1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



139 



Of the cherries, the Royal Ann, 

 Bing, Black Tartarian, Lambert and 

 Black Republican are self-sterilc. 

 Thirteen varieties of almonds experi- 

 mented with at the California Experi- 

 ment Station were ■wholly self-sterile. 

 Peaches have also been demonstrated 

 to be almost entirely dependent on 

 the visits of bees if a good crop is to 

 ensue. 



Of the smaller fruits, raspberries, 

 blackberries, strawberries, cranber- 

 ries, etc., are all abundantly visited by 

 bees, and the amount of fruit that 

 would set is entirely proportional to 

 the number of visits. 



The question of the distribution of 

 pollen by wind has been settled at the 

 Oregon Experiment Station by fasten- 

 ing slips of vaselined glass in and near 

 apple trees. So few pollen grains were 

 caught on the sticky glass as to prove 

 conclusively that wind is not at all 

 an agency in carrying across apple 

 pollen grains from one flower to an- 

 ather. 



It has been proved that if blossoms 

 do not receive pollen grains they fail 

 to set. This is the main explanation 

 for the familiar "June Drop." 



It requires one pollen grain for each 

 seed, five pollen grains must, there- 

 fore, fall upon and enter each apple 

 flower, while the strawberry or rasp- 

 berry would require many more 

 grains. 



When a pollen grain falls on the 

 sticky stigma, the female part of the 

 flower, it starts to grow down a tube 

 carrying the sperm cells into the in- 

 nermost parts of the blossom. The 

 union of a sperm cell with an egg cell 

 starts the growth of the seed. Unless 

 all seeds are started, the fruit becomes 

 misshapen in its growth, if it does 

 not drop entirely from the tree. 

 Hence, a complete poUenation with 

 healthy viable pollen is the first requi- 

 site in the setting of a fruit crop. As 

 shown in the preceding page, some 

 varieties of pollen seem to be better 

 adapted than others in insuring a com- 

 plete fertilization. Even in case of 

 self-fertile varieties, pollen from other 

 blossoms, or better from other trees, 

 or perhaps better still from other va- 

 rieties, is needed for best results. 



It is interesting to note that, contrary 

 to popular opinion, pollen grains do 

 not afTect the color of the apple. A 

 Spitzenburg poUenated by an Arkan- 

 sas Black is no darker than if poUen- 

 ated by a Newton, but many more ap- 

 ples would set from the Arkansas 

 Black pollen than if the pollen were 

 obtained from a Newton tree. The 

 former polen is more effective, more 

 likely to start the complete produc- 

 tion of seeds, hence the result is 

 larger and better formed apples, even 

 though the color is not affected. 



Many millions of years ago the first 

 flowers came into existence and also 

 the first bees. Since that time these 

 two developments of nature have 

 worked up an inter-dependence, so 

 that the modifications of flowers as 

 we know them have been developed 

 through the agency of bees. In a cor- 

 responding way the bees have become 

 modified in their body parts, as an 

 adaptation to floral structure. 



Flowers develop showy petals to 

 attract the bees. Nectar is produced 

 at the bottom of the floral parts to 

 force the bees to dip down as far as 

 possible in securing it. Pollen is pro- 

 duced in over-abundance as a delic- 

 ious food for the bees. Bees in their 

 turn have developed a long tongue for 

 lapping up the nectar, a crop for stor- 

 ing it for the flight home, a body 

 covered with remarkable pronged 

 hairs for collecting the pollen and 

 adaptations on the legs, the pollen 

 baskets, for scraping together and 

 transporting the pollen load. 

 PoUenation 



In the visits to flowers, bees come 

 in contact with the pollen; the little 

 grains covering their body are then 

 ru'bbed on the sticky stigma, often as 

 a result of a remarkable arrangement 

 in the formation of the flower parts. 

 After pollenation, the stickiness of the 

 stigma dries up so that the flower is 

 receptive only for a few days, usually 

 at the beginning of the blossoming 

 period. As a further result of pollen- 

 ation, the nectar ceases to be pro- 

 duced and the petals drop quickly. 

 The flower is no longer attractive to 

 bees. 



Some trees that have a tendency to 

 overset fruit, requiring costly thin- 

 ning in commercial orchard practice, 

 might be rendered less prolific if bees 

 are withheld, or if sprayed with some 

 corrosive spray that would destroy 

 the stigma surface. The only draw- 

 back to such a recommendation is 

 that if carried out one would not be 

 sure of a setting of fruit at all. Most 

 fruit men would prefer to thin a 

 superabundance of fruit than to run 

 the risk of getting no setting. _ 



At the beginning of the fruit blos- 

 som season an orchard should be hum- 

 ming with bees. In fact, by actual ob- 

 servation in normal orchards, t!he 

 honeybee has been found to outnum- 

 ber all other visitors of flowers a 

 hundred to one. Other insects may be 

 present, as for example, a few bum- 

 blebees, some wild bees, a few but- 

 terflies and several species of flies; 

 but all of these combined would 



have but little effect in cross-pollen- 

 ation if the honeybee were excluded. 

 Where actual tests have been made 

 where either branches or whole trees 

 have been inclosed in netting so as to 

 exclude bees, it has repeatedly been 

 found that the fruit crop suffers. 

 Many practical orchard men hire bees 

 for the blossoming period, the usual 

 price to beekeepers being $5 per col- 

 ony. 



Keeping a small apiary in the orchard 

 will bring returns many times greater 

 than the cost of the colonies. Every 

 one has noticed how fruiting has been 

 interfered with by bad weather at 

 blossoming time. When bees are not 

 flying, the trees hold out the induce- 

 ment of their blossoms a longer time, 

 but if cross-pollenation is not forth- 

 coming a heavy June drop may be 

 expected. This is an important fac- 

 tor in growing prunes, berries and 

 other fruit, especially in western 

 Washington. 



In this mutual arrangement of give 

 and take the fact must not be lost 

 sight of that it is the fruit grower who 

 profits most. The bees insure a crop 

 of fruit. Due to their activity the 

 crop is increased, perhaps by 10 per 

 cent, perhaps doubled. In return, 

 during the day or two that each 

 flower is visited, they get some pollen 

 and nectar, not enough to build up 

 stores, but only enough to stimulate 

 brood rearing. 



THE LARGEST FAMILY OF BEE- 

 KEEPERS 



We reproduce herewith photo of the 

 family of Mr. and Mrs. P. Mohr, of 

 Bettendorf, Iowa. There are fifteen 

 in this family and they are a healthy 

 looking lot. We are interested in 

 knowing whether there is a larger 

 family of beekeepers anywhere than 

 that of Mr. Mohr. If any of our read- 

 ers know of a larger family of bee- 

 keepers we will be glad to have a pic- 

 ture and some information concerning 

 them. Mr. Mohr writes that all the 

 members of his large family like 

 honey, but that only one— Anthony- 

 likes the bees. 



A large family of beekeepers. P. Mohr and family, of Iowa. 



