272 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS THE WORK OF THE BEE? 



BY J. E. CRANE 



We have all doubtless seen apple-trees 

 that blossomed profusely, and that appar- 

 ently set full; but when the young apples 

 were as large as beans, they began to drop, 

 and kept on until not enough apples were 

 left for half a crop. Now, what proportion 

 of this dropping is caused by lack of the 

 proper fertilization of the flowers? I be- 

 lieve a much larger share than we think. It 

 seems evident that there is a wide variation 

 in the ability of fruit-trees to become fer- 

 tile. Some may produce from the pollen of 

 the same flower, while others may set fruit 

 with pollen from other flowers from the 

 same tree, while still others may require 

 pollen from some other tree. 



Plants have many ingenious ways of 

 scattering their seeds over the earth. The 

 dandelion, with its winged seeds, the bur- 

 dock with its burrs that stick to every tiling 

 that comes in contact with them. The 

 " tumbleweed," by breaking off at the sur- 

 face of the gTound at the approach of cold 

 weather, and rolling over before the wind, 

 which scatters its seeds everywhei'e in its 

 path. Fruit-trees cover their seeds with a 

 pulp enjoyed by man and other animal life, 

 and just as the fruit ripens gives the skin 

 a bright color to attract attention, the ob- 

 ject of which is doubtless that the fruit may 

 be plucked and the seed scattered. Fruit- 

 trees seem to know by instinct what the 

 pulp of the fruit is for, and just the object 

 of surrounding the seed with it, ard when 

 the embryo seed does not develop in the 

 ovary they seem to know the utter useless- 

 ness of developing the pulp, and absorb the 



cells that connect the stem of the fruit to 

 the twig of the tree, and let it drop to the 

 earth. If the tree could speak I think it 

 would say, " It is useless to produce fruit 

 unless it contains seed." How wonderful it 

 all is! We are accustomed to think that 

 the young fruit drops because of the dry- 

 ness of the earth, or very hot weather, or 

 because the tree had set more than it could 

 carry to maturity, and doubtless these may 

 have a part in causing the young fruit to 

 drop; but there is reason to believe the im- 

 perfect fertilization, or complete lack of 

 fertilization, is more often the cause of the 

 dropping of young fruits. 



But there are some surprising exceptions 

 to the rule. There is the seedless banana. 

 The navel orange, some vai-ieties of grapes, 

 and even some apples and pears, wiU ma- 

 ture without seed. Here is a large field for 

 experiment by boys or girls. Let them take 

 two bj'anches on the same side of the tree, 

 of nearly equal size; count the blossoms on 

 each. If not the same, make them so by 

 removing some from the branch having the 

 most ; then cover one with mosquito net- 

 ting, leaving the other without cover. Re- 

 move the netting after the petals drop. 

 When the fruit ripens, carefully count the 

 number of fraits on each branch. - Observe 

 if other insects than bees are at work on 

 the flowers — what lands, and the proportion 

 of them to the bees. Also we should like to 

 know the variety of apple or pear experi- 

 mented with. Peaches, plums, cherries, and 

 even eui^rants and gooseberries might come 

 in for a share of our attention. 



Middlebury, Vt, 



CAN EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD BE STAMPED OUT? 



Encouragement for Mr. Holtermann 



BY GEORGE H. REA. 



I don't wonder that Mr. Holtermann can 

 not derive much comfort out of his Jobish- 

 ite friend's advice regarding European foul 

 brood. While it is Mr. Holtermann's bees 

 that are "boiling" instead of himself, yet 

 there is some analogy between the cases af- 

 t'^r all. If Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar 

 were not much comfort to Job, they did one 

 good thing — they stirred up his fighting 

 blood. 



To control a disease and exterminate it 

 are two different things. Like Mr. Holter- 

 mann, I am not satisfied with merely con- 

 troUina' the disease. T am satisfied with no- 



thing less than its extermination, so that it 

 will not be eternally cropping out in my 

 apiaries and keeping me in hot water les! 

 it break out seriously at any time. I can 

 not afford to spend half of my time looking 

 for it. 



Mr. Holtermann is hunting for " the one 

 who has stamped out the disease after it has 

 spread among his bees." I will essay to offer 

 my services in that capacity. If any one has 

 doubt up his sleeve, pay me a visit and look 

 up my records. Besides cleaning up the dis- 

 ease from my own bees I have helped to rid 

 it from this community. It has been prae- 



