In F1, F2,... enter the 'Fruit' names...

Enter this in D1
=Sumproduct(--(C$1:C$158=F1),(B$1:B$158)) and copy down...

If F1 is Apple then it will give you the sum for the rows which have Apple
in Col C...

"agilek9" wrote:

This level of Excel complexity is a little above my skills, and am hoping
that someone can help.

I have numbered data in one range of cells (e.g., b1:b158) and alpha
criteria in another (e.g., "apples", "oranges", "pears" in c1:c158). I am
trying to sum the data in cells b1:b158 based on the criteria in cells
c1:c158, and put the result in a third cell. So for example, the sum of the
numbers in column b would be put in cell d1 if the criteria in c1:c158 was
equal to "apples"; the sum of the numbers in b would be put in d2 if the
criteria in c1:c158 was "oranges", etc.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help.
--
agilek9