582 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



are two ways in which the pollen can be 

 conveyed from the one to the other. The 

 first is by the wind, which is exceptional, 

 the second is by insects, generally by bees 

 gathering nectar from the flowers. In 

 the process of gathering food the pollen 

 is scattered in minute particles upon the 

 feet, head and organs of the bee, carried 

 from one flower to the other, and depos- 

 ited where it is suited to the process of 

 germination. 



The importance of pollen carrying in- 

 sects cannot, therefore, be over-estimated. 

 Yet, there is at present a difiiculty in the 

 successful keeping of bees that feed upon 

 the nectar from orchard flowers, on ac- 

 count of the fact that the spraying for 

 codling moth must be done after the 

 petals of the flowers have fallen and be- 

 fore the calyx cup closes. At this time 

 the spray should be forced into the calyx 

 cup. If this is done and the bee gets the 

 poison instead of the nectar It dies as 

 surely as the codling moth would die if 

 it entered the calyx cup. We may yet 

 discover an insect that will feed upon 

 the codling moth, and grow it in our or- 

 chards, as there have been in many cases 

 discovered insects that feed upon others 

 and destroy them, but until such discov- 

 ery is made the spraying habit must con- 

 tinue in order to successfully grow fruits, 

 and bee keeping in orchards will be more 



or less perilous because thousands of 

 those little creatures will be killed by 

 getting the poison Intended for the moth. 



At the present time we have no means 

 of knowing how to fertilize our trees ex- 

 cept through the aid of insects that carry 

 the pollen, nor have we any knowledge 

 of how to kill the codling moth that so 

 seriously damages the fruit without the 

 use of arsenate of lead or some other 

 poison. However, we believe it profit- 

 able, with all the dangers that accom- 

 pany it, to keep bees in orchards, for 

 while many of them will be killed, many 

 will also survive, and the principal profit 

 will be, not so much in the honey which 

 they produce, as in the fertilization of 

 the trees. 



The Sense Perception of Bees 



How They Hear. See, Smell, Feel and 

 Taste. — We quote the following from the 

 Encyclopedia Britannica: 



"The physiology of the sense percep- 

 tions in a class of animals of a nature so 

 remote from our own must necessarily 

 be very imperfectly understood by us. 

 The great diversity of character presented 

 by the different tribes of insects, as well 

 as of other animals, naturall.v suggests 

 the idea that external objects produce on 

 their sentient organs widely different im- 

 pressions from those communicated to 

 ourselves. The notions that we form of 



r 



Fig. 1. A Profitable Colony of Bees in the Yaltima Country. 



— Courtesy N. P. Ry. Co. 



