HONEY-BEES IN HORTICULTURE 77 



Those lixnbs on the north side were well loaded with fruit while 

 on the south side there were almost none to be seen." 



Fruits and Vegetables Pollinated by Bees. 



Among the many cultivated plants in northern latitudes which 

 are pollinated by honey-bees are the apple, pear, plum, quince, 

 cherry, peach (to some extent), mulberry, peas, beans, currants, 

 grapes, squashes, melons, cucumbers, and the cranberry. In the 

 beekeeping literature, as well as in the publications of horticultur- 

 ists, are many instances of the value of bees in setting these various 

 fruits and vegetables. It will only be possible to select significant 

 illustrations. 



The Apple. It was reported to the writer in 1916, as observed 

 by a fruit grower, that merely the top branches of his apple trees 

 bore, while the lower ones, which had bloomed equally well, did 

 not fruit. The only possible explanation which has been arrived 

 at is that the top branches were in the path of bees which polli- 

 nated the top bloom but failed to reach the lower. 



Perhaps the most significant report of the effect of the introduc- 

 tion of honey-bees to the apple orchard is this specific instance of a 

 practical^ orchardist, Mr. Ralph C. Waring, of Colville, Wash. 

 Two orchards of about equal acreage in a western "pocket" in the 

 foothills of an admirable fruit land, well drained and protected from 

 frost, were owned respectively b}^ two men. One grower secured 

 large crops, while his neighbor secured none, although his fruit 

 trees were of the same age and blossomed heavily each spring. 

 The owner, in despair of financial ruin, called upon the State Experi- 

 ment Station for assistance. A specialist, who was a pomologist 

 and entomologist, investigated the two entirely comparable 

 orchards, and was about to leave without solving the problem when 

 the question of bees arose. Upon inquiry it was asserted that no 

 bees had been maintained for either orchard. Again going over 

 the ground more carefully, the specialist found in a neglected 

 corner of the fruiting orchard, a fallen log partially sunken in the 

 damp land. This sheltered a very large colony of bees; to its 

 services is attributed the success of the orchard. The following 



