Vol. LVIII. No. 2596. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 28, 1899 
SI PER YEAR 
IS THE HONEY BEE A BENEFACTOR ? 
HE MAKES FRUIT CROPS POSSIBLE. 
How He Does It. His Tools. 
1. Can any one give actual experience as to the benefit 
of bees in producing or increasing a crop of fruit? 2. If 
bees are beneficial, why do not more farmers keep them? 
Vineland, N. J. a. w. o. 
BEES AND SPRAYING.—Beekeepers and fruit 
growers are slowly realizing how intimately con¬ 
nected .their interests are. Fruit growers long con¬ 
tended that the honey bee sometimes made great 
havoc among tender-skinned fruits, like the grape, 
by biting through the skin and sucking out the juice; 
in some cases efforts were made to legislate the bees 
out of a community, as a public nuisance. On the 
other hand, the beekeeper stoutly contended that his 
bees were necessary to accomplish the proper cross¬ 
fertilization of the blossoms to ensure a crop of fruit, 
and that the fruit growers often killed their friends— 
the bees—by spraying the trees during the blooming 
period. Numerous discussions 'have taken place upon 
these points at issue. At the present time, the bees 
have not only been vindicated, but in the future in¬ 
telligent fruit growers will generally regard them¬ 
selves as more indebted to the beekeepers than the 
latter are to the fruit growers, for the amount of 
honey that the bees secure from fruit blossoms comes 
far short of equaling in value that part of the fruit 
crop which, many accurate observations and experi¬ 
ments indicate, is due to the complete cross-fertiliza¬ 
tion of the blossoms by bees. 
WHAT BEES DO.—Several years ago, Prof. A. J. 
Cook found that “trees examined in May while in 
bloom, showed 20 bees to one of other kinds of 'in¬ 
sects. On a rather cold day, such as is likely to occur 
in time of fruit bloom, hundreds of honey bees were 
found at work on the apple bloom, while almost no 
other insects were to be seen.” He then gives a 
table showing that apple, crab apple, pear and cherry 
blossoms protected from the visits of bees produced 
little or no fruit, while unprotected blossoms on the 
same trees produced, at the same time, fair to ex¬ 
cellent results. In an extensive study of the pollina¬ 
tion of pear flowers, recently made by M. B. Waite, 
he found that about 50 kinds of insects visited the 
pear flowers, and that “the common honey bee is the 
most regular and important abundant visitor, and 
probably does more good than any other species.” 
His studies led him to conclude that “many of the 
common varieties of pears require cross-pollination, 
being partially or wholly incapable of setting fruit 
when limited to theii own pollen; and that bees and 
other insects are the agents for the transportation of 
pollen.” These facts led Mr. Waite to offer the fol¬ 
lowing practical suggestion: “Be sure that there are 
sufficient bees in the neighborhood, or within two 
or three miles, properly to visit the blossoms. When 
feasible, endeavor to favor insect visits to the blos¬ 
soms by selecting sheltered situations, or by plant¬ 
ing windbreaks.” To the unprejudiced mind there 
can no longer be any question as to the fact that bees 
are a necessary adjunct to the production of a crop 
of fruit. 
POISONING; DAMAGING FRUIT.—In regard to 
danger of poisoning bees by spraying trees with 
poison when they are in bloom, it has been definitely 
shown by careful entomological and chemical tests 
that honey bees are thus killed, and furthermore that 
the bees may take the poison back to their homes and 
poison the young developing brood which they feed 
in the hive. Every fruit grower should make it a 
rule, never to be broken, that no fruit-bearing plants 
are to be sprayed with poison during the blossoming 
period. We believe that there ‘is no excuse for spray¬ 
ing at this time, because, in our opinion, one can 
spray more effectively just before and just after the 
trees bloom. 
In regard to the assertion that bees puncture ten- 
Honey-bee gathering A.nd 
Fertilizing 
THE WORKER BEE AND HIS TOOLS. Fig. 273. 
The bee carries a wonderful collection of tools with 
him, as shown by the pictures above. The raspberry 
flower, much enlarged, shows how he performs cross¬ 
fertilization by means of the pollen carried in the minia¬ 
ture baskets of the hind leg. Hind legs, front legs and 
head are all used in collecting bee bread and nectar. 
der fruits and suck out the juices, it may be said 
that the experts of the Department of Agriculture, a 
few years ago, carried on some exhaustive experi¬ 
ments, using every conceivable device to induce the 
bees to puncture grape skins, with the result that in 
no case did the bees ever puncture the tenderest¬ 
skinned variety. Further, close observations and ex¬ 
periments have shown that wasps bite open 
tender fruits, birds peck them, they crack under the 
action of sun and rains, and hail sometimes cuts 
them, the bees only coming in afterward to save the 
wasting juices of the injured fruits. 
It is not easy to point out concrete, specific cases 
wherein any one has been able to compute the actual 
amount of practical benefit, 'in increased fruit and 
seed production, on account of more thorough cross- 
pollination by bees. Mr. Frank Benton, the bee ex¬ 
pert at Washington, has kindly cited the following 
data on this point. 
SOME DIRECT PROOF.—In Langstroth on the 
Honey Bee, it is stated that, “A large fruit grower 
told us that his cherries were a very uncertain crop, 
a cold northeast storm frequently prevailing when 
they were in blossom. He had noticed that, if the 
sun shone out for a couple of hours, the bees secured 
him a crop!” Root says, in his A B C of Bee Cul¬ 
ture: “A few years ago the people in some part of 
Massachusetts got an idea that the bees, which were 
kept there in large numbers, were prejudicial to the 
fruit; after some controversy, the bees were ban¬ 
ished from the town. In a year or two they found 
the fruit not only no better, but decidedly the re¬ 
verse; for the trees blossomed profusely, but bore no 
crops. By a unanimous request our friend was per¬ 
suaded to return with his bees, and since then the 
trees have not only blossomed, but have borne fruit 
in profusion.” Mr. T. W. Cowan, editor of the British 
Bee Journal, has recently said: “It is useless increas¬ 
ing the area under fruit cultivation without at the 
same time increasing the number of bees kept. As 
an instance, I would mention Lord Sudeley’s fruit 
plantation in England. About 200 acres of fruit trees 
were first planted, and for several years there was 
such poor success that it was a question whether the 
enterprise Should not be abandoned. Lord Sudeley 
was, however, advised to introduce bees, as it was 
found that not many were kept in that district. Two 
hundred colonies, in charge of a practical beekeeper, 
were introduced, and the result was magical. Thence¬ 
forward the trees bore fruit properly, and the former 
failure was turned into a success. Since then 500 
acres have been planted with fruit trees, and a large 
jam factory has been started close by, both under¬ 
takings being in a properous condition.” 
The following case also adds weight: For several 
years the cherry crop of Yaca Valley, California, had 
not been good, although it was formerly quite sure. 
The partial or complete failures had been attributed 
to north winds, etc., but in the minds of the owners, 
these causes did not sufficiently account for all the 
cases of failure. It was remembered that, formerly, 
when cherry crops were good, wild bees were very 
plentiful in the valley, and hence it was thought that 
perhaps the lack of fruit since most of the bees 
had disappeared, might have been due to imperfect 
distribution of the pollen. To test the matter, sev¬ 
eral hives of bees were placed in an orchard in 1890. 
The result was striking, for the orchard bore a good 
crop of cherries, while other growers in the valley 
who had no bees, found their crops entire or partial 
failures. In 1891, one orchard had 65 hives of bees in 
it, and the owner wrote: “Our crop was good this 
season, and we attribute it to the bees. Since we 
have been keeping bees our cherry crop has been 
much larger than formerly, while those orchards 
nearest us, five miles from here, where no bees are 
kept, have produced light crops.” 
INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS. — Mr. Benton 
also states that since locating his apiary of about 100 
