THE BEE FERTILIZES THE ALFALFA
It has been discovered that the honey bee is of even more importance to the alfalfa than the alfalfa is to the bee. The wonderful strength and speed of the bees take them long distances for their food and they have recourse to a great variety of plants. But the peculiar construction of the alfalfa blossom renders it unable to fertilize itself and its shape makes cross fertilization very difficult. In the marvelous “balance of good” in nature, alfalfa, like thousands of other plants, is aided in its lease on life by the insect world. It is not known just how many insects or birds assist this remarkable plant, but the honey bee is the most conspicuous, the most industrious, the most eager, and certainly the most useful.
Careful observations have been made of seed pods grown near colonies of bees, and also of those so far from any bee colonies that it was safely assumed no bees had visited the fields producing the pods. In every case it was found that those from nearby fields had from 50 to 75 per cent more seeds than the others and that they were larger and more perfectly developed. In Colorado and western Kansas, where bee culture has been greatly developed in recent years, it is found that the alfalfa seed crop in fields nearest to bee colonies is much heavier and of better quality than that of fields but a few miles away.
At the Kansas experiment station a small plat of vigorous alfalfa was covered just before coming into bloom with mosquito netting supported on sticks. It was therefore known that no bees nor other insects could come into contact with the blossoms. Later a careful examination disclosed that the pods which had formed were entirely without seeds.