Show U 97 I 1 BEES ASSIST FRUIT GROWERS failure of some varieties of apples may be due to lack of necessary pollination did you yon have a full apple crop last year failure of sone varieties of apples may b be e due to lack ot of pollination T J talbert crt of the college of a agriculture kicul told farmers week visitors at the university of missouri recently how bees helped to make a fruit crop many varieties of Ilip apples ples like arkansas black jonathan and york imperial are arc self sterile and cross pollination Is absolu absolutely t e I 1 y ess essential c n t la 1 i it f a s set et of fruit Is abt obtained a t n e d 0 other t li e r v varieties a ri et le s like berl ben davis yellow transparent and willow twig are only partly self fertile and again Is necessary the numerous white showy flower clusters act as a guide to the insects and may attract them far away when a bee alights on a flower its hairy body may be covered with pollen from another variety of apple As the bee works its way down to the bottom of the flower to get the nectar it rubs its dusty body against the stigma or female organ of the flower and boss croas pol rna tion is accomplished it Is a well known fact among the best fruit growers that the weather conditions during fruit bloom has much to do with the setting of the fruit if the weather lier Is clear and warm at blooming time the bees are active and cross pollination proceeds rapidly while if the weather conditions are wet cloudy and cold the insects are not active and usually a poor set of fruit Is secured strong cold calil winds elds may often prevent the bees from cross pollina pollinating ting one side of the apple trees and this may account for the set of fruit on only one side of the trees actual counts and observations at blooming time have shown that the honey Is decidedly the most important insect in the work of pollinating pollina ting the fruit flowers many counts have shown that from 75 to 00 per cent of the insects pollinating pollina ting the blossoms were honey bees the wind cannot be relied upon as an agency to transfer pollen from apple tree freeto to apple tree throughout the orchard this work must be accomplished by insects Insect 9 and the honey bee Is by odds the most important of them all bees will pay for their keep in honey aside from their services in fruit production |