J 894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



45 



In 1891 there were lU' acres of medium red 

 clover that came within 30 feet of my door, and, 

 being confined to the house by sickness, I 

 watched this field. There was the usual 

 amount of rain until April 20; then there was 

 no rain until June 1, so the clover- florets were 

 shorter than usual, and the honey-bees worked 

 on them as much as white clover. Still there 

 were only few seeds. This clover was not a 

 small growth, as it made two tons of dry hay 

 per acre, first crop. When the second crop 

 bloomed, there were the most bumble-bees I 

 ever saw, as the best estimate I could make 

 was that there was one to each ten feet square, 

 making 435(i working at the same time on one 

 acre. When the seed ripened, there was a large 

 crop. This year, being still unable to walk, I 

 rolled out into the yard in my wheel-chair, and 

 made this experiment. July 21 I covered some 

 clover-blossoms with netting. Part of the 

 florets being open, I tied a small thread around 

 the open ones. At the same time I gathered 

 five heads of clover that were ripe, and 447 cap- 

 sules gave 131 seeds. The bumble-bees had 

 worked on these blossoms, there being few 

 flowers when they bloomed. Aug. 14 I gather- 

 ed the covered blossoms, also some on some 

 plants not covered. Where the numbers are 

 the same, they are part of the same head of 

 clover. 



?}o. 1 *8 florets open when covered gave 30 seeds, or 62.5 % 



■Jo. 1 67 " not open *• '■ " 35 " " 52.238% 



^0.2113 " not covered " 68 " " 60.177 4 



"fo. 3 132 " covered " lOO " " 75.757 J' 



^o. i 145 " not covered " 123 " " 8i 827 % 



io. 5 63 " open when covered " 43 " " 68.254 % 



■fo. 5 84 •' not open when covered " 50 " •• 71.428 p;, 



fo. 6 117 " not covered " 100 " " 85.47 % 



^o. 7 41 " open when covered " 31 " " 75.609 % 



■lo. 7 85 '• not open when covered " 36 " " 42 352 '•-], 



io. 8 140 " covered ■' 33 " " 23,571 »; 



Jo. 9 76 " not covered " 24 " " 31.578 n;, 



Nos. 8 and 9 were on a plant about 50 feet 

 Tom other clover-plants. Three heads, where 

 52 florets were open when covered, gave 104 

 seeds, or 68.421 %\ 3 heads, where 236 florets 

 vere not open when covered, gave 111 seeds, or 

 7.033 %. Loss by covering, 21.388 %. 



The total florets not covered, 527, gave 385 

 eeds, or 73.055 %. The total florets covered, 

 68, gave 211 seeds, or 57.337 ■:o. Loss by cover- 

 ng, 15.718;'. 



Alsike and peavine red clover yield seed from 

 he first blossoms: therefore, it is the nature of 

 he plant, and not lack of bees, that causes 

 ewer seed in first blossoms of red clover. The 

 iter blossoms of red clover will yield seed 

 nthout the aid of bumble-bees; but their work 

 dds about 15 :■' to the yield. So the farmer 

 ^ho destroys all bumble-bees' nests is destroy- 

 ig a large part of his profit if he raises clover. 



Bloomfield, Ind., Dec. 28. J. C. Gili.iland. 



[This most valuable communication was fol- 

 >wed again by a private letter from Mr. Doo- 

 ttle, inclosing an article from. ^\r. W. S. Fultz, 

 'hich the latter says we at one time refused to 



publish. We have no recollection of this; at 

 any rate, as it seems to be a good one we are 

 glad to give place to it at this time.] 



ARE 15EKS NKCKSSAUY TO TMK I'KOPKR KKR- 

 TTUZATION OF FKUIT-BLOOM ? 



The assertion has often been made by horti- 

 cultural journals and bee-papers, that the 

 honey-bee is an essential to the perfect fertili- 

 zation of fruit-bloom, and that, without the aid 

 of be(;s, the fruit-grower could not carry on his 

 business with any certainty of a crop, so that 

 the public have got to believe that such is 

 really the case. Bee-journals have been very 

 persistent in asserting that, if there were no 

 bees, there would be no fruit. This is especially 

 the case whenever they hear of any fruit- 

 grower charging that the bees have been de- 

 stroying fruit. 



In studying this question we naturally go 

 back to the early history of the country, and 

 we find that the first settlers of this country 

 found in many places wild fruit growing in 

 abundance. We also find that, in many parts 

 of the country, there were nut-trees of various 

 kinds that showered down their nuts each au- 

 tumn, and that, within the almost boundless 

 forests, there were trees of all sizes, from the 

 tiny yearling to the giant monarch of the 

 forest, showing conclusively that the nuts and 

 seeds of the forest had been properly fertilized 

 for centuries before the advent of the white 

 man. History also informs us that the first 

 white settlers of America found no honey-bees, 

 and that the first bees introduced into this 

 country came from Europe, and that they were 

 the German or brown bee. What, then, was it 

 that fertilized the wild-fruit bloom, the nut and 

 other trees of the extensive forests of America, 

 to say nothing of the corn, tobacco, and other 

 crops that were raised by the Indians? 



In discussing this question with bee-keepers 

 they always refer me to the fact that there 

 were bumble-bees, wasps, hornets, and other 

 honey-gathering insects in the country; but 

 when asked how many of these insects there 

 were in each nest at the time when trees are 

 usually in bloom, they were obliged to admit 

 that the queen was the only one, and that it 

 was utterly impossible that the extensive fer- 

 tilization necessary could have been performed 

 by them. 



When the first settlers from the United States 

 went to California they found various kinds of 

 fruitgrowing there. Many of the old Spanish 

 missions were noted for the fine fruits that were 

 raised there. The same is also true of Oregon 

 and Washington, and yet there were no honey- 

 bees there. We have a true account of the first 

 attempts that were made to introduce the 

 honey-bee into the Pacific Slope. That account, 

 if given, would make this paper too long, and 

 is not germane to the subject. It is suflficient to 

 say, that fruits of different kinds, both wild 



