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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15, 



RELATION OF THE HONEY-BEE TO AGRICUL- 

 TURE. 



What Fruits are Most Visited by Bees ? 



BY F. GREINER. 



The fruit-growers of the present day are be- 

 coming more and more convinced of the im- 

 portance of the part the honey-bee plays in 

 the pollination and cross pollination of the 

 blossoms of our common cultivated fruits, and 

 that to such an extent that already many or- 

 chardists have either themselves engaged in 

 bee culture or have induced bee-keepers to es- 

 tablish apiaries in their localities. The bee- 

 keeping specialist is naturally interested in 

 this matter, although he is viewing it from a 

 different standpoint. It interests him intense- 

 ly to know from what special fruit-blossoms 

 his bees fill their hives quickest with honey, 

 and from what source they get the most and 

 the earliest pollen, etc. To bring some facts 

 relating to this matter to the notice of the 

 bee-keepers would, it seems to me, be a bene- 

 fit to them in more than one way ; and what 

 I shall say in the following are the observa- 

 tions of noted men as well as our own in or- 

 chard and field. 



Prof. Lazenby stated before the Ohio Horti- 

 cultural Society that the apricot was the first 

 of all fruits to bloom, and that the honey-bees 

 would work on these blossoms to some extent. 

 Closely following the apricot he finds the dif- 

 ferent plum varieties blooming, the Japanese 

 plums blossoming first. All the Japanese va- 

 rieties are extremely prolific, and from the 

 second and third year after their setting they 

 bloom and bear profusely every year. I am 

 growing Japanese plums and others, and I can 

 truthfully say their tendency to bear fruit is 

 marvelous. Every little twig is so covered 

 with blossoms that they have not room enough 

 to expand. The bees fairly roar in the trees 

 when the weather is suitable. 



While plowing and working among my trees 

 I have worked in a regular swarm of bees to 

 my own delight. According to Prof. Lazenby 

 the plum-blossoms yield quite a little honey. 

 The European varieties continue in the 

 bloom, and bees sometimes work for a period 

 of over three weeks on plum-blossoms where 

 the different varieties are grown. 



Next, and before the plums are done bloom- 

 ing, the sweet cherries, the sour cherries, the 

 pears, and the peaches furnish a feast for the 

 bees in the order named. Last comes the ap- 

 ple. The apple-bloom is perhaps of the great- 

 est importance to the bee-keeper for several 

 reasons. Apple-trees are most numerous, their 

 blossoms yield more honey than any other 

 fruit-blossoms, the weather is generally more 

 favorable, and the bloom lasts for about two 

 weeks. 



Prof. Lazenby observed that plum-blossoms 

 are more freely visited by bees than cherries ; 



cherry-blossoms, again, more frequently than 

 apple ; these more frequently than peach ; 

 to pear - blossoms the least attention was 

 paid of any of the fruits. He also noted 

 that, during the time plums and cherries were 

 in bloom, the secretion of honey was gradual- 

 ly increasing from morning to afternoon. He 

 counted the bees that were returning to their 

 hives, and found that, between the hours of 

 8 and 9, in 30 minutes 1266 pollen-laden bees 

 entered their hives (two in number) against 

 564 honey-laden bees. Between 11 and 12, in 

 30 minutes 418 pollen laden bees entered their 

 hives against 2362 honey-laden bees, and be- 

 tween 2 and 3 (afternoon), in 30 minutes 132 

 pollen-laden bees only were counted against 

 5154 bees loaded with honey. It seems the 

 bees neglected the pollen in favor of the hon- 

 ey toward and during the afternoon. 



I have often noticed that honey bees are 

 very apt to do that very same thing during any 

 bountiful honey-flow. When the basswood 

 honey-flow is at its best, scarcely any pollen 

 is carried into the hives, although- plenty may 

 be had. There seems to be quite a difference 

 in this respect between different colonies. 

 Prof. Lazenby observed. May 7, during ap- 

 ple-bloom, out of 702 in-coming bees of one 

 hive, 164 carried pollen, 538 carried honey ; 

 from 825 in coming bees of another hive, 606 

 carried pollen and only 219 carried honey — 

 the one colony evidently going in for pollen 

 principally, the other one for honey. It 

 would have been interesting had we been told 

 the exact condition of each of these two colo- 

 nies as to the amount of brood and open 

 brood ; there might also have been a short 

 supply of pollen in one hive, a scant supply 

 of honey in the other, inducing the bees of 

 these two colonies to gather that which was 

 needed most in their respective households. 

 But these are only speculations. 



Among the small fruits the professor notic- 

 ed that red raspberries (blossoms) were most 

 frequently visited by our bees. After those 

 the most attention was paid to the blackberry- 

 blossoms, next to black raspberries, then 

 gooseberries, then currants, and finally straw- 

 berries, the latter being almost totally neglect- 

 ed by bees. 



I consider the red and black raspberries very 

 valuable as honey-producers in my own local- 

 ity. There are many extensive fields of black 

 raspberries within reach of my bees, and these 

 fields are fairly roaring at the time of the 

 bloom. The gain in the hives is noticeable, 

 and sometimes sections are filled with a rather 

 dark inferior honey. 



If we were to mark the different common 

 fruit-plants on a scale of ten, showing the 

 comparative number of flowers of each visited 

 by bees, the grading would be as follows, ac- 

 cording to Prof. Lazenby : 



Red raspberry, 9.5 ; blackberry, 9 ; plum, 9; 

 cherry, 8.5 ; black raspberry, 8 ; apple, 6 ; 

 gooseberry, 4.5 ; peach, 3.5 ; pear, 3 ; currant, 

 2 ; strawberry, 1. 

 THE WEIGHT OF BEES AND THEIR LOADS. 



To the following statements of Prof. Lazen- 

 by I now wish to draw the reader's attention, 

 especially as they contain something new to 



