150 



May, 1913 



of the August, 1912, number, four strips 

 were used instead of two starters, as 

 advised bv Dr. Miller. c. r. n. 



American Hee Journal 



" Are we really talking about the same 

 thing ?" How is it about the matter of 

 color up Mr. Pettit's way ? c. c. m. 



Siiu.shiue and t'lover Leaves 



Did you ever watch the little white 

 clover at sunset and notice that all its 

 leaves, almost without exception, have 

 their surface turned to the setting orb ? 



Plants love sunshine, and they show 

 it. When the sun rises, every leaf of 

 the white clover, and of a number of 

 other plants turns towards the Orient, 

 to salute the first rays of Aurora, and 

 to bask in its beams. As the sun moves 

 in its course, every leaf follows the 

 gradual motion, and at sunset all are 

 facing the west, turning back again to 

 the east at the early signs of dawn. 



Flowers worship the sun, for the sun 

 is their life. How many flowers would 

 exist in a country where the sun was 

 constantly hidden by clouds, mist or 

 fogs? How much honey would be 

 produced there ? 



Characteristics of European Foul 

 Brood 



I am not without hope that the con- 

 tradictory views regarding the odor of 

 European foul brood may yet be cleared 

 up, but there seems no great tendency 

 in that direction just now. So far it 

 seems to be a matter of nationality. If 

 a man says the odor of European foul 

 brood is unspeakably vile, you may 

 know that he fights under the British 

 flag (or some other foreign flag), and 

 if he says the odor of European foul 

 brood is hardly worth minding, you 

 may set it down at once as certain that 

 he swears by the stars and stripes. The 

 latest to express an opinion is L. Har- 

 ris, page 54, and you may know that he 

 is a Britisher without looking at the 

 end of the article for his address when 

 you read: "I say the poorest quality 

 of glue is quite fragrant in comparison 

 with an advanced case of European 

 foul brood." 



The thing, however, which espe- 

 cially caught my attention in Mr. Har- 

 ris' article, is that when giving the 

 marks of European foul brood, he says 

 the larvEe are black, brown, or gray. 

 " In this locality," when looking for 

 European foul brood, the one thing we 

 look for is yelloiv brood, or at least 

 yellowish. To be sure, in a more ad- 

 vanced stage it may be brown or Black, 

 but the outstanding feature is the yel- 

 low color of the larvje that are yet soft. 

 Yet not a word does Mr. Harris say 

 about the yellow color. In view of the 

 great difference of opinion as to odor, 

 and now this further divergence as to 

 color, the question comes up afresh. 



J. Heuri Fabre 



The American Magazine, in its March 

 number, gives a photograph and a 

 short biography of Henri Fabre, whose 



1. H. Fabre in His Stldv. 



works we have quoted twice the past 

 season, in the September and Novem- 

 ber numbers of the American Bee 

 Journal. The Literary Digest repro- 

 duces the photograph with quotations 

 fro.Ti his observations upon "How the 

 Tartantula Slays theBumble-Bee." The 



ciated, after a long life of comparative 

 obscurity. His " Souvenirs Entomolo- 

 giques." which are now translated into 

 English, consist of ten volumes of ob- 

 servations of the most minute sort of 

 the habits of insects, including the 

 hymenopters. He is mentioned as "the 

 greatest living naturalist," wrote as in- 

 terestingly as a poet, and yet at 90 

 years of age " almost starved to death." 

 He lives in southern France. 



We have secured from one of his 

 friends his latest photograph and a 

 partial view of his home, which we 

 consider of value, although faint in the 

 execution. 



Where the Great Naturalist Lives. 



works of this aged and wonderful ob- 

 server are just beginning to be appre- 



Sinoke iu Bee-Cellar 



If any one had asked me a month 

 ago what I would take to have my bee- 

 cellar thoroughly filled with smoke at 

 the time of taking in the bees, I might 

 have replied, " I wouldn't do it for fifty 

 dollars.'' Since reading the article of 

 E. S. Miles, page .59, if I were asked 

 that same question, I might shade those 

 figures considerably; possibly cutting 

 down the amount to twenty-five dol- 

 lars, with five percent ofl' for advance 

 payment. I'm like Josh Billings, " so 

 many things I know ain't so '' that it is 

 quite possible I am wrong and Mr. 

 Miles is right. 



And yet, much confidence as I have 

 in Mr. Miles, it is hard to believe that 

 no harm can come to bees from 

 having the cellar so filled with smoke 

 as to set one to coughing. To be sure, 

 he says he has used these methods on 

 hundreds of colonies for over 10 years, 

 and assures us that no damage results. 

 But how can he be sure about that ? 

 The fact that the colonies have lived 

 through the winter, and have come out 

 in good condition does not prove that 

 they would not have been in a little 

 better condition without the smoking. 

 We are cautioned not to use smoke 

 unnecessarily when working at the 

 hives in summer. What harm can it 

 do ? For one thing it makes the bees 

 gorge themselves with honey, and if 

 that does no harm out in the open air, 

 it results at least in some waste. A 

 good deal greater harm I suspect 

 comes from the fright and the effect 

 on the nervous system of the bees, so 

 that I have seen them deposit their 

 feces on the combs and top-bars — a 

 regular case of diarrhea on a hot sum- 

 mer day. 



Now if this is so objectionable that 

 we are always advised to be saving of 

 smoke out in the open air, will it not 

 be a good deal worse when there is no 

 open air to be had, but when the whole 

 cellar is saturated with smoke to the 



