28, i888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



663 



THE UTILITY OF BEES. 



(Concluded from p. 597.) 



EDMUND AGASSIZ, a bee-owner of Switzer- 

 land, writes thus to La Nature : — 

 ith us no one questions the utility of bees for en- 

 the fecundation, and in consequence the pro- 

 ;ness, of fruit-trees in general. As for the grain 

 I have never remarked that the bees visit the 

 at least in our country. At the time when the 

 is in bloom other flowers supply an abundant 

 ion for the bees, which always visit by preference 

 ■ mts which secrete most nectar. It is the same 

 le vine. With us the bees do not visit it, or 

 men the fruit is very ripe. Still, I have seen them 

 nally visiting the vines, but finding little, they 

 one elsewhere. 



'me years ago I read in a small agricultural journal 

 r from a person who complained of having no 

 1 his trees, and foolishly ascribed this defect to the 

 vhich he thought exhausted the trees by sucking 

 .ikes. Now, the spring of that year was exceed- 

 unpropitious ; the blossoming of the trees had 

 uined by. cold, wind, and rain. The bees had not 

 ible to fly about, in consequence [of the bad 

 ;r, so that they could not fairly be blamed for the 

 ef. Fertilisation had failed, not only because the 

 "'' not been able to visit the drenched and im- 

 •led blossoms, and the wind which, in a 

 assists in the work, though in a hap- 

 ., could not convey the clotted and 

 lieu pollen from one flower to another. No one 

 le trouble to reply to this correspondent, 

 any case the culture of bees cannot be too much 

 aged. Here in Switzerland agriculture is carried to 

 t height, especially rational apiculture with im- 

 1 hives. We have many societies, lectures, and 

 :ioi;s. I shall at the season make further observa- 

 s to the visits of the bees to the wheat when in 



following passage from the Australian Times 

 es consideration : — 



Dver rarely produces fertile seeds in New Zealand, 

 e the humble-bees necessary to its fecundation 

 t found there. Mr. Douglas, of Motiti, has just 

 ed a nest of humble-bees in the hope that these 

 may prove a remedy for the situation. Darwin 

 :ed the following striking proposition : If we 



gather fertile seeds of clover and of pansies, 

 ist have cats ! " In fact, humble-bees are necessary 

 : fecundation of these plants, and as field-mice are 

 and of honey and destroy them, we must protect 

 rls and the cats which kill the field-mice. Mr. A. 

 illace, in his grand work "The Geographical Dis- 

 on of Animals," informs us that the entomological 

 y of New Zealand corresponds to its botanical 

 y. An analogous fact is observed in the Gallapagos 

 3, which are still poorer, 



h reference to the remarks of M. Edmond Agassix, 



1 above, that bees do not visit the vines, at least in 

 ;rland, M. Jobard, of Dijon, writes that in the Cote 

 he facts are very different. This is shown by the 

 'llowing letters, Mr. Henri Maitre, of Chassagne, in 

 >te d'Or, writes, " Another proprietor and myselj" 

 issagne, are the only persons here who keep bee\ 

 le arbours and walls of our gardens are each year 

 1 with splendid clusters. They are indubitably the 



finest in the village, and our common friend M. Monniot 

 can tell you if I exaggerate." 



M. Furgeot, of Mersault, in the same department, 

 writes, " I know a neighbour who has a fine hive, and 

 his trees are generally envied for their fine fruits. The 

 vine in his court produces large grapes, though it is con- 

 sidered to be of a small-fruited variety." 



M. Froissard, an eminent agriculturist of Anney, 

 writes, " I am perfectly convinced that M. Jobard is 

 right. It is with plants as with ourselves. Their re- 

 production by consanguinity, if I may thus express my- 

 self, ultimately reduces every organic species to rachi- 

 tism. The crossing of the pollen prevents this degenera- 

 tion, and the bees effect such crossing as they gather 

 pollen from flower to flower. I have earned, by way of 

 amusement, 1,000 francs yearly by my eighteen hives, 

 rationally managed. If persons of influence would take 

 up this question they would confer a wonderful service 

 on our peasantry." 



By way of hearing all sides of the question we quote 

 the following remarks from a work entitled " Cameos 

 from the Silver Land," by E. W. White, F.Z.S. (London : 

 Van Voorst) : " The people of Rioja have a great horror 

 of bees, and allow no hives within leagues of their city, 

 asserting that they destroy both fruit and flowers, espe- 

 cially of the grapes and oranges." Mr. White called 

 this " an ordinance based upon ignorance," an opinion 

 with which we should be disposed to igree. But we 

 should like to know the origin of this strange notion, and 

 upon what facts, real or imaginary, it is founded. 



- — *^t^>'^tf-» — - 

 CORRESPONDENCE. 



The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents, nor can he take notice of anonymous com' 

 munications . All letters must be accompanied by the name and 

 address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, but as a 

 guarantee of good faith. 



COLOUR OF THE WINGS OF CATOCALA SPONSA, 

 I have heard that at a recent meeting of the Entomological 

 Society there was exhibited a specimen of a Catocala — 

 believe sponsa — in which the hinder wings, instead of the 

 ordinary red, were of a rich purple colour. Can any of your 

 entomological readers say whether this was an anomaly, or 

 whether the specimen produced was a female, which, I am 

 told, is very rarely to be met with ? G. G. 



THE UTILITY OF BEES. 



I have read with much interest this article, which appeared 

 in the Scientific News for December 14th, 1888, but can- 

 not agree with it as regards the fertilisation of cereals, 

 especially wheat. Mr. A. S. Wilson, after careful experi- 

 ments and observations, came to the conclusion that self- 

 fertilisation is the rule among cereals. 



Cross-fertilisation, no doubt, does occasionally take place, 

 being generally effected by means of the wind. I never yet 

 saw a bee in a wheat-field, and I should like to know what 

 reward they get for fertilising the wheat. E. B. 



Great Malvern. 



[They could certainly find pollen. — Ed. S. N^\ 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



L. B. B. — The experiments of Ludvvig and his pupils show 

 that a supply of oxygen is necessary to the activity of 

 the cardiac nerve-centres. In vacuo or in C0 2 the heart 

 soon ceases to beat. 



