276 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 2, 1901. 



will ro longer hold the same proportion as at 

 first. For the number of bumble-bees is a 

 limited quantity, aud they can only fertilize a 

 fixl number of Mowers. For the sake of illus- 

 tration suppose there are enough bumble-bees 

 to produce a bushel of seed within a given 

 area. A small field will suffice them, and if 

 the field be ten times as large they can ferti- 

 lize no more seed. Now suppose enough of 

 our half-and-half seed is sown in that area to 

 produce two bushels of first-crop seed. It 

 will continue to be half-and-half just so long 

 as we do not go beyond that amount. But 

 whenever we go beyond the crop of two 

 bushels, then not only a proportion of the 

 increase, but all the increase should be short- 

 tubed. 



If a peck of seed is sown to the acre, aud 

 the crop harvested is three bushels to the 

 acre, then there is a twelve-fold increase. So 

 when our bushel of half-and-half seed pro- 

 duces a crop of 12 bushels. 11 bushels of it 

 ought to be of the short-tubed kind, and this 

 l-> bushels sown ought to produce 144 bushels 

 having only one bushel of long-tubed seed in 

 it, or 99.3 percent pure. " It is the first step 

 that costs," and in this case the difficult thing 

 is to get the first bushel of half-and-half seed. 

 After that the way is easy. Indeed the way 

 ought not be very hard after the first pound 

 is secured. 



Of course, all this is only speculative, and 

 like many another thing in bee-keeping, may 

 not " pan out " at all as anticipated ; but the 

 great importance of the matter warrants some 

 speculation, and this may serve at least to 

 arrest the thought of some wide-awake bee- 

 keeping farmer, and to secure from him some 

 effort toward the desired end. 



Loading Combs for Wagon-Hauling 



—The right way to load combs, either brood- 

 combs or sections, has been a matter of some 

 difference of opinion. When loaded on cars, 

 all seem to agree that the edges of the combs 

 should point toward the engine, as the bump- 

 ing is from front or rear, and not sidewise. 

 Opinion is divided as to loading on a wagon. 

 Perhaps all will agree that on a smooth road 

 on a ve)y steep hill the loading should be the 

 same as on a ear, but ordinary roads are not so 

 very smooth, and the hills are not so very 

 steep. The editor of the Bee-Keepers" Re- 

 view champions loading the same as on a car. 

 and gives reasons why he thinks that ought to 

 be the better way. A few have given the re- 

 sult of actual experiment, one of which is 

 given in a Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture as follows- 



March 2.5th the roads were muddy and 

 rough. I drove down town, putting in the 

 wagon two empty supers, setting them on one 

 side. The front one ran across the wagon 

 and the other lengthwise. The one running 

 lengthwise fell down. Then I put the front 

 one lengthwise aud the other crosswise. As 

 often a^ they fell I set them up again, con- 

 stantly changing. Out of 13 times the length- 

 wise super fell first every time but one. That 

 was going down a hill, but going down the 

 steepest hill the lengthwise super fell and the 

 other stood its ground. If I had been haul- 

 ing combs on that trip, don't you believe they 

 should have been loaded crosswise '. Now 

 some of vou report how the same thing works 

 on yo/ir" road. —[This is an interesting and 

 valuable experiment. It is so easily tried that 



wonder none of us had thought of it before. 



would suggest that those of our readers who 

 lave " to drive to town" pretty often over 

 umpy r oads, trv the same experiment and 



report. From the results above given it is 

 very clear that the edges of the combs should 

 poirt toward the wheels and not toward the 

 horse. — Editor.] 



Bees Attack Jlountain-Clinibers. — 



A correspondent from Honolulu, Sandwich 

 Islands, reported an occurrence in that coun- 

 try in which a mountain-climbing party was 

 attackt by a colony of wild bees, and came 

 near losing their lives. They had climbed 

 Konahuahui, the highest peak near the city, 

 and decided to descend on the Xuanu Valley 

 side, which had been considered impossible. 

 They scrambled down precipitous cliffs 75 feet 

 high, clinging to the rocks with hands and 

 feet. When part way down they were at- 

 tackt by the bees, which stung them while 

 they were helpless to ward them off. For 

 nearly a mile the bees followed them until 

 they reacht a point where they were safe. 



^ Weekly Budget. I 



Good Advick [For Missouri ''. 



" Pray, what is good for chappy cheeks .!"' 



Wrote Molly to the editor. 

 And in due time — about two weeks — 



She got the answer written for. 

 To other ears by chance it leaks, 



A little birdie told, perhaps; 

 Thus; "If you wish not chappy cheeks. 



You must avoid the cheeky chaps." 



— Will Ward Mitchell. 



Mr. John Zwahles, of Emery Co., Utah, 

 gives the following report for 1900, in the 

 Rocky Mountain Bee Journal, being an aver- 

 age of 292 pounds of extracted honey per 

 colony : 



" I see it stated that Oliver Foster produced 

 8ti,000 pounds of honey last year from 500 

 colonies. I have done better than that. I 

 secured 19.000 pounds from 65 colonies ; and 

 Christian Ottisen, 23 miles farther north, in 

 this county, did even better, but I can not say 

 just how much." 



"Editor Mitchell, who undertook part of 

 the editorship of this paper last autumn, has 

 been compelled to abandon the undertaking. 

 His eyes for the past year or two have been 

 of more or less trouble, and of consequent 

 great distress — to one who h^s to use his eyes 

 almost continually, as does a printer and 

 editor." 



This paragraph is taken from the April Pro- 

 gressive Bee-Keeper. We regret very much 

 to learn that Mr. Mitchell's affliction has 

 compelled him to relinquish some of his un- 

 dertakings, and trust that the enforced rest 

 and recuperation may soon bring him out all 

 right. ^ 



President E. S. Lovest, of the Utah Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, writing us from Salt 

 Lake Co., March 12th, had this to say: 



"Friend York:— Spring appears to be 

 with us again. The bees, the trees, and the 

 birds, in fact all Nature seems to be putting on 

 new life. Our bees were carrying in pollen 

 March 1st— something they don't often do 

 so early. And we are having a great deal of 

 snow and rain, which is pretty generally dis- 

 tributed over the State, thus insuring a good 

 supply of irrigating water, which in turn will 



insure good crops and a good honey-flow. If 

 the weather keeps mild we may expect to see 

 our bees and bee-keepers ' in clover ' once 

 again. The bees that went into winter quar 

 ters in good condition appear to have wintered 

 fairly well, while a few smothered for lack of 

 ventilation. The smelter smoke here in Salt 

 Lake County has been the cause of our princi- 

 pal losses." 



Again on April 14th Mr. Lovesy wrote us as 

 follows : 



" The prospects are excellent in Utah this 

 season for a good honey crop. While the bees 

 are in fairly good condition, barring any acci- 

 dent that we know not of, they will give a 

 good account of themselves." 



Editor Leaht, of the Progressive Bee- 

 Keeper, it seems, was also somewhat shoekt 

 by the " rhythmical break " made by Stenog 

 in C;ieanings in Bee-Culture, when he tried to 

 make "harm" rhyme with "barn." After 

 copying the questionable stanza (see page 

 244), Mr. Leahy follows with this comment; 



It's rather a stretch of poetic license, and 

 tho we are quite willing the price of clover be 

 brought down, we are not willing to see the 

 harmony of " harm " and " barn." The fol- 

 lowing from the pencil of a despondent Ohio 

 youth has more jingle and rhyme, and is more 

 to the point; 



" 0, bury me deep, deep in the ground. 



Where the humraiug-bird hums, 



And the bumble-bee bums, 

 Aud the straddle-bug straddles around." 



We must confess that Mr. Leahy's culti- 

 vated choice of poetry does have a clear-cut 

 kind of jingle that no one can mistake or fail 

 to appreciate. In the "hum" and the 

 "bum" of the thing there is no humbug 

 poetry, even if there is a straddle-bug that 

 "straddles around" with so much impor- 

 tance. 



Mr. W. F. Ordetx, of Cuba, under date of 

 Jan. 22d, says, that the present season has 

 been the poorest ever known in that section, 

 and concludes the information with this para- 

 graph: " I started with 8 colonies in Decem- 

 ber, and now have 20. They will soon be 

 ready to divide again." No doubt that report 

 is rather discouraging to one of Mr. Ordetx's 

 enthusiasm ; but he would be surprised to 

 learn how very little sympathy it will elicit 

 in these United States of America, where 

 almost any of us should consider ourselves 

 very fortunate to accomplish in two whole 

 years what he has done in two months or less. 

 That projected second division of colonies so 

 late in the season may prove a hazardous pro- 

 cedure. — American Bee-Keeper. 



Mr. a. E. Willcctt, of Hamp.shire Co., 

 Mass., sent us a clipping some time ago tell- 

 ing about a " happenstance " down in Bangor, 

 Maine, last fall. It seems when cold weather 

 set in a fire was kindled in a fireplace in one 

 of the houses in that city, that had not been 

 occupied for some time. When the fire had 

 been bm'ning for about half an hour, the man 

 of the house, upon coming into the room, 

 found the floor covered with a sticky sub- 

 stance, more of which was running out of the 

 fireplace. It was found that a swarm of bees 

 had taken up their abode in the long unused 

 chimney, and had there stored a large quan- 

 tity of honey. The heat from the fire caused 

 it to run down in a stream into the room, cov- 

 ering the carpet. The householder said he 

 got ?4 worth of honey and lost .?60 worth of 

 carpet. He probably did not feel like singing 

 that part of the chorus of the song. " Busy, 

 Buzzing Bees," where it refers to •• honey 

 everywhere." 



