86 SOURCES OF NECTAR 



bees from the vicinity of orchards, on the plea that the bees 

 injured the fruit. Even yet cases are sometimes reported of the 

 supposed injury of grapes by the bees. It has been so often 

 demonstrated that the bees cannot injure sound fruit that there 

 is no need to state the proof here. There are times, when the 

 bees are finding no nectar, v^^hen they become very annoying 

 by seeking the orchards and vineyards in search of the juice of 

 fruits that have been injured by other insects or birds. At such 

 times they become so troublesome that there is some ground 

 for complaint, although they do no real injury to fruit. 



The misunderstanding between the bee-keepers and fruit 

 growers is very happily being cleared up, so that it is only now 

 and then in the case of some fellow who is behind the times that 

 trouble of this kind occurs. 



On the other hand, horticulturists are loud in the praise of 

 the honey-bee, and hundreds of testimonials as to her value in the 

 fruit plantation could be cited. In an article " The Development 

 of the Apple from the Flower," that recently appeared in " Better 

 Fruit," O. M. Osborne, of the Horticultural Department of the 

 State Normal School of Idaho, made the following statement : 



Without the aid of the bees but very little, if any, pollen would ever 

 reach the stigma, for the pollen of the apple is a trifle sticky, and, unlike 

 that of the corn tassel, ragweed, and several other familiar plants which 

 are powdery, it cannot be distributed by the wind. 



Since the horticultural authorities generally have come to 

 realize the true place of the honey-bee in the orchard, old preju- 

 dices have quickly been broken down, with the result that progres- 

 sive fruit growers, in many cases, are ready to offer some substan- 

 tial inducement to the apiarist to locate near their plantations. 

 Unfortunately, a few fruit men are still inclined to spray their 

 trees while in bloom, greatly to the disadvantage of the bee- 

 keeper. The horticultural authorities, here again, are coming to 

 the rescue of the bees, and are showing wherein it is to the dis- 

 advantage of the fruit grower to spray during this period, because 

 of possible injury to the fruit crop, as well as to the bees. 



