26 
BEE - CULTURE. 
Bees in Relation to Flowers 
and Fruit-Culture. 
By -Isaac Hopkins, Apiarian, in Bulletin 
18 of N.Z. Department of Agriculture, 
I. IN RELATION TO FOWERS 
GENERALLY. 
The primary object of this chapter is 
to bring under the notice of our 
orchardists and others interested in fruit- 
growing the immense value of the cross- 
fertilisation of fruit-blossoms in 
production of fruit, and to show the 
important part the hive-bee plays in 
bringing this about. In order the better 
to realise the complex mechanism of 
flowers, and the wonderful process of 
fertilisation, and so to appreciate the 
effects of cross-fertilisation in the or- 
chard, I deem it necessary to touch upon 
these points before dealing directly with 
the main subject. 
Insect-life and plant-life are almost 
entirely interdependent upon each 
other. Insects obtain sustenance and, in 
most cases, shelter from the vegetable 
world, while plants of most kinds are 
mainly dependent upon insects for the 
propagation of their species. A host of 
insects, large and small, of which the 
hive-bee is the most important, feed 
chiefly on the saccharine matter secreted 
in the nectaries of blossoms; and some of 
them (the hive-bee in particular) require 
for their own food or for that of their 
young a good deal of farinaceous matter 
supplied by the fecundating dust of the 
anthers of the same blossoms, termed 
‘pollen’ On the other hand. it is ne- 
cessary for the proper fertilisation of the 
plant that such fecundating dust brought 
from some other plant of the same species 
should come in contact with its pistils, and 
this is effected by the agency of insects 
chiefly 
—Sexual Organs in Flowers.— 
In flowers there are organs analogous 
to, though widely differing from, those 
indicative of sex in the animal king- 
dom,. The functions at least are the 
same; and the combined action of the two 
sets is essential to the propagation of the 
race by seed. 
In this connection it is interesting to 
the © 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
note the remarks of the late F. R. 
Cheshire. He said: — 
Blooms are produced by plants in order 
that seeds may follow, and so the race be 
continued. Two parts are essential to 
this reproduction—the anther and the 
pistil, the latter very generally occupying 
the central position. The anther is 
usually a double-celled pouch, the con- 
tents of which by segmentation break up 
into a number of perfectly similar parts 
called ‘pollen-grains, which though 
minute are complex in structure. When 
these are mature the anther splits or 
hehisces, (to open) and the pollen es- 
capes, but it needs in some way to be 
applied to the termination of the 
pistil, called the ‘stigma.’ When this 
application is effected, the pollen-grain 
absorbs moisture, its interior portion 
swells, and actually throws out a tube 
which often grows toa great length in 
making its way towards the unimpregnated 
nucleus of the ovule, which is situated in 
the ovary at the base of the pistil, In 
this nucleus a large cavity filled with 
protoplasm has developed, called the 
‘mother-cell,’ within which we find the 
embryonal vesicle to which the contents 
of the pollen-grain is transferred by the 
channel of tho pollen-tube, This ° is 
fertilisation, and upon it depends the 
production of seed, for the new individual 
plant has its beginnings from this inter- 
fusion. 
Most flowers are hermaphrodite, or 
double-sexed—they contain both the 
stamens (anther-bearers) and pistils with- 
in the same calyx or on the same 
receptacle; but there are some species 
where the sexual organs, male and fe- 
male, aro found on different individual 
plants, so that some agency for the 
transference of the fructifying pollen- 
grains is absolutely necessary, or the 
species would soon die out. Many of the 
latter are anemophilous (wind-fcrtilising 
plants), with inconspicuous flowers 
yielding no nectar, therefore not attrac- 
tive to insects. In these cases nature 
provides the male blossoms wifh an 
abundance of pollen-grains, which are 
wafted by the wind to considerable 
distances, and so are likely to reach 
female blossoms and fulfil their all-needful 
function. 
(To be Continued.) 
Coe AND ORNAMEN- 
TAL PRINTING of every descrip- 
tion in first-class style, on the shortest 
notice, and at cheapest rates, at the 
“ Australian Gardener’’ Office, corner of 
Pirie and Wyatt streets. | 
August 2, 1909 
Two Points of View 
Wuat THE BEEKEEPER SAID. 
My stocks this year are sound and 
strong, 
In fact I think I shan’t be wrong 
In hoping I may take ere long 
Two hundred pounds of honey 
What’s that? A swarm? Oh, how insane! 
Which hive? What? That one swarmed 
again}? 
It’s quite enough to turn one’s brain— 
And yet—Its very funny— 
I could have swern I’d killed their 
queen. 
Hither—how dense I must have been, 
Or else— whatever can they mean? 
Hello! here comes the rain! 
Shall I be scored off by a bee? 
T’ll put them back and make them see 
They’ve got to do what pleases me, 
(Next day) Great Scot! they’re out 
again! 
WHat THE QuzEN Buzz Sap. 
Two new queens out? Why, then, I 
fear 
There won’t be room for me in here; 
Go out, and seek a lodging near, — 
Then all fill up with honey, 
Last night our master paid a call. 
And turned us over, great and small, 
Then killed the largest drone of all 
With lots of ceremony. 
I’m sure he has some deep laid plot— 
So swarm while yet the weather’s hot, 
For who can tell, if we do not, 
We shall not all be slain? 
Well, here’s a door, so in we go— 
What? Our old hive! Not if I know! 
Shall this mere man coerce us so? 
Out, bees, and swarm again? 
—4J.C,L, in ‘ British Bee Journal, 
The Melbourne 
Tailoring Depot, 
No. 10 ARCADE, Adelaide. 
Absolutely the best in the States. 
Customers have a choice of over 2,000 
patterns, 
New Goods now open for Spring and 
Summer wear. 
First-class fit and workmanship guar- 
anteed. 
NOTE THE ADDRESS, and profit 
by ordering your next suit from us. We 
post free to country customers patterns 
and self-measurement forms. 
Please mention this paper. 
