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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Sept. 27 1930 



as much as that of the self-pollinated. 

 At this rate, a man with an orchard of 

 Stark apples could afford to pay a round 

 price for the presence of bees to insure 

 cross-pollination . 



This testimony is all the more valua- 

 ble, because coming from one of our 

 most important experiment stations, 

 and written, evidently, not bj- a bee- 

 man, but by a fruit-man. 



Stark. — From Wagetier Pollen Above, from Stark Pollen Below. 



from Cross-Pollination. 



Markt Benefit 



Pollination of Orchards is the title of an 

 exceedingly interesting paper by S. \\ . 

 Fletcher, of Cornell University, in the Amer- 

 ican Fruit and Vegetable Journal for July. 

 It appears that some varieties of fruits, say 

 of apples, are self-sterile ; that is, they will 

 produce little or no fruit unless planted 

 near other varieties, so as to have the benefit 

 of foreign pollen. Much of the unsatisfactory fruiting of 

 orchards all over the country is due to self-sterility, which. 

 however, is not a constant character with any variety. The 

 same variety may be self-sterile in one place, and self fer- 

 tile in another. Some varieties seem to show no benefit 

 from cross-pollination, but it will not do to depend on this, 

 for in another place cross-pollination may be important. A 

 difference in results may come from using different varie- 

 ties as fertilizers, as for example, Seckel pears from Kieffer 

 pollen are larger than from Lawrence pollen. As to the 

 pollen-carriers, Mr. Fletcher says : 



"The pollen of one variety is carried to the pistils of 

 another in two ways — by the wind and by insects. There 

 are many kinds of insects which aid more or less in the 

 cross-pollination of orchard fruits, principally bees, wasps 

 and flies. Of these, the wild bees of several species are 

 probably the most important. In a wild thicket of plums or 

 other fruits, they are usually numerous enough to insure a 

 good setting of fruit. But few, if any, 

 wild bees can live in a large orchard, 

 especially if it is well tilled. As the 

 extent and thoroness of cultivation in- 

 creases, the number of these natural 

 insect aids to cross -pollination de- 

 creases ; hence it may become neces- 

 sary to keep domestic honey-bees for 

 this purpose." 



In other words, as cultivation pro- 

 gresses, it will be more and more im- 

 portant to have hive-bees on hand, to 

 secure better crops of fruit. 



Six beautiful illustrations accom- 

 pany the article, two of which are here 

 reproduced. Regarding these, Mr. 

 Fletcher says : 



"The difference between the cross 

 and self-pollinated Starks and Long- 

 fields is so striking that one would al- 

 most be tempted to think the self-pol- 

 linated fruits were wormy, but they 

 were not." 



Measuring the diameters of the two 

 lots of Stark apples, and remembering 

 that their weights are in direct ratio 

 as the cubes of their diameters, it is 

 easy to figure out that with an equal 

 number of specimens of each kind 

 averaging the same as those in the 

 illustration, the weight of the cross- 

 pollinated fruit would be 5 and ^ times 



Something About Robber=Bees. — 



G. M. Doolittle discourses about them 

 in the American Bee-Keeper, and says 

 one good thing is for beginners to 

 know that robbers are very trouble- 

 .sorne only in the spring before either 

 honey or pollen is to be had from flow- 

 ers. Another good thing to know is 

 that in the spring the entrance of a 

 hive should be closed (before the bees 

 take their first flight) on the side of 



the hive where the honey is, and open only in front of the 



cluster. Mr. Doolittle continues : 



Another good thing, and to my mind the best of all, is 

 to fix all weak colonies and all nuclei in any hives as fol- 

 lows (for only weak colonies and nuclei are subject to rob- 

 bing at any time of the year ): Just at night, on some 

 cloudy, cool day (not so cool but that bees can fly), or under 

 a tent, take the combs all out of the hive, then place a frame 

 of honey next one side of the hive. Next to this put the 

 frames of brood they have — one, two or three, and next the 

 last frame a division-board, filler or dummy, as they are 

 differently called by different persons when speaking of the 

 same thing. To digress a little : 



Take a piece of inch or 's board and make it so it will 

 fit your hive below the rabbeting on which the frames hang 

 loosely, and to the top of this nail the top-bar of a frame. 

 Hang- it in the hive the same as a frame and j-ou have just 

 as good a division-board, filler or dummy as can be made. 

 To return : Having your two, three or four frames and your 

 dummy in, say the west part of your hive, make the en- 



Longfield.- 



From Greening Pollen Below, from Longfield Pollen Above. 

 Markt Benefit fro)n Cross-Pollination. 



