534 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug-. 4, 1904. 



less benefit. The bees, as they plunge into the flower-tube, 

 become dusted with pollen, and, as they push on to the nest 

 blossom, they carry this pollen to the stigma of that flower, 

 and so the bloom is cross-pollinated. Research has proved 

 that the flowers will not be able to seed when pollinated 

 with their own pollen, and thus we may say that the bees in 

 these visits become the very saviors of the species of plant 

 whose bloom attracts them. Thus the flower feeds the bee, 

 and the bee saves to the world the flower." 



Another student gave another case as interesting and 

 equally as apt an example of Symbiosus : 



" We have in the legumes, and the bacilli that live and 

 work on their roots, a good example of Symbiosus. These 

 tiny organisms attack the roots of the pod-bearing plants, 

 and cause tubercles to form, in which they live, and feed 

 and grow ; thus these root-growths furnish them home and 

 food. In turn they breathe in the nitrogen from the air as 

 we breathe the oxygen, and combine this in their cell-struc- 

 ture so that the host-plant can use it. This host-plant, 

 large as it is, can not take the free nitrogen, but must have 

 the same in combined form. Thus it gets a big return for 

 the home and the little food that it gives its guest, for it 

 gets a large amount of this combined nitrogen, which is 

 the very substance of its cell-structure. This part of the 

 process even goes further, as the legume, when it dies, 

 leaves a great excess of this combined nitrogen in the soil 

 for other plants that may come after it. Thus we have ex- 

 plained the well-known fact that a crop of clover or other 

 legume will often convert a sterile soil to a fertile one. In 

 this mutual aid of the legume and the minute bacillus we 

 have one of the best illustrations of the law of Symbiosus." 



ALFALFA AS A BEE-PASTURAGE. 



It is well known that Nevada, Arizona, and the San 

 Joaquin Valley, in California, have excellent bee-pasturage 

 in the great alfalfa fields of those sections. As this crop is 

 irrigated it is always vigorous, and unless the cold winds or 

 some other meteorological interference occurs, the honey 

 crop is almost a sure thing. Alfalfa honey is also of the 

 best. 



I have wondered why it might not pay in these years of 

 extreme drouth in Southern California, to move the bees 

 from the sage mesas to the alfalfa fields. We have about 

 here large areas of alfalfa, which now must waste its fra- 

 grance on the desert air, as far as the bees and the honey- 

 product go. 



Mr. Mendleson, of Ventura county, has often found 

 that it paid to move his bees to the bean-fields, and there it 

 often happens that the beans fail to respond with the gen- 

 erous flow of nectar. It is possible that the alfalfa would 

 do the same, though I believe that it would give more cer- 

 tain returns. I am not sure how this would work, but it 

 would be well worth while to make the trial. The alfalfa 

 would also profit by the visits of the bees, as we often raise 

 the seed, and bees are necessary if we would secure a full 

 yield of this valuable crop. We have in many sections of 

 Southern California large fields of this valuable hay and 

 forage crop. Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



Developing the Home Market for Honey. 



BY K. B. ROOD. 



I BEG AN keeping bees with 22 colonies five years ago, in 

 Manatee Co., Fla., having had little previous experience. 

 I supposed that I must find a market in the large cities, 

 being led astray perhaps by such statements as that made 

 by Mr. M. A. Gill, at the Denver convention in 1902 : " If 

 you are going to be a honey-producer produce some, and 

 when you get it produced sell it to some one who likes to 

 dabble with pints and pounds, and turn your attention 

 towards producing some more." Good enough advice per- 

 haps for Colorado, but very poor for any section of our 

 country I know of east of the Mississippi. 



I made my first shipment to New York, but the price 

 was so low that I decided that I must try to find a market 



elsewhere, and so I began looking up the situation in our 

 near-by cities. I found considerable honey in the fancy 

 grocery stores, put up in neat glass jars shipped from the 

 Northern wholesale houses. Some of this may have been 

 of doubtful purity, and the trade on it was small. The 

 grocers were first suspicious, but as we got acquainted and 

 they were convinced that my honey was pure, my sales in- 

 creased from 1000 pounds for 1900 to 10,000 in 1903, and the 

 end is not yet. 



I began with the 1 and 2 pound Muth jars. The corks 

 are unsatisfactory, for even when carefully waxed they will 

 leak a little in hot weather ; but I can find nothing that 

 suits me better, taking price into consideration, so I stick 

 to them. In the meantime I am looking for a better package. 



The editor of Gleanings in Bee-Culture suggests that if 

 a grocery trade is once worked up, orders will come in regu- 

 larly from it without further eflort, but I find that this does 

 not hold good in practice. The grocers buy practically all 

 their goods through drummers, so much so that they neg- 

 lect to keep up stock unless "drummed." It seems neces- 

 sary to call upon them about every 60 days to sell and to 

 make collections in order to do the maximum amount of 

 business. This means that your market must be near 

 home, or the expense will be too great. 



We have had some unfavorable seasons, too wet or too 

 dry, and my demand is exceeding my supply, so that I am 

 buying some honey every year. 



I mention my success in selling honey (I believe I have 

 driven every bottle of adulterated goods out of my territory) 

 because I think it can be duplicated in scores of cities, at 

 least in the South, as I have found several where little 

 honey is sold. I am convinced that in order to get grocers 

 to sell extracted honey successfully, whether liquid or 

 granulated, it must be put up for them in such retail pack- 

 ages that they can deliver it to their customers without fuss 

 or trouble. One experience with a barrel, or even a can of 

 partially candied honey, will deter many of them from buy- 

 ing for a long time. Comb honey is of uniformly good 

 quality, and being in a small package is easily handled, 

 which, I think, accounts in a large measure for its popu- 

 larity. I produce only extracted, because I think at the 

 price I get it pays me better, and then comb honey is very 

 difficult to keep in this damp climate. 



To conclude, I can hardly see why over-production need 

 bother the average bee-keeper who produces a good quality 

 of honey, puts it up attractively, and pushes its sale with 

 the same intelligence required to sell soap, or cornstarch, 

 or blueing, or any of the salable articles of trade. The pro- 

 ducer ought to be the best salesman in the world, for he 

 knows that his honey is pure, and also a thousand details 

 about the business that always interest and convince men. 



Manatee Co., Fla. 



Rearing Queens— A Method Described. 



BY THOMAS BRODHRICK. 



MR. HARRY GREEVES, on page 350, expresses the 

 wish that some one would start up the queen-rearing 

 discussion again. For the benefit of Mr. Greeves 

 and others who are interested in this all-important subject, 

 I will briefly describe my method of rearing queens, 

 which I feel certain will greatly simplify their rearing, inas- 

 much as it enables the bee-keeper to do away with all fuss- 

 ing with queen-excluding metal, the uncertainty of the 

 swarming fever, or waiting for queens to get old and be 

 superseded naturally ; and best of all, reduces the cost. 



I have thoroughly tested all of the methods given 

 through the bee-papers, and know of the merits and de- 

 merits of queens reared by each and all of them. For a 



