BEES AND FRUIT. 



15 



•etc. But for certain fruits and clovers, the bee 

 as, par excellence, the ministering angel in their 

 fruition. Let no one deny this. The man of 

 •experience, as well as the man of science, will 

 -contradict him if he does. 



I have kept bees for 30 years, and have grown 

 fruit and clover alongside for 30 years. I have 

 also studied a little and experimented a little in 

 this line as well as many other lines. As to 

 ■some kinds of fruit — notably apples — I have ob- 

 served that if, during the bloom, the weather 

 was such that neither the winged insects nor 

 the wind (being wet and cold) could perform 

 their function with the flowers, the fruit was 

 non est. When the weather at other times was 

 favorable, and the bloom abundant, I have ex- 

 cluded the bees from certain portions of the 

 tree, only to find the fruit also excluded— but 

 only from those certain'portions. 



In the spriug of 1892 I was summoned to ap- 

 pear before a legislative committee of the 

 House of Assembly of Ontario, at Toronto, to 

 give evidence as to the effects on the apiarian 

 industry of spraying fruit-trees, while in bloom, 

 with Paris green and other poisons. Our On- 

 tario Bee-keepers' Association had moved for 

 an act to prohibit the spraying while the trees 

 were in bloom, as the bees were being poisoned 

 In various places, and the spraying at such a 

 time was unnecessary, and, indeed, injurious 

 to the fruit as well as poisonous to the bees. 

 The Minister of Agriculture, for the enlighten- 

 ment and guidance of the legislative committee 

 in a matter so important where the interests of 

 the apiarists and horticulturists were alike in- 

 volved, had summoned the leading men in both 

 industries in the province to appear before the 

 committee, to present the facts, the experiences, 

 the pros and cons of both sides. The scientists 

 were also summoned from Ottawa and Guelph— 

 Dominion and Provincial entomologists — to 

 speak for science. The questions of spraying, 

 fertilization, etc., were discussed. The horti- 

 culturists, with one single exception, admitted 

 the valuable and indispensable offices performed 

 by the honey-bee in the fertilization of the 

 fruit-bloom : and this was corroborated and con- 

 firmed by the entomologists. The fruit-grow- 

 ers agreed that " the bees play a very important 

 part in cross-fertilization, and, therefore, should 

 not be destroyed;" that " we are very generally 

 dependent upon insects for the fertilization of 

 our orchards. To destroy them to any extent 

 would be very injurious to fruit growers." 



Prof. .Tames Fletcher, Dominion Entomologist, 

 said, "Bees do not visit fruit-bloom in dull 

 weather, and then we get little fruit in conse- 

 quence." It may be well to quote Prof. Fletch- 

 er here on a cognate point also, as being a high 

 authority. He said: " As to bees injuring fruit, 

 there is no direct evidence. Wasps may start 

 the work, and then bees continue it. We have 

 never been able to find a case of primary injury 

 by bees." (See official report of meeting.) 



The consensus of the meeting was, that " bee- 

 keepers and fruit-growers are of great help to 

 each other, and even indispensable, if each 

 class is to obtain the best results in their 

 work." 



The act we sought of the legislature became 

 law in this Province, as follows: " No person, 

 in spraying or sprinkling fruit-trees, during the 

 period within which such trees are in full 

 bloom, shall use or cause to be used any mix- 

 ture containing Paris green or any other poison- 

 ous substance injurious to bees." The penalty 

 clause follows, whichj need not quote. 



The two following facts are well established; 

 viz., that bees perform an important and well- 

 nigh indispensable function in the fertilization 

 of fruit-bloom; and that, in order to properly 

 protect the fruit from the ravages of destruc- 

 tive insects, it is not necessary to apply the 

 poisonous remedies at a time when the bees 

 will be injured thereby — that is, during full 

 bloom, when the bees visit the trees for nectar. 

 Darwin, Hilderbrand, Milller, and other nat- 

 uralists, have, by their observations and experi- 

 ments, placed these matters (of such prime im- 

 portance to the bee-keeper) beyond question. 



Selby, Ontario. 



NECTAR PROM CORN - BLOSSOMS; DO STORMS 



WASH OUT THE POLLEN OR KEEP THE 



BEES AWAY FROM THE BLOSSOMS? 



By E. H. Schaeffle. 



I am pleased to see Mr. Doolittle champion- 

 ing the bee as the fertilizer of fruit-blossoms. 

 Unfortunately these articles appear in bee- 

 journals, where " the whole need no physician," 

 for every bee-keeper is more than willing to 

 credit the " blessed bees " with all the blessings 

 man is heir to. It is the fruit-grower who needs 

 educating, and, in consequence, the articles 

 should be published in fruit-growers' journals. 



For years past I have each year driven from 

 fruit-ranch to fruit-ranch throughout the cen- 

 tral and northern counties of this State, and 

 have endeavored by tongue and pen, to correct 

 the false impressions under which many of the 

 fruit-growers labor; and it is surprising how 

 ignorant these otherwise intelligent people are, 

 and how bitterly they denounce the bee. For- 

 tunately this prejudice is being removed, and 

 the more intelligent orchardists nowdeclare that 

 the fruit-grower to be successful, must plant 

 bees as well as fruit-trees if he would reap the 

 greatest possible results, while the old fanatics, 

 Once wedded fast, 

 Hug their delusions to the last, 



and can not be convinced that the bee and 

 his keeper are other than two evils that should 

 be legislated against, or by force driven out of 

 existence. 



Last spring I visited the Oak Leaf apiaries of 

 Mr. S. L. Watkins, of Grizzly Flats, Cal. The 

 profusion and diversity of bloom was simply 

 wonderful; but the bees were not confined to 



