Belittled Bees There seems to be a growing theory (which
I do not endorse) that hive bees after all are not of much use as pollinators. A great fruit-grower and ex-beekeeper in Herefordshire (at this unseasonable date) avers that he has had much more fruit since he gave up bees ; and though he does not attribute this to the absence of bees, he asks a series of doubting questions, thus : (a) What evidence is there of the number of blooms visited by hive bees ? (2) What evidence is there that other agents than bees are not adequate ? And among these he puts wind. (3) Is there any evidence of the alleged fact that lead arsenate and such sprays, used in blossoming time, do any harm to bees? He concludes with the statement, "I shall not be convinced that hive bees are- necessary under our conditions until controlled experiments have been carried out." Such a creed from a farmer who kept at one time over 30 hives in 8o,000 acres of fruit cannot, of course, be scornfully rejected. What do the biologists say? That very able research worker, Professor Durham, was convinced, as he once told me, that night-flying moths were valuable pollinators ; but I never heard the theory from 'anyone else.
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