- 17 - 
effect of the use of insecticides on wild pollinating insects. He did 
find, however, lethal amounts of arsenic in pollen in the nests of wild 
bees. 
VALUE OF THE HONEYBEE IN POLLINATING CROPS 
On the following pages will be found a few selected references to 
the value of the honeybee in pollinating crops, as mentioned in articles by 
recognized authorities in horticulture and agronomy. 
Dietz, H. F. 
1925. Pollination and the honey bee. Ind. Conserv. Comn. Pub. 52, 
20 pp. 
pp. 19-20: One thing is certain. The ho neybee repr esents th e 
h ighest poiri '-_beaji__r3acj:ted ift the inse ct world as a flower 
gjllinator. Its own existence in both the, larval and_ adult stage are 
deEer^s^i-ih^either^gjit^i-lilJilxCtdr^ T;ie._habi t_s that it possesses of 
- - ■'-"•g. hiai ■:■["' flower at a,_tim,: make it. a i mor e effective pol lina- 
tor than an insect, tha t visits all flowers promiscuously . . . 
And finally the honeybee is the only one of the insect pollina- 
tors that man has under his control or domesticated, so to speak. 
Alj the rest are .subject to all the isitudes of nature, including 
unfavorable weather conditions, food shortage, which cannot be sup- 
plied, and the Is of natural enemies, including Man. M an through 
his va often as a nd mu lt I .ous a ctivities, is the 
at est dis l u '_ ' _th i ^ural order of t hings, a nd what h e does he 
must pay th e pr i ;e for in one manner or another . Ho w e y e r , _ by_ s tudy.ir, g 
the ways of nature he often corrects his e rrors and when h e needs a 
general flower pol l inator he has but to try the honeybee . 
Vansell, G. H., and deOng, E. R. 
1925. A survey of beekeeping in California and the honeybee as pollini- 
zer. Calif. Agr. Expt. Sta. Cir. 297, 22 pp. 
pp. 17-18; Of all the insects that visit flowers, bees are the 
be st a dapted by the structure of the body to act as carri ers of ■ 
ien. The body and legs are covered with heavy, stiff hairs which are 
branched or featherlike. These cat ch a nd ho ld t h e pollen grains , until 
hey are brushed into a "pollen basket" on the hind leg. In this 
carrier the load of pollen is transported to the hive. However, all 
bees are not of equal value as pollinizers as some of them do not visit 
all types of flowers. The honeybee and the bumblebee, however, visit 
almost all flowers with little restriction except that they evidently 
confine themselves to a single species on any one trip. 
We have many native species of bees such as bumblebees, car- 
penter bee, leaf cutters and others, but only in rare instances are 
any of these active during the early spring and then only in very 
restricted numbers. 
