University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1910-10-18
PATENT BUNDLE BEE
EXHIBITED At A.U.
New Device Was Tried This
Summer on the State
Farm.
CAN POLLENIZE CLOVER
Never Stings, But Cannot
Make Honey - Horses
Its Motive Power.
|cAN PoLLENIZE CLOVER

NOW II S q patent DulnDle Dee. we
already had patent washing machines.
patent talking machines; patent win
dow washers, and patents, in fac,
for everything. But patent humble
bee! That reads like some fairy
tale. But it is a fact nevertheless.
Students in the College of Agriculture
at the University of Missouri had an
opportunity of seeing patent humble
bee in actual operation on the state
farm this summer.
The patent humble bee is made OF
wood and iron and instead OF wings,
it has horses for it's motive power.
And it does everything that its name
sake does but sting and make honey.
PoIIenizes Glover.
The function of this patent humble
bee is to take the place of the real
humble bee in pouenizing clover bios
SONS. Glover blossoms are not self
fertilizing, as most plants are, but
must depend on outside agents for
| their fertilization. This fact was dis
covered by Darwin. Darwin noticed
that in a locality where there were
lots of old maids lots of clover grew.
He also noticed that most of the spin
sters keep cats Cats catch mice
Mice destroy humble bees nests. Bum
BILE bees fertiliZe clover blossoms.
Hence, since the cats got the mice
out of the road humble bees flourished.
The bees in turn pollenized the clover
blossoms. Therefore a great clover
crop was the result.
Glover is plant that lasts only two
years. In rare instances it will live
more than two years. 1t must there
fore have some means of perpetuating
itself. This it does by means Of its
seeds. But if it is not fertilized, it
will not develop seed and thus die out.
AS the seed is high priced, it was a
great expense to the farmers to seed
their fields every two years.
In wet seasons humble bees are
drowned out and the result is no seed
in clover blossoms. Some method
whereby the fertilization of clover
blossoms could be accomplished with
out the aid of this humble insect, the
humble bee, has long been problem.
Results Guaranteed.
In experimenting with clover bios
SONS it has been found that if the
| blossom is touched or lightly tickled.
| the same result, fertilization, takes
place as when humble bee lights on
the flower to get it's honey. An In
dianapolis firm, with this idea in mind,
set about perfecting a machine to do
this work. The result of their work
is the patent humble bee. 1t is a
machine about fourteen feet in length
mounted on wheels. A board six by
eight feet is attached to this frame
work. In this board are many ,bristles
about six inches in length. When the
machine is in operation, the board
holding the bristles is raised and low
cred gently, thus slightly brushing the
clover blossoms. This performs the
duty of the humble bee. Thus has
the scientific mind of man dispensed
with one of Natures agencies and
placed the insuring of good clover
crop on scientific basis.
The College of Agriculture tried this
machine on five-acre field of clover
a short distance from Columbia this
summer. AS yet the clover has not
been threshed so the result of the ex-
pertinent is not known. The firm that
manufactures the humble bee, how
ever, is SO confident of it's success that
it has offered to sell them to any one
and guarantee that the returns of its
use will pay for it. If not, the pur-
chaser is not required to take the ma
chine.