12 



BEES AND FRUIT. 



sentence quoted above. As Gregory is not a 

 bee-keeper 1 , what he says can be taken as an 

 unbiased decision. Here is what he says for the 

 bee along this line: "The female blossoms of 

 the squash are so covered and hidden by the 

 tall leaves, that it is evident that the fertilizing 

 pollen must be conveyed to them by the bees, to 

 whom the squash- Held appears to be a rich har- 

 vest field. All of the crossing or mixing of 

 squashes is caused by the pollen from the male 

 "flowers of one variety being carried by the bees 

 to the female flowers of another variety." He 

 further states, that, if the bees are kept from 

 these female blossoms by means of netting or 

 otherwise, the embryo squash, at their base, 

 will always turn yellow and die, unless pollen 

 is carried by man from the male to the female 

 blossoms, as is done in the hybridizing of 

 squashes to produce different varieties. Here 

 is something for Mr. Pultz and the doubting 

 ones to disprove before they can establish the 

 merits of their side of the matter, for I aver 

 that, if honey is placed in any one flower to at- 

 tract insects so that seed can be perfected, and 

 if no seed can be perfected without these in- 

 sects, in that variety of flower, then honey was 

 placed in all flowers which secrete nectar, for 

 the sole purpose of attracting insects as aids in 

 their fertilization, and'that fruitage to its high- 

 est perfection can not be obtained except by the 

 aid of these insects which are attracted by this 

 nectar. I also aver, that, if the above is true, 

 and I can see no logical reason why it is not, 

 then all plants and trees whose blossoms do not 

 secrete honey are capable of self-fertilization 

 through the agency of the breeze or otherwise; 

 hence the taking of all classes of plants and 

 nut- bearing trees to sustain an Opposite theory 

 is fallacious, and not worthy of the best efforts 

 of any person. As a matter of history that 

 should go into the pamphlet to make it com- 

 plete, I would cite the case of bees being ban- 

 ished, years ago, by statute, from the town of 

 Wenham, Mass., on account of their supposed 

 injury to the apple crop of that town. While 

 so banished, the interior orchards of the town 

 gave scarcely any fruit, the little given being 

 very imperfect; while all around the borders, 

 where bees were kept, the fruit set and perfect- 

 ed in the usual style. After a few years of such 

 conclusive proof as this, that the bees were the 

 orchardists' best friend, the law was stricken 

 from the statute, and the bees invited back, 

 to the perfect satisfaction of all concerned. 



Again, I wish to note, as a matter of history, 

 that, during the past season of 1893, very little 

 buckwheat honey was secured from the buck- 

 wheat regions of the State of New York — so lit- 

 tle that we have had, for the first time in my 

 remembrance, buckwheat honey selling in our 

 markets for nearly if not quite the same price 

 as No. 1 clover honey, while it usually sells for 

 about two-thirds the price of clover honey. 

 And what has been the result? Why, the un- 



heard-of thing of buckwheat grain bringing 75 

 cts. a bushel, on account of its scarcity, while< 

 the best of white, wheat is selling at only 62 cts. 

 per bushel. As a general thing, buckwheat 

 brings from one-half to two- thirds the price of 

 wheat. That it now brings nearly one-fourth 

 more than the best of wheat tells very largely, 

 under the circumstances, on the side of the bee. 

 Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 32. 



[The following is an extract from a recent 

 government bulletin entitled Insect Life, page 

 254.— Ed.] 



bees of great value to fruit and seed 



GROWERS. 



By Frank Benton. 



At last fruit-growers and bee-keepers are getting 

 into right relations with each other. The numerous 

 discussions which have taken place regarding the 

 value of bees as fertilizers of fruit-blossoms, and of 

 those blossoms of plants grown for their seeds, aud 

 regarding the alleged damage to fruit by bees, have 

 led to close observation and careful experimenta- 

 tion, the results of which show that the interests of 

 these two classes of producers conflict in hut trifling 

 respects— that, in fact, bee-keepers and fruit-grow- 

 ers are of great help to each other, and indispens- 

 able if each is to obtain the best results in his work. 



Bee-keepers have never complained but that the 

 growing of fruit in the vicinity of their apiaries 

 was a great benefit to their interests, hence their 

 position has been merely a defensive one, the battle 

 waxing warm only when poisonous substances were 

 set out to MIL off the bees, or when fruit-growers 

 sprayed their orchards with poisonous insecticides 

 during the time the trees were in blossom; or, 

 again, when efforts were made to secure by legisla- 

 tion the removal of bees from a certain locality as 

 nuisances. Fruit-growers first relented when close 

 observation and experiment showed that wasps bite 

 open tender fruits; that birds peck them; that they 

 crack under the action of sun and rains, and hail 

 sometimes cuts them, the bees coming in only to 

 save the wasting juices of the injured fruit. The 

 wide publicity given to the results of the experi- 

 ments made under the direction of the United 

 States entomologist, and published in the report of 

 the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1885, have no 

 doubt contributed much to secure this change 

 among fruit-growers. 



But now it would appear that the bees have not 

 only been vindicated, but that, in the future; fruit- 

 growers are likely to he generally regarded as more 

 indebted to bee-keepers than the latter are to the 

 fruit-growers, for the amount of honey the bees 

 secure from fruit-blossoms comes far short of 

 equaling in value that part of the fruit crop whicli 

 many accurate observations and experiments indi- 

 cate is due to the complete cross-fertilization of the 

 blossoms by bees The observations and researches 

 of Hildebrand, Mfiller, Delpino, Darwin, and oth- 

 ers, as well as the excellent explanation of the sub 

 ject in Cheshire's recent work,* have gone far to 

 prove how greatly blossoms depend upon the agency 

 of bees for their fertilization and hence for the pro- 

 duction of seeds and fruits. 



The facts they have brought forward are gradual- 



« " Bees and Bee-keeping. ScieiitiBc and Practical," by frank 

 R. Cheshire, F. L. S., F, R. M. S., Vol. I., pp. 279-328. 



