53 



TABLE SHOWING ACTIVITY OF BEES AT BLOOMING TIME 



OF PEACH AND CHERRY. 



Ohio Exp. Sta. 



Outgoing Returning Loaded Loaded 

 workers workers with with 

 Time No. hive per min. per min. pollen honey 



When we remember that the bee may visit several 

 flower clusters in a minute^ we realize that thousands of 

 flowers will be visited by the workers of a single colony in a 

 day. They cost the fruit grower nothing. They take from 

 his trees nothing that he can utilize and they render a ser- 

 vice invaluable. 



By actual count in orchards, favorable located, the 

 honey bee has been found to outnumber all other insects 20 

 to 1. This is no more than we should expect if we remem- 

 ber that the common bees are the only insects that live 

 through our severe winters in considerable numbers. At 

 blooming time colonies of bees number around 15,000 while 

 practically all other insects which have been so reduced in 

 numbers that only eggs or single females successfully passed 

 through the winter have not had sufficient time to multiply 

 and produce large numbers. And herein lies one of the very 

 strong arguments in favor of the honey bee. 



While flies, butterflies, moths, ants and beetles are us- 

 ually found in our orchards it is quite generally believed that 

 these accomplish little or nothing in the way of cross-pollin- 

 ation. The flies, butterflies and moths are often seen hover- 

 ing about the flowers or reposing upon them, but they do 

 not burrow doA\Ti into the flower for the nectar nor crawl 

 around over the stamens and styles collecting pollen as do 

 the bees. Nor do they confine their attention to any one 

 species as is the habit of the bees, which by the way is one 

 of the very strong recommendations of the honey bee as an 

 agent in cross-pollination. The smooth bodies of ants and 

 beetles totally unfit them for cross-pollination though they 

 may be useful in self-pollination. 



