PREFACE . ' 
This article, reprinted from “Better 
Fruit,” and written by Mr. O. M. Osborne, 
the head of the Horticultural Department of 
State Normal School of Idaho, sets forth in 
a most convincing and conclusive manner 
the value of the honeybee as a fertilizing 
agent, and the fact that the grower of ap¬ 
ples especially is almost entirely dependent 
on the actions of our busy little friends for 
his crop of apples. 
For many years we have had to combat 
the old idea that bees are inimical to the 
interests of the fruit-grower, a notion which, 
we are happy to say, has almost entirely 
been dispelled—then came a time when 
fruit-growers began to realize that the bee¬ 
keeper’s and fruit-grower’s interests were 
mutual, and now scientists are proving, be¬ 
yond the peradventure of a doubt, that the 
honeybee is not only not harmful to the 
fruit-grower, but that they are an absolute 
necessity for the proper fertilization of some 
flowers, for example, apple-blossoms. 
But Mr. Osborne goes a step further and 
insists that not only is it absolutely neces¬ 
sary to keep bees in order to obtain a good 
yield of apples, but that there should be a 
sufficiently large number of colonies in the 
orchard, in order that each and every apple- 
blossom might be benefited and receive its 
share of the fertilizing pollen. 
We earnestly commend this article to 
every fruit-grower and more especially to 
the growers of apples, as well as to all bee¬ 
keepers, in order that they may enlighten 
such of their friends as are interested in 
fruit culture. THE A. I. ROOT CO. 
