November, 1908. 



American V^e Journal 



days; if it emerges about the first of 

 October and the colony containing it 

 winters in perfect condition, it is pos- 

 sible for that bee to be alive the 4th 

 day of July next. "How is that?" do 

 you ask? The bee lives just according 

 to its activities, and when it is all hus- 

 tle and bustle, as it usually is during 

 June, July and Augnst, the bee wears 

 out its vitality and dies of old age in 

 about lyi months. On the other hand, 

 if this same bee emerged about the first 

 of October, and the colony, through the 

 approach of cold weather, went into that 

 quiescent state so conducive to good 

 wintering, then the bee would remain 

 quiet and almost inactive till the warmth 

 of spring brought the colony into activ- 

 ity, which activity would not be that of 

 summer, on account of the multitude of 

 cool days, with cloudy, stormy weather 

 which always keeps the .bees in their 

 hives during the months of March, April 

 and May, in this locality. 



Of one thing I am positively certain, 

 which is, that I have had bees that were 

 not born till the last half of September, 

 living on the next fourth day of July. 

 It happened in this way: 



I had a colony of black bees to which 

 I gave an Italian queen the first week 

 in September. This queen never laid 

 an egg that fall on account of no nectar 

 coming in from the fields afterward. 

 When the colony was put from the cel- 

 lar, it contained none but black bees, 

 as this colony did no breeding while in 

 the cellar, even though it was not put 

 out till near the first of May. From this 

 reason I was afraid the young Italian 

 queen was not good for anything, so I 

 kept closer watch of this colony than 

 of others. The next time I looked, there 

 were eggs, and in due time the golden 

 Italians were emerging from their cells. 

 Along about the middle of June I saw 

 that the black bees began to show less 

 and less, and the Italians more and 

 more, so I was curious to know how 

 ti thing was coming out. 



On the first day of July there were 

 several hundred black bees in that col- 

 ony, but on the fourth day I was able 

 to find only about a score, while on the 

 fifth day none were to be found. And 

 from very many changes of queens 

 along during the month of June, I have 

 proved just as conclusively that bees 

 which emerge during the summer months 

 live only 45 days. By taking note of the 

 day the last black bee emerged from its 

 cell, and then keeping watch of the hive 

 from the fortieth day on, I found that 

 on the 46th day not a black bee was to 

 be found, while on the 4Sth day a few 

 hundred were to be seen. 



Now while these things have no di- 

 rect bearing on the dollar-and-cent side 

 of bee-keeping, yet they are very inter- 

 esting, and tend to rivet the apiarist to 

 his pursuit, and help him to know how 

 to manipulate his colonies when divid- 

 ing, queen-rearing, etc., so that he will 

 work in perfect accord with Nature's 

 ways, or as nearly so as is possible to 

 carry out the plans he wishes to make. 



Then, these experiments will convince 

 any one that the bees which bring in 

 the nectar from the fields are not the 

 ones which build the comb, or deposit 

 it in the sections, or nurse the larvae; 



that it is 6 days from the time the bee 

 emerges to the time it takes its flight ; 

 that it is 16 days old before it enters 

 the field as a forager, and that after it 

 so enters it does very little of the inside 

 work of the hive for the rest of its life. 



A knowledge of all of these things helps 

 the apiarist much in many ways, even 

 though it may count only indirectly on 

 the dollar-and-cents part of our pursuit. 

 I realize that none of us would continue 

 long in the bee-business were there no 

 doUars-and-ccnts part to it; but while 

 I so realize, I am free to admit, that 

 the real sest from bee-keeping has come 

 to me through the knowledge obtained 

 by the many experiments I have con- 

 ducted. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



The Eucalypti for Fuel, Tim- 

 ber and Honey 



BY A. J. COOK. 



I am asked by a bee-keeper in Ken- 

 tucky to give an article on the Eucalypts. 

 I am glad to do this as I am specially 

 fond of these trees, and I am sure that 

 they have a value that is little under- 

 stood. It must, however, be borne in 

 mind that these trees come from Aus- 

 tralia, a very arid region, and one with 

 a very mild climate. We may be sure, 

 then, that the stronghold of the Eucal- 

 ypts is ability to stand drouth, and that 

 their weakest point would be inability to 

 endure cold. Here at Claremont, where 

 the orange and lemon thrive well, some 

 species of Eucalypts suffer not a little 

 with the cold. It behooves, then, any 

 one contemplating the planting of Eu- 

 calypts, to try them at first in a small 

 way, that he may know whether the 

 climatic conditions of his locality are 

 suited to these trees. 



Importance of Timber Belts. 



One who travels for the first time in 

 England and France, is surprised at the 

 great number of trees which he observes 

 everywhere. That these conserve mois- 

 iure and greatly serve to modify climate 

 is certain. We may say that much of 

 Europe is a great park. This is peculiar- 

 ly true of much of England. This not 

 only makes the country exceedingly 

 beautiful, but the trees make the climate 

 equable, and salubrious, and greatly pro- 

 mote the interests of agriculture. We 

 of the United States, will fall sadly 

 short of our duty and privilege, if we 

 do not see to it and plant liberally of 

 trees. We can not act too soon, that 

 our country shall, like England and 

 France, become one great park. 



The Eucalypts are so rapid of growth, 

 and so valuable for fuel, timber and 

 honey, that they should receive attention, 

 wherever they will grow and thrive. 

 Surely, in all the great arid West, where 

 the cold does not press too hard, this 

 tree should receive prompt and gener- 

 ous attention. In the more humid re- 

 gions of the East, the hardier species 

 should be tried. Our experience with 

 alfalfa should make us quick to act in 

 this matter. We long thought that this 

 was no plant for the Eastern States, 

 but find upon trial that it has great value, 

 in other than warm arid regions. 



Valuable Features of the Eucalypts. 



To my thinking, there are few more 

 fascinatingly beautiful trees than these 

 Eucalypts. Their drooping, beautifully- 

 formed foliage, showy blossoms, cur- 

 ious fruit, careless, yet graceful habit, 

 and often long straggling trunk and 

 branches, make them the gems of any 

 landscape that is marked by their pres- 

 ence. One of my artistic friends, noted 

 for her esthetic taste, says that no other 

 tree is more beautiful, or lends itself to 

 adornment more satisfactorily than does 

 this gift from Australia. I think she 

 is quite right. There is just opposite of 

 my house a manna gum. Eucalyptus vim- 

 inalis, which has become very dear to 

 me. There are several hard by, and 

 I treasure them all as precious posses- 

 sions. In the moonlight they are grace- 

 ful and fascinating beyond compare. 



Again, the great number of species, 

 makes it possible, by careful selection, 

 to secure timber or lumber of any de- 

 sired quality. The trees grow, when 

 planted thickly, so straight and tall that 

 they are admirable for masts, and other 

 like uses, where long timbers are desired. 



Perhaps the greatest advantage we 

 gain in these trees is their resistance to 

 drought. Coming as they do from an 

 arid clime, they stand a prolonged 

 drought, and so in regions' like Southern 

 California and Arizona they will thrive 

 and grow rapidly after the first year, 

 with no care at all. This characteristic 

 is very encouraging, as the growing of 

 the trees is a matter of no small profit, 

 and so the trees will be more and more 

 planted, and, as we have seen, this is 

 very desirable from the stand-point of 

 general economy as well as direct profit. 

 We need more trees, and the Eucalypti 

 will tend greatly to fill this need. 



Eucalypts for Bee-Foliage. 



We must not neglect to speak of the 

 value of the Eucalypts as trees furnishing 

 bee-forage. These trees come from the 

 southern hemisphere. When we bring 

 them here, they tend from inheritance 

 to bloom in winter. Of course their new 

 environment tends to bring this bloom- 

 ing season in late spring and early sum- 

 mer. As a result, we may gather the 

 bloom almost any month of the year. 



If we may judge from the way the 

 bees visit the bloom, we may conclude 

 that nearly all furnish nectar, in good 

 quantities. Of course, as many blossom 

 in seasons when there are few bees, as 

 do the willows and soft maples of the 

 East, we may conclude that they are 

 not of any great value in the real har- 

 vest, but they are valuable in stimulating 

 breeding. Some of the species may give 

 much honey after we put on the supers. 

 It is not true that the honey is tainted 

 by the oil of the plants, and we may be 

 sure that is never true of nectar. 



The only discount of the Eucalypts 

 is the fact that they are impatient of 

 cold. While some of the species are 

 more hardy than others, none of them 

 are proof against severe cold. For this 

 reason, any one contemplating planting 

 these trees should know from actual ob- 

 servation that the locality is suited to 

 their requirements, before planting more 

 than in an experimental way. 



