Bee to Aid Japan

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Oct 6, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 39.

A TINY American bee is about to be charged with a task beyond the power of man to accomplish — a task which means nothing less than changing the agricultural status of a nation. If successful — and results already indicate favorable progress of the experiment — it will mean wealth and prosperity for hundreds of farmers in Japan. Instead of trying unsuccessfully to raise fruits, such as apples and pears, the soil of the “Land of the Cherry Blossom” will yield in abundance, and the natives will rejoice in luscious fruits and delicious vegetables which, because of the lethargy of their native bee and its failure to carry pollen, it has been impossible for them to raise.

The bee to which this task is assigned is the golden bee. It is raised in America and

was produced by an American, and already many little queen golden bees have been sent to Japan to begin their task.

The native Japanese bee is an indolent thing, and does little more than crawl about to meet the needs of its day. Because of its apathy, it has been impossible to cultivate such fruits as apples and pears, and such vegetables as cucumbers, tomatoes, and melons. The male and the female blossoms of the bell-flower varieties of fruits and vegetables are usually so far apart that it is necessary for some agent of nature to carry the pollen. In many other countries the busy little bee, in its search for honey, is the means of fructification. In Japan the bees simply refuse to work.— Harper’s Weekly.