6 
Beekeeping 
In addition to the value of the honeybee as a honey- 
producer, it has a value to agriculture which is probably far 
greater. Peculiarly 
enough, the bee¬ 
keeper is usually not 
the one who receives 
the greatest profit 
from the presence of 
his bees in the com¬ 
munity. The honey¬ 
bee is one of the 
most beneficial of 
those insects which 
carry pollen from one 
flower to another. 
Such cross-pollina¬ 
tion is frequently es¬ 
sential to the pro¬ 
duction of fruit and, 
among all the insects 
which serve the fruit- 
Fig. 4. — Group of Caucasian hives. grower, the honeybee 
occupies a unique 
position. In the spring, the time when their services are 
most needed, other insects are often few in number and 
there is no way of prop¬ 
agating them. In the 
case of the honeybee, 
however, it is relatively 
easy to carry to the or¬ 
chard thousands of in¬ 
sects, which are ready, in 
favorable weather, to aid 
the fruit-grower in return 
for the small amount of 
nectar obtained (Fig. 2). 
In many orchards the 
lit. 13. 
The Greek 
Fig. 5. — An old Greek hive. 
