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The Development of
the Apple from

the Flower

THE VALUE OF THE HONEYBEE AS A
FERTILIZING AGENT
BY
O. M. OSBORNE
Published in “Better Fruit ’’
Reprinted by Permission
THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY
Medina, Ohio
1915PREFACE	..j-
This article, reprinted from “Better ,
Fruit,’’ and written by Mr. O. M. Osborne,
the head of the Horticultural Department of
State Normal School of Idaho, sets forth in
a most convincing and conclusive manner
the value of the honeybee as a fertilizing
agent, and the fact that the grower of ap-
ples especially is almost entirely dependent
on the actions of our busy little friends for
his crop of apples.
For many years we have had to combat
the old idea that bees are inimical to the
interests of the fruit-grower, a notion which,
we are happy to say, has almost entirely
been dispelled—then came a time when
fruit-growers began to realize that the bee-
keeper’s and fruit-grower’s interests were
mutual, and now scientists are proving, be-
yond the peradventure of a doubt, that the
honeybee is not only not harmful to the
fruit-grower, but that they are an absolute
necessity for the proper fertilization of some
flowers, for example, apple-blossoms.
But Mr. Osborne goes a step further and
insists that not only is it absolutely neces-
sary to keep bees in order to obtain a good
yield of apples, but that there should be a
sufliciently large number of colonies in the
orchard, in order that each and every apple-
blossom might be benefited and receive its
share of the fertilizing pollen.
We earnestly commend this article to
every fruit-grower and more especially to
the growers of apples, as well as to all bee-
keepers, in order that they may enlighten
such of their friends as are interested in
fruit culture.	THE A. I. ROOT CO.HOW THE HONEYBEES FERTILIZE
THE BLOSSOMS.
—»—
BY O. M. OSBORNE
Head of Horticultural Department, State Normal
School, Lewiston, Idaho.
The development of the apple from the
flower is a very complex biological process.
The study of this development has been en-
tirely limited in the past to the field of
botany. It is now, however, demanding a
close and careful study from all of the horti-
culturists throughout the world, for it has
been found that the size and shape of the
fruit, the yield per acre, and the time for
spraying are all dependent upon environ-
mental conditions during blossoming time
that are to a great extent under the control
of man. To understand these environmental
conditions, let us begin with the flower it-
self. In plate I is a longitudinal section of
a fully opened blossom. If each part is care-
fully studied it will be found that every one
has an important part to play in the form-
ation and development of the fruit. Al-
though not constituting any part of the fruit,
and although dropping off within a few days,
the beautiful white and pink petals serve as
an attraction for the honeybees which visit
the flower to obtain the nectar from the
nectar-glands. The nectar-glands are not
shown in this cut, but they lie at the base of
the petals on the inner side. After nectar
has undergone a partial digestion inside the
bee it becomes honey.THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE APPLE
FROM THE FLOWER
While climbing about the flower to reach
the nectar the bee brushes against the sta-
mens, or the male parts of the flower. From
the little sac-like enlargements or anthers at
the top of the stamens it receives a deposit
of a powdery substance called pollen (the
fecundating cells). You are likely familiar
with the sight of a bee laden with pollen.
If the little winged creature is closely ex-
amined it will be found that it carries the
pollen in little collecting-baskets formed of
stiff hairs on the tibia of each hind leg.
Under a low-power hand lens it can be seen
that the pollen catches on to other parts of
the bee’s body. Now, when the bee rises to
fly to a second flower (and it visits only one
kind of a flower on a single trip) it may
brush off a little pollen on the top of the
stigma of the first flower; but since the stig-
ma is raised above the stamens, as shown in
the accompanying diagram, the chances are
not as great as when the bee alights on a
second flower. When it alights on the secondflower it is almost certain to brush off a little
pollen upon it, due to the stigma being situ-
ated above the anthers, as shown in the dia-
gram. The pollen so deposited adheres read-
ily on account of a sticky substance upon the
stigma. Hence the flower invites through its
friend, the bee, cross-pollination, and aims
to prevent self-pollination by having the
stigmas located far above the anthers, as
before mentioned.
WHY THE APPLE-BLOSSOM IS ENTIRE-
LY DEPENDENT ON THE BEE FOR
ITS FERTILIZATION.
Without the aid of the bees but very little,
if any, pollen would ever reach the stigma,
for the pollen of the apple is a trifle sticky,
and, unlike that of the corn tassle, ragweed,
and several other familiar plants which are
powdery, it cannot be distributed by the
wind.After the pollen has been deposited upon
the stigma each individual grain begins to
expand, due to the food and the stimulus
present in the sticky sugary substance on the
stigma. Soon each grain sends out a tube
called a pollen tube, which penetrates the
top of the stigma and grows down through
the style to the ovary, where it reaches the
ovules shown in the diagram. It here pene-
trates a very minute opening at the apex of
the ovule, called the micropyle, and transfers
a male nucleus into the egg cell within the
ovule. The male sexual nucleus there unites
with the female nucleus of the egg cell and
completes the process of fertilization. From
this union develops a cell containing proto-
plasm, the nitrogenous living substance of
which the most rapidly growing parts of
plants are mainly composed. Each little
ovule in which this pollination took place
gradually develops into an apple seed. Thedifferent stages of this seed development are
shown in the series of plates Nos. I, III, V,
VI.
HOW THE FLOWERS AND THE BEES
CO-OPERATE FOR EACH OTHER’S
GOOD.
By experimentation extending through a
number of years it has been found that if
many of the ovules in the apple flower fail
to become fertilized (which, of course, re-
sults in undeveloped seeds) the apple will
either lack size or symmetry, or both. Since
this condition is true, the fruit-grower
should endeavor to furnish conditions which
will cause every flower which is to bear fruit
to become thoroughly fertilized. To bring
about good fertilization, thorough pollina-tion is absolutely necessary. What does the
process of pollination mean to the fruit-
grower? It means that it is a potent factor,
first, in the quantity of production, and, sec-
ond, in the size and shape of the fruit. It
is a process in which the flowers and the
bees co-operate for each other’s good, a proc-
ess which is often termed symbiosis. It is a
process where a member of the plant king-
dom has modified its structure for the pur-
pose of reaping a benefit from a member of
the animal kingdom (in this case the honey-
bee) as a pollen-distributor and has offered
the sweet nectar as a reward.
HOW MANY COLONIES OF BEES ARE
NEEDED FOR THE PROPER DEVEL-
OPMENT OF AN ORCHARD?
Since the pollination of the apple flowers
is performed almost solely by the honeybee
it behooves the fruit-grower to have bees in
abundance in his orchard. It can be deter-
mined only experimentally whether or not
the number of bees existing in an orchard is
sufficient. The experiment may be performed
by the fruit-grower by placing a hive of
bees at one end or in one corner of a large
orchard and then observing the amount and
shape of the fruit set. This method of de-
termining whether bees are in sufficient
abundance is, of course, expensive, for any
lack of them results in a shortening of the
fruit crop. Hence it is well to insure against
the possibility of loss by keeping a few hives
of bees distributed through the orchard.
Bees not only will often increase the quality
and quantity of the fruit, but incidentally
will furnish the fruit-grower with wax for
grafting, and with honey for the home.While bees are necessary in every orchard
to carry on the work of pollination, success-
ful pollination can occur only where the dif-
ferent varieties are set out with reference
to the time of blossoming. Only certain
varieties of apples will pollinize well to-
gether. It is, therefore, obvious that their
time of blosoming must be the same. In
order to produce fruit, not only should the
time of blossoming be the same, but the flow-
ers of any one variety must be capable of
either being fertilized by their own pollen
or by the pollen of some closely related va-
riety. We thus have those that are termed
self-fertile (fertile to their own pollen) and
those that are termed self-sterile (sterile to
their own pollen). There are also varieties
which are only partially self-sterile. Due,
perhaps, to environmental conditions, theelass to which any one variety of apples be-
longs varies in different localities. Not only
do the environmental conditions represented
by climate and soil determine the class to
which any variety of apples belongs, but
they even determinte the quantity of pollen
produced. Hence it becomes of especial sci-
entific interest to us when we consider that
these environmental factors influence the
characteristics and behavior of the germ-cell
of the plant. By writing to your State ex-
periment station you can usually obtain a
list of the apples which pollinate well to-
gether, and of those that blossom at the
same time. Such a list becomes very val-
uable for reference at the time of planting
an orchard.
Let us consider the changes in the fer-
tilized flower after the petals have fallen
and their relation to orchard spraying. By
examining plates Nos. II and III it will be
seen that the changes that are evident inthe remainder of the flower are shown in
the way of a shrunken style and stigma, in
the open and empty anther sacs which con-
tained the pollen and in the somewhat larger
receptacle. Now let us examine plate No.
IV. In this we find that the sepals are turn-
ing inward, due to the enlargement of that
part of the original flower in plate No. I,
termed the receptacle. It is the receptacle
of the flower which develops into the edible
portion of the apple as shown in plate No.
II, and the corresponding parts in plates
Nos. V and VI.
Our rules for spraying for the codling
moth tell us that the first spraying should
take place immediately after the petals fall,
and that the calyx (the sepals taken togeth-
er constitute the calyx) should be well filled
with the poison. From an examination of
plate No. IV it can readily be seen that the
turning-in of the sepals as the little apple
develops from the flower directs a spray
away from the calyx cavity. A few days
later in its development the sepals form a
sort of cone-like roof over the calyx cavity
much like that of a mature apple, as shown
at “c” in plate No. V. It can also be seen
by a close examination of plate No. II that
the larva of a newly hatched moth has but
a small distance to eat to reach the center
of the little apple during the early stages
of its growth. It is also noticeable that the
calyx cavity during the early stages is quite
pointed; hence, if the poison is well placed
during spraying, the larva is sure to eat it in
its endeavor to reach the inside of the apple.
Thus we find that each part of the flower
after unfolding from the bud graduallypasses through natural changes in developing
into the apple. These changes not only have
a highly complex and interesting biological
significance from the standpoint of the lov-
ers of nature, but also have a practical re-
lationship to the management of the or-
chard and to the quantity and quality of the
fruit produced.
Root’s Beekeepers’ Supplies
Root’s Weed New
Four grades as follows:
Medium brood.
Light brood.
Thin Super.
Extra Thin Super.
The highest standard
of excellency in ma-
terial and workman-
ship is found in our
beekeepers’ supplies.
Root Smokers
Jumbo (tin) 4-in. barrel.
Standard (tin) 8^-inch
barrel.
Junior (tin) 2% in. barrel.
ABC and X Y Z of
Bee Culture.
Over 700 pages, $2.00 per
copy.
The A. I. Root Co,, Medina, 0.
Foundation