32 First Annual Report 



"Now. Brother Bee-Keepers, it remains for you to say whether or not, 

 this bill is in strict accord with our best interests, and in its present form will 

 meet the required end. We thought that by levying the tax of five cents per 

 colony it would be more certain of passage, and we would be in much better 

 condition to meet and stamp out ihis dread disease, thai is the nightmare of 

 the bee-k^eeper, and when once is firmly established, which was reported to 

 us to be the case, will require the enforcement of a statute similar to the one 

 presented to the last assembly for our benefit." 



A motion prevailed that when we adjourn it be to meet in a night ses- 

 sion at 7:30 o'clock. 



Mrs. Harrison, of Peoria, then read a paper as follows : 



FERTILIZATION OF PLANTS BY HONEY BEES. 



'*As we open the book of nature, we are led to exclaim, "O, Lord, how 

 manifold are Thy works, in wisdom hast Thou made them all, the earth is 

 full of Thy riches ' 



"It is true of the vegetable, as well as of the animal kingdom, that 'In 

 the beginning' God created them male and female, and commanded them 

 to multiply and replenish the earth. It appears to be the first intention, of 

 all vegetable and animal life to reproduce its kind. As plants cannot walk 

 like animals, other agents were appointed to carry out the requirements of 

 nature, viz : wind, water, birds and insects. 



WHY IS AN AGENT NECESSARY ? 



"Some families of plants are called dicEcious, from two Greek words, 

 meaning two households, as the male and female flowers are found growing 

 on separate plants, as the willow and green ash. When they are found 

 growing on the same branch, as on the oak, walnut or castor oil plant, they 

 are said to be moncecious; that is of one household. It is plainly seen that 

 in these two families some foreign agent is necessary to bring the life giving 

 power to the embryo plant. 



WIND, WATER AND BIRDS. 



"Those plants that are dependent upon the wind to bring together the 

 agents that produce life, yield pollen in great abundance as the pines (coni- 

 ferae), and it is carried great distances. Mr. Wiley has seen the ground in 

 the vicinity of St. Louis covered with it, until it looked like being covered 

 with sulphur, and he had good reason to suppose that it came from forests 

 400 miles distant. Currents of water convey pollen from one aquatic plant 

 to another. In some parts of the world, as in South America and Australia, 

 humming birds are the agents in conveying the pollen to some species of 

 flowers. 



INSECTS. 



"Insects, in the economy of nature, are powerful agen's in distributing 

 the 'father dust,' and many plants have their own particular insect. Dicen- 



