GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



that \vlieiie\er 1 went over to the east coast 

 on any of my travels 1 should be sure to see 

 CU:arley Repp, who was looking after tlieir 

 cucumber farm at Delray. He Avould ar- 

 range, if possible, to have Mr. RejDiJ accom- 

 pany us on our trip south, as he felt sure I 

 would be glad l(j get some notes on the 

 value of bees as pollinators. To make a 

 long story short, our cruiser and party 

 arrived in due time at Delray, and Charley 

 Repp was at the dock, and soon jiiloted us 

 to his cucumber farm of Avhieh I have al- 

 ready spoken. 



"Bees? Oh, yes!" he said; "couldn't 

 raise cucumbers without bees. There is a 

 colony or two, over there, and tliere are a 

 lot more of them about half a mile away.'' 



"You are positive that bees are necessary 

 for cucumbers'? " 



" Yes, I am sure of it," he replied. 



As we walked down to the dock I said, 

 " Mr. Repp, I am greatly interested, as you 

 may surmise, in this matter of bees as pol- 

 linators, and ever since I read that Avrite-up 

 of you boys in the May 24th issue of the 

 Country Gentleman, where you gave such 

 testimony for the bees, I have been wanting 

 to see one of you and ask questions." 



On arrival at the boat we took some camp- 

 chairs and sat on the upper deck, and then 

 began our interview. After Charlie had 

 seated liimself in the camp-chair that shows 

 in Fig. 3 he said, " Now fire away with your 

 questions." 



" Say, Charley" (for I had become well 

 enough acquainted with him by this time 

 to address him thus familiarly), "how many 

 bees or colonies does it take to pollinate an 

 acre of apple-trees'? " 



" Oh ! ask me something easy," he repli^^d. 

 with a merry twinkle. " I can't answer that. 

 as so much depends on the size of the trees 

 and the kind of season." 



" Well, about how many'? " I asked. 



"I don't know; but I will tell you this 

 much : We can't have too many. The more 

 bees we can have, the better." 



"Why?" I asked. 



"Because," he answered, "in some seasons 

 the flights of bees are limited. Bees can't 

 pollinate during wet or bad weather; and 

 during the few good houi's of flying weath- 

 pr, of course we need a lai'ge number of 

 bees." 



" But I have heard it said that there are 

 certain varieties of apples that are self- 

 pollinating — for instance, the Baldwin, and 

 that the bees are not needed on them." 



" Possibly," be replied. " We can gi-ow 

 self-pollinating apples: but the varieties are 

 very limited. Bees are necessary to increase 

 the varieties. Tn order to make apple-grow- 

 ing a success, we must grow the variety that 



is best adapted to the climate and soil. 

 Those we grow require the agency of the 

 bees. We can't grow the Baldwins, but we 

 can grow the Winesap, and the latter needs 

 bees." 



" How about the value of bees on peaches 

 and cherries ? " 



" I do not think they are quite as neces- 

 sary on these blossoms; but apples must 

 have them." 



" Well, now, Charley, I have felt that the 

 spraying of trees is a necessity, and that 

 pruning is also a necessity, but that bees are 

 only secondarily important." 



" But why are not bees a necessity? " he 

 replied. " We simply can't gi'ow apples 

 without bees — that is, some varieties at least. 

 We can't dispense with spraying or prun- 

 ing, nor can we with bees." 



HOW THE LIQUOR PEOPLE WERE GOING TO 

 " GET " THE REPP BROTHERS. 



" To change the subject, Selser tells me 

 that you boys are strong temperance men; 

 that you have been active in the fight against 

 saloons — so much so that you have incurred 

 the wrath of the liquor people, and that 

 they have threatened to get you. Is that 

 so?" 



" Yes," he said, " we have no use for the 

 liquor business, and fight it every chance 

 we get." 



" I understand that one of the liquor 

 agents threatened to put you boys out of 

 business." 



" Yes, but they did not scare us very 

 much." 



" What were they going to do? " 



" The liquor agent said that they were 

 going to put out mammoth orchards next 

 to us and undersell us. ' We will get you," 

 they said. ' for you can't interfere with our 

 business without getting into trouble.' " 



"What did you say'?" 



" I told them I would rather they would 

 I'aise apples than to raise hell. Then they 

 told me they Avere going to put up a mam- 

 moth ice-plant and make ice cheaper than 

 we could. I told them I would rather see 

 them make ice than to make bums. Then 

 they said they were going to put up a large 

 cold-storage plant and store apples, and 

 then undei-sell us. I told them I would 

 rather see them fill a cold-storage plant than 

 a jail." 



" Did they try to ' get ' you in any other 

 wav?" 



" ^'es, they went after our bankers and 

 Iried to get them to pinch us. But our 

 bankers were our friends." 



" Did they start their apple-orchards and 

 cold-storaee plant? " 



" Naw ! " 



