184 The Honey-Makers 



The value of bees to the production of various fruits and 

 vegetables is inestimable, as the horticulturist of to-day well 

 knows ; and the wise farmer has a row of bee-hives not far 

 from the orchard, that he may win, not only a store of 

 delectable sweets, but also a sure crop from his fruit trees. 

 It has been frequently demonstrated that orchards which 

 year after year failed to bear, upon the introduction of 

 bee-hives at once yielded a good crop. Unless the flowers 

 are well fertilized no fruit will set ; or if it .does the apples 

 or pears will be small and imperfect. 



The members of the Gourd Family, to which belong 

 the melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers, are not self-fertiliz- 

 ing ; consequently, when cucumbers are raised in green- 

 houses for the winter market the gardener himself is 

 obliged to convey the pollen from the staminate flowers to 

 the pistils of the pistillate, or else press into service the 

 bees. This he sometimes does, and certain large cucumber- 

 houses are now supplied with bee-hives. 



Every one knows the story of the attempt to introduce 

 red clover into Australia and New Zealand. The clover 

 flourished admirably when first sown, but would set no 

 seed. For some inysterious reason clover fields in these 

 countries were a failure. 



The secret of the relation between the bumble-bee and 

 the clover became known to the colonists, and a few nests 

 of bumble-bees being introduced into the sterile fields settled 

 the difficulty, thenceforth bumble-bees and clover assisting 

 each other to the fulfilment of their destiny. 



The amount of nectar yielded by flowers is surprising, 

 but the amount of honey collected by bees depends not 

 only upon the abundance of nectar obtainable but upon the 

 condition of the hive. 



In the old-fashioned box-hive, where the bees were 

 smoked to death, thirty or forty pounds of mixed honey- 



