^ T -) 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



be sepured. The objections to Pompano are 

 the exorbitant freight and express rates on 

 bees as a distributing point; and dragon- 

 flies in April, that kill practically 90 per 

 cent of the queens that are out to mate; and 

 the month of April is the one month in all 

 the year when we could least afford such a 

 loss. The i^oint in favor of Pompano is 

 that bees and queens can be bred every 

 month in the year. 



We might say in this connection that 

 there are several other exaggerated news- 

 paper reports concerning our trip into 

 Florida. The Florida newspapers are pro- 

 verbially inclined to boom their own town; 

 and if they can get a scintilla of truth they 

 frequently exaggerate it beyond all sem- 

 blance of fact. 



A typewritten copy of the foregoing was 

 submitted to A. I. R., who adds: 



T am not a millionaire — never was, never expect 

 to be, and don't vi^ant to be. I am sure God did not 

 intend I should. I am not built that way. 



Slkowiiiii 



Report of the Twentieth Annual Convention of the 



Massachusetts Fruit-growers' Association Held 



at Springfield, Mass. 



A STENOGRAPHIC report of the twentieth 

 annual convention of the Massachusetts 

 Fruit-growers' Association lies before u.^. 

 A careful perusal of this will convince the 

 most skeptical of the value of bees in the 

 making of more and better fruit from the 

 standpoint of the fruit-grower. It contains 

 several addresses of more than ordinary 

 value — among them one from Dr. Burton 

 N. Gates, Professor of Bee Culture at the 

 Amherst Agricultural College, on the sub- 

 ject " Bees Indispensable to Modern Horti- 

 culture." This is followed by a paper by 

 Wilbur M. Purrington, entitled " The Value 

 of Orchards to the Beekeeper." This, again, 

 is followed, after some discussion, by a 

 paper from Earl M. Nichols, of Lj^onsville, 

 on the subject " Beginning with Bees, and 

 How to Secure Stock." So far the evidenc-e 

 is from the standpoint of the beekeeper; 

 but Prof. W. W. Chenoweth, the Assistant 

 Pomologist at the Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural College, Amherst, next follows by a 

 paper on the subject " Importance of Bees 

 in the Cross-fertilization of Fruit " from 

 the standpoint of the orchardist, and for 

 I hat reason will have more weight with the 

 fruit-grower. Our space is too limited at 

 this time to permit us to give this address 

 in full; but we take pleasure in presenting 

 Prof. Chenoweth's summary, which will be 

 read with unusual interest : 



A thoughtful consideration of all the evidence be- 



fore us, it seems to me, fully warrants the following 

 general conclusions : 



1. All tests, wherever made, and all general ob- 

 servations, agree that many varieties of apples, 

 peaches, pears, plums, sweet cherries, and grapes 

 are unable to set a crop of fruit when limited to 

 their own pollen. 



2. Some varieties of the above-named fruits are 

 partially self-fertile, and a few are apparently wholly 

 self-fertile, though the degree of fertility varies be- 

 tween rather wide limits, depending upon location, 

 season, vigor of trees, etc. 



3. All investigators agree that, as a general rule, 

 the fruit resulting from crossing, even in self-fertile 

 varieties, is larger and better developed than self- 

 fertilized fruit. This is explained by saying that 

 foreign pollen furnishes a greater stimulus to growth 

 because it is more acceptable to the pistil, and not 

 because it transmits size character of the variety 

 from which it came. 



4. All evidence at hand contradicts the theory that 

 the wind renders any dependable assistance in bring- 

 ing about cross-pollination among the above-named 

 orchard fruits, while it does emphasize the impor- 

 tance of the honeybee as an agent in rendering this 

 great service to the fruit-grower. 



5. It has been shown beyond dispute that spray- 

 ing open blossoms with arsenical poisons is injurious 

 to bees. The orchardists who persist in this prac- 

 tice secure little if any benefit which would not re- 

 sult from either an earlier or a later application. 

 Also he runs the risk of injury to the unfertilized 

 open flowers, in addition to leaving thousands of 

 poisonous cups which kill the goose which lays him 

 golden eggs. 



6. The character of the weather at blooming time 

 is the final determining factor of the fruit crop. 

 Cool, cloudy, or rainy weather at this season not only 

 affects the development of the pollen, the growth of 

 the pistil, and consequent development of ovules, 

 but the action of insects is also reduced to the min- 

 imum, thereby lessening the chance for cross-pollina- 

 tion. It has been shown that excessively cool weath- 

 er at blooming time often renders self-fertile vari- 

 eties incapable of self-fertilization, though they still 

 retain the ability to be cross-fertilized. 



In conclusion it seems safe to say that the fruit- 

 grower cannot afford to make very extensive plant- 

 ings of any of the orchard fruits under discussion 

 without making provision for abundant cross-pollin- 

 ation. This is most easily and practically done by 

 choosing commercial or standard sorts that will 

 bloom at approximately the same time, setting these 

 varieties in small blocks of only a few rows each, 

 and by establishing a few colonies of honeybees near 

 or in his fruit plantation. 



We do not suppose that this report as a 

 whole is available to any except members 

 of the Massachusetts Fruit-gTowers' Asso- 

 ciation, of which Mr. F. Howard Brown, of 

 Marlboro, is Secretary and Treasurer, and 

 Harold L. Frost, of Arlington, President. 

 Those interested might possibly secure a 

 copy by applying to either of these gentle- 

 men. 



A copy of this valuable report ought to 

 be in the hands of every fruit-grower, as we 

 consider it one of the most valuable that 

 was ever published — valuable because of the 

 data presented showing the intimate rela- 

 tionship that should exist between the bee- 

 keeper and the fruit-grower. Some very 

 full information is given on the subject of 

 pruning and spraying, and is the more 

 valuable because it is clear up to date. 



