. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 1917 AMERICAN BFF. JOURNAL 15 should be fertilized by its own ; Thomas Andrew Knight, in 1709, made this statement: "No plant fertilizes itself, through many ; This conclusion was drawn from his experi- ments. Darwin's first work in connec- tion with the Leguminos:e (1858) indi- cated that seeds were not produced as abundantly where the insects were ex- cluded from flowers by means of a net, and in his work on the "Fertilization of Orchids," he says: " Nature tells us in the most emphatic manner that sh
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 1917 AMERICAN BFF. JOURNAL 15 should be fertilized by its own ; Thomas Andrew Knight, in 1709, made this statement: "No plant fertilizes itself, through many ; This conclusion was drawn from his experi- ments. Darwin's first work in connec- tion with the Leguminos:e (1858) indi- cated that seeds were not produced as abundantly where the insects were ex- cluded from flowers by means of a net, and in his work on the "Fertilization of Orchids," he says: " Nature tells us in the most emphatic manner that she abhors perpetual self-fertilization ;" a statement too strong because there are many plants which continuously ferti- lize themselves. Let us take a few illustrations to show how important bees are to plants in the production of seed. We may use the red clover as an illustration. Darwin estimated that 100 heads of red clover bear about 2720 seeds. He covered 100 heads to keep bees out and found that no seeds were produced. He asserted that the clover could not fertilize itself. Some experi- ments made at Ames under my direc- tion by Mr. H. S. Coe, show this con- clusively. Mr. Coe took pollen, placed it on the stigma of the same flower, and in no case did seed set. In another experiment the pollen was taken from another flower of the same plant and placed on the stigma, with the result that no seed was formed. When, however, the pollen is brought from another plant and placed .on the stigma, seed is produced. For four seasons experiments were made at Ames with the honeybee as follows : We placed a swarm in a cage con- taining red clover. The cage was made of wire netting, large enough to ex- clude all other bees and large insects, permitting the honeybee to go out and in. Later the seed was harvested. The results are interesting as showing the importance of the honeybee in the production of clover seed. Year 1911. 1915. PRECIPITATION, .lune July Aug. . . .61
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
