BEES AND FRUIT. 



sules gave 131 seeds. The bumble-bees had 

 worked on these blossoms, there being few 

 flowers when they bloomed. Aug. 14 1 gather- 

 ed the covered blossoms, also some on some 

 plants not covered. Where the numbers are 

 the same, they are part of the same head of 

 clover. 



Nos. 8 and 9 were on a plant about 50 feet 

 from other clover- plants. Three heads, where 

 153 florets were open when covered, gave 104 

 seeds, or 68.421 %\ 3 heads, where 236 florets 

 w.ere not open when covered, gave 111 seeds, or 

 47.033 %. Loss by covering, 21.388 %. 



The total florets not covered, 527, gave 385 

 seeds, or 73.055 %. The total florets covered, 

 368, gave 211 seeds, or 57.337 %. Loss by cover- 

 ing, 15.718 %. 



Alsike and peavine red clover yield seed from 

 the first blossoms; therefore, it is the nature of 

 the plant, and not lack of bees, that causes 

 fewer seed in first blossoms of red clover. The 

 later blossoms of red clover will yield seed 

 without the aid of bumble-bees; but their work 

 adds about 15 % to the yield. So the farmer 

 who destroys all bumble-bees' nests is destroy- 

 ing a large part of his profit if he raises clover. 



Bloomfield, Ind., Dec. 28. J. C. Gilliland. 



[This most valuable communication was fol- 

 lowed again by a private letter from Mr. Doo- 

 little, inclosing an article from Mr. W. S. Fultz, 

 which the latter says we at one time refused to 

 publish. We have no recollection of this; at 

 any rate, as it seems to be a good one we are 

 glad to give place to it at this time.] 



ABE BEES NECESSARY TO THE PROPER FER- 

 TILIZATION OF FRUIT-BLOOM? 



The assertion has often been made by horti- 

 cultural journals and bee-papers, that the 

 honey-bee is an essential to the perfect fertili- 

 zation of fruit-bloom, and that, without the aid 

 of bees, the fruit-grower could not carry on his 

 business with any certainty of a crop, so that 

 the public have got to believe that such is 

 really the case. Bee-journals have been very 

 persistent in asserting that, if there were no 

 bees, there would be no fruit. This is especially 

 the case whenever they hear of any fruit- 

 grower charging that the bees have been de- 

 stroying fruit. 



In studying this question we naturally go 

 back to the early history of the country, and 

 we find that the first settlers of this country 

 found in many places wild fruit growing in 

 abundance. We also find that, in many parts 



of the country, there were nut-trees of various 

 kinds that showered down their nuts each au- 

 tumn, and that, within the almost boundless 

 forests, there were trees of all sizes, from the 

 tiny yearling to the giant monarch of the 

 forest, showing conclusively that the nuts and 

 seeds of the forest had been properly fertilized 

 for centuries before the advent of the white 

 man. History also informs us that the first 

 white settlers of America found no honey-bees, 

 and that the first bees introduced into this 

 country came from Europe, and that they were 

 the German or brown bee. What, then, was it 

 that fertilized the wild-fruit bloom, the nut and 

 other trees of the extensive forests of America, 

 to say nothing of the corn, tobacco, and other 

 crops that were raised by the Indians? 



In discussing this question with bee-keepers 

 they always refer me to the fact that there 

 were bumble-bees, wasps, hornets, and other 

 honey -gathering insects in the country; but 

 when asked how many of these insects there 

 were in each nest at the time when trees are 

 usually in bloom, they were obliged to admit 

 that the queen was the only one, and that it 

 was utterly impossible that the extensive fer- 

 tilization necessary could have been performed 

 by them. 



When the first settlers from the United States 

 went to California they found various kinds of 

 fruit growing there. Many of the old Spanish 

 missions were noted for the fine fruits that were 

 raised there. The same is also true of Oregon 

 and Washington, and yet there were no honey- 

 bees there. We have a true account of the first 

 attempts that were made to introduce the 

 honey-bee into the Pacific Slope. That account, 

 if given, would make this paper too long, and 

 is not germane to the subject. It is sufficient to 

 say, that fruits of different kinds, both wild 

 and cultivated, were raised without the aid of 

 the honey-bee. I might here add that the 

 Mormons found the same state of affairs to 

 exist in Utah that the early American settlers 

 found on the Pacific Slope. So much for history, 

 now for personal observation. 



The winter of 1871 will long be remembered 

 by the bee-keepers of that time as one of great 

 disaster. Fully 75 per cent of all the apiaries of 

 Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois were wiped 

 out of existence, and the others were so decimat- 

 ed that, in nearly every case, not more than three 

 or four hives of bees were left, and those were 

 very weak during the early part of the follow- 

 ing summer. Several apiaries with which I 

 was acquainted, that had contained 100 hives 

 of bees and over, were entirely wiped out of 

 existence, and bee-keepers in Muscatine Co., 

 Iowa, and in the adjoining county of Mercer, 

 in Illinois, sent to Western Kentucky for a sup- 

 ply of bees to get a new start. These bees were 

 not brought until after fruit-bloom. The cause 

 of the great mortality to bees was said to be 

 poisoned honey that had been gathered by them 



