SYMPOSIUn ON BEES AND FRUIT. 



Valuable Testimony Supporting the Bee. 



A Lively Discussion, Pro and Con. 



SO BEES FERTILIZE FRUIT-BLOSSOMS T 

 BOTH SIDES OF THE QUESTION. 



[A short time ago there appeared in the Rural 

 New -Yorker an excellent article from Dr. G. C. 

 Miller, on bees and fruit, which was followed 

 in a later issue by another article taking strong 

 ground against what the doctor had said. We 

 wrote to friend M., asking him if he were going 

 to let the matter drop there. In reply we re- 

 ceived the following note, asking information 

 through Gleanings.— Ed.] 



The Rural New-Yorker, reliable paper that 

 it is on all other subjects, had an item sneering 

 at the idea that fruit-trees should not be spray- 

 ed when in bloom, suggesting that the bee- 

 keeper should keep his bees at home. A reply 

 was made, saying that, if the bee-keeper should 

 keep his bees away, the fruit-grower wouldn't 

 be troubled with spraying, for there wouldn't 

 be enough fruit set to make it worth while to 

 spray. Then L. E. E., of L., Nebraska, made a 

 reply in which he says, " I lived several years 

 in Wyoming; was engaged in the growing of 

 vegetables, fruits, and flowers, for commercial 

 purposes, and was in the seed business. We 

 had no bees in that country until two years 

 before I left there. We grew apples, crabs, 

 raspberries, and strawberries, the latter in 

 great quantities, of immense size and most ex- 

 cellent quality. Then our wild fruits — plums, 

 cherries, and service-berries, bore year after 

 year, the trees being literally loaded down with 

 fruit. I left that favored clime, and came to 

 what is termed the fruit-belt of Nebraska; but 

 I want to tell you that we had more and better 

 fruit in a day in Wyoming, where we had no 

 bees to fertilize the blossoms, than I have seen 

 here in two years, with an apiary at every sec- 

 ond house." 



I want to ask, through Gleanings, whether 

 the experience and observation of others cor- 

 roborate the foregoing statement. Were there 

 no bees in Wyoming till four years ago? Did 

 others have such crops of fruit as are mention- 

 el, with no bees visiting the blossoms? We 

 ought to seek the truth, whatever it may be, 

 even if it upsets what has previously been sup- 

 posed to be the truth. From my own observa- 

 tion, I have always supposed that bees aided 

 the fertilization of pretty much all kinds of 



fruit; but I do not know that I ever saw them 

 work to any extent on strawberries. Are they 

 needed for strawberries ? If any of our friends 

 of Wyoming, or of the fruit-belt of Nebraska, 

 can give us any light, I sha 1 be much obliged 

 to have them write to me or to Gleanings. 

 Marengo, 111. C. C. Millek. 



[The article in the Rural, together with a 

 recent one by G. M. Doolittle, on page 915, 

 Gleanings for Dec. 15, seems to have stirred 

 up some little discussion among the brethren. 

 Among others just received is the following, 

 which we publish, not so much because it sup- 

 ports the side of the bee-keeper impartially, but 

 because of the painstaking care the writer has 

 used in obtaining the facts.] 



BUMBLE-BEES AND CLOVEB. 



It is an idea often stated, that clover will not 

 yield seed without the aid of bumble-bees, and 

 that clover did not yield seed in Australia until 

 bumble-bees were imported. I did not believe 

 this, as plants were created first, and for the 

 higher order of animal life, but so as to continue 

 existence without animal aid. Therefore honey 

 was primarily for the bee, and incidentally the 

 bee helps the plant in gathering the honey. To 

 find the facts, I made some observations and 

 experiments. 



In 1891 there were 134 acres of medium red 

 clover that came within 30 feet of my door, and, 

 being confined to the house by sickness, I 

 watched this field. There was the usual 

 amount of rain until April 20; then there was 

 no rain until June 1, so the clover-florets were 

 shorter than usual, and the honey-bees worked 

 on them as much as white clover. Still there 

 were only few seeds. This clover was not a 

 small growth, as it made two tons of dry hay 

 per acre, first crop. When the second crop 

 bloomed, there were the most bumble-bees I 

 ever saw, as the best estimate I could make 

 was that there was one to each ten feet square, 

 making 4356 working at the same time on one 

 acre. When the seed ripened, there was a large 

 crop. This year, being still unable to walk, I 

 rolled out into the yard in my wheel-chair, and 

 made this experiment. July 21 1 covered some 

 clover-blossoms with netting. Part of the 

 florets being open, I tied a small thread around 

 the open ones. At the same time I gathered 

 five heads of clover that were ripe, and 447 cap- 



