66 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



pasture, so far as I can judge, but equal crops of honey were not produced be- 

 cause the different apiaries were managed by three different persons. The one 

 east of me made a moderate increase in stock and produced about ten pounds of 

 honey per colony ; the one west doubled their number, and consumed all the 

 honey they made and a barrel of sugar besides. My apiary made no increase in 

 stock because I wanted the honey, and I got about forty-five pounds per colony. 

 — Ex. 



BEES AND FRUIT. 



UR readers will remember that in April of last year an Act was 

 passed in the interest of bee-keepers restraining fruit growers from 

 spraying their trees with arsenical poisons during the time of the 

 blossoming, for fear of injury to the bees which might be gathering 

 honey in the orchard. The following are the clauses of the Act : 

 i. No person in spraying fruit or sprinkling fruit trees during 

 the period within which such trees are in full bloom, shall use or cause to be 

 used, any mixture containing Paris green or any other poisonous substance 

 injurious to bees. 



2. Any person contravening the provisions of this Act, shall on summary 

 conviction thereof before a Justice of the Peace, be subject to a penalty of not 

 less than $i, or more than $5, with or without costs of prosecution, and in case 

 of a fine, or a fine and costs being awarded, and of the same not being upon 

 conviction forthwith paid, the Justice may commit the offender to the common 

 jail, there to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding thirty days, unless the 

 fine and costs are sooner paid. 



3. This Act shall not come into force until the first day of January, 1892 

 Mr. J. H. Panton, M.A., Professor of Biology, O. A. C, Guelph, has 



written a bulletin on this subject, in which he first shows how fruits are fertilized 

 by the pollen grains of the blossoms, naming four principal means, first the 

 wind, second artificial means, third by birds, and fourth by insects. The latter 

 he considers by far the most common method, and of insects no class is more 

 useful than bees. 



The importance of perfect fertilization is evidenced by the fact that, where 

 this does not take place, the fruit is incompletely developed, both in size and 

 form, so that the quantity and quality are affected. Observations which have 

 been made show that orchards in which bee hives are situated are more fruitful 

 than those without hives. It has also been observed that the time when the 

 weather was cloudy, wet and cold, during the blossoming of our orchard trees, 

 and so unfavorable to the bees working among the flowers, the result has been 

 poor fruit. 



