ORCHARDISTS REALIZE THE VALUE OF BEES 85 



ivorth between one million ami a million and a half dollars annually. It 

 has been observed that in certain years certain parts of the cranberry bogs 

 fail. Dr. Franklin, at the experimental bog in Massachusetts, has carried 

 out experiments, the details of which show that bees are of service and ex- 

 plain that the failure of bogs or parts of bogs may be attributed to the 

 inability 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 

 due to climatic conditions, the prevalence of winds or coldness in that part 

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

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

 tlieir service in pollenation were an insurance to cranberry growers who 

 are now maintaining apiaries in proportion to the size of tlieir bogs. 



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

 cluisetts in recent years, cucumber growing under glass has developed. 

 Originally the growers " fertilized the plants " by hand, a most laborious 

 ])rocess. Bees were later introduced and found to be indispensable, espe- 

 ciallj' in the larger commercial houses. One grower, for instance, has forty 

 r.cres under glass. Taking the industry in Massachusetts as a whole, it re- 

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

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

 extremely unfavorable conditions of greenhouse life, so that cucumber- 

 gi owing-under-glass demands that the bee-keepers raise bees purposely for 

 greenhouses. 



A $3800 Crop Due to Bees. — I have in mind a specific instance reported 

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

 States there are two commercial apple orchards of about equal acreage, of 

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

 mirable fruit land, both well drained and protected from frost. One or- 

 chard bore heavily for successive years; in the other there was no crop, al- 

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

 tiie owner called the assistance of a State Experiment Station. A poni- 

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

 in each of the orchards. He was about to return without solving the prob- 

 lem of failure, when the question arose, were there ever bees maintained to 

 set the orchard which had fruited? It was asserted, however, that neither 

 orchard had ever had bees. However, the problem was not given up and 

 the ground was again gone over. As the experiment station man was about 

 to leave without finding any apparent reason for failure, he chanced to see 

 a stream coming in one of the orchards from underneath a pile of swale. 

 Further investigation revealed a fallen log, sunken in the damp land, 

 sheltering a large colony of bees. It is needless to say in which orchard 

 the log was. Immediately bees were secured for the failing orchard; the 

 owner then netted .$3800 on his crop. 



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. Xot many years ago frequent 

 attempts were reported of trying to secure the removal of the 



