510 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



were stinging the fruit, with the 

 result that the bees were' shipped 

 away. In a few months the 

 cherry crop began to dwindle, 

 and almost fail; and when the 

 growers met together to consid- 

 er the cause it was found that, 

 with the sending away of the 

 bees, the crop had begun to fail. 



There happened to be one or 

 two wise heads in the conven- 

 tion, who surmised the cause; 

 and as an experiment the bees 

 were brought back, with the re- 

 sult that the crop went back to 

 its former proportions, thus 

 showing the close relation be- 

 tween bees and fruit. 



What is true of fruit-blossoms 

 is also true of many others, chief 

 of which is the cucumber. There 

 are two distinct kinds of blos- 

 soms upon a cucumber- vine — 

 the male and female; and in or- 

 der to get fruit the pollen must 

 be carried from the male to the female. 



During the summer, when cucumbers are 

 grown out of doors, bees in the vicinity kept 

 in hives, or living wild in old trees, will fully 

 accomplish the purpose. When it comes, 

 however, to raising early cucumbers in a 

 hothouse, when the vines will be blossoming 

 before the bees are aflight, one is confront- 

 ed by a serious proposition. 



Mr. J. F. Becker, of Morganville, N. J., 

 found that, ilhe could get a crop of cucum- 

 bers grown in hothouses so as to get them 

 to market before those grown out in the 



INTERIOR OF CUCUMBER- GREENHOUSE; HIVE WITH EN- 

 TRANCE INSIDE. 



field should arrive, he would be able to com- 

 mand a splendid price for them. After 

 careful thought he determined to try the ex- 

 periment of placing a hive of bees in each 

 hothouse to see if they would pollenize the 

 vines. Hives with strong colonies were 

 bought, and placed in each end of each house 

 so that the bees could fly out into the house 

 from one hive-entrance or out of doors as 

 they preferred. The writer visited the hot- 

 house during April, when the blossoms cov- 

 ered the vines, and the noise of the bees 

 could be distinctly heard as they went from 



flower to 

 flower. So 

 thoroughly 

 did the little 

 bees do the 

 work requir- 

 ed, that, with 

 few e X c e p- 

 tions, healthy 

 cucumbers 

 formed at 

 each female 

 blossom. 



The crop 

 that followed 

 was enormous 

 both as to size 

 and quantity, 

 some speci- 

 mens being a 

 foot long, and 

 as much as 

 three inches 

 in diameter. 

 Not only were 

 the cucum- 

 bers fine in 

 appearance, 

 but especially 

 luscious were 

 they for eat- 

 ing. So thor- 

 oughly did 



CUCUMBER-BLOSSOM WITH A BEE.'ON IT, CAUGHT IN THE ACT. 



