers 

 during the past few years, since they have come to realize the 

 value of the bees in their orchards. Not many years ago frequent 

 attempts were reported of trying to secure the removal of the 



