- 35 - 
the field. Almost before day, bees are forcing their way into the 
expanding buds, and an examination of these reveals many whose stigmas 
have been pollinated long before the flowers are fully opened. The 
writer has observed that in the near vicinity of domestic hives in 
northern Georgia the number of honeybee visitors is enormously in- 
creased. 
p. 261: In cotton fields of northern Georgia the demonstrated 
proportion of crossed blossoms is at least 20 per cent, with strong 
probabilities that approximately 40 per cent of the blossoms are 
crossed. Although crossing may be very detrimental in unselected 
cotton, in selected cotton it is probably beneficial. 
Kearney, T. H. 
1923. Self-fertilization and cross-fertilization in Pima cotton. U. S. 
Dept. Agr. Dept. Bui. 1134, 68 pp. 
p. 36: There is little doubt that natural cross-pollination 
in cotton is effected almost solely by the agency of insects. The 
nature of the pollen grains of Gossypium is unfavorable to their 
transportation by currents of air. 
p. 37: Various Hymenoptera are the most efficient carriers 
of cotton pollen at Sacaton, Ariz., as is probably the case v/herever 
cotton is grown. The h oneybee and the wild bees (Melissodes spp.) 
a re the most important cotton pollinators in this local ity . 
The honeybee ( Apis mellifica L . ) is very assiduous in its 
visits to cotton flowers, although sometimes preferring the extra- 
floral nectaries to those with the flower. Nevertheless, this insect 
probably holds first ra nk at Sacaton, Ariz. , as a conveyor of cotto n 
pollen , especially among Pima flowers. As was noted on a preceding 
page, honeybees entering and emerging from the flowers when the petals 
are just beginning to unfold almost invariably come in contact with 
the reproductive organs. 
Meade, R. M. 
1918. Bee keeping may increase the cotton crop. Jour. Kered. 9: 282- 
285. 
p. 285: No effort was made to exclude insects, and the weather 
conditions during the course of the investigation were not unfavorable 
to their activities. It is evident from the increased yield of bolls 
secured in the long-pistiled Durango variety through artificial pol- 
lination that the presence of additional pollinating insects would 
aid in reducing the high percentage of shedding. The value of honey 
bs es in this connection is r?oognized_i n some locali ti es, . a nd it would 
s 9 em that growers of l ong s tapl ed variet i es might find beekeeping a 
distinct advantage to the cotton crop . 
