136 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



that has been long adopted in England. And 

 it does seom a little strange to see some topic 

 come up and be redhot on one side the ocean, 

 without even being mentioned on the other. 



Whatever may be best on the other side. I'm 

 pretty sure it would be a good thing for Ameri- 

 can bee-keepers to get out of their self-conceited 

 exclusiveness. Before you settle down into the 

 happy belief that you have a monopoly of all 

 progress, my self-satisfied Yankee, please wipe 

 out of existence all knowledge of the extractor, 

 parthenogenesis, and comb foundation, and see 

 where you will be. And yet the germs of these 

 things were not hatched this side the water. If 

 you refer to the movable-comb hive, I think 

 you will find thousands of German bee-keepers 

 will stoutly insist that Dzier/.on alone was the 

 inventor of movable combs, while as many 

 other thousands on this side will say, " Who is 

 Dzierzon?"' and insist that, if Langstroth had 

 not been born, there would have "been no mov- 

 able combs. Even although the movable comb 

 of Langstroth may have been more fully devel- 

 oped than that of Dzierzon, there is ignorance 

 and prejudice on both sides. 



Each side needs the other, and it will do us 

 good to get together. I feel pretty sure that 

 each side will have more respect and good will 

 for the other when the big show is over. 



HOW BEES HEAR (?) 



The question as to whether bees can hear, 

 while not settled beyond the possibility of a 

 doubt, is one which must bee keepers answer in 

 the affirmative; but investigators heretofore 

 have not been able to locate definitely any or- 

 gans of hearing. Some have supposed they 

 might be situated on the antennae, but such an 

 opinion lias been given rather as a modest sug- 

 gestion, without attempting to offer any proof. 



In a late number of the American Bee Jour- 

 nals however, the whole matter is fully settled, 

 the writer, G. P. Hachenberg, M. Dy,, giving out 

 the information as to where and what the or- 

 gans of hearing are. First, he settles that in 

 bees there is no tympanum: for if a bee had a 

 tympanum in proportion to the size of its body 

 it would be so little that it would be no good. 

 He doesn't state exactly how small a tympanum 

 must be before it ceases to tymp real good: but 

 at any rate, such a one as" a bee could carry 

 around wouldn't tymp at all. But instead of a 

 tyinpanum the bee has a thousand set®, or 

 bristles, over its body, sticking up. that serve 

 as so many tuning-forks. "This fnzz serves 

 the function of the tympanum."' Just how the 

 doctor found this out he does not say: but that 

 is a small matter so long as we have the knowl- 

 edge: and he diffei-s from all previous investi- 

 gators, in that he does not deal with a supposi- 

 tion or a suggested theory, but with an ascer- 

 tained fact. 



The robber, he tells us, is smooth and shining, 

 " and. without a seta on its body, it is evidently 

 deaf and dumb. It hears nothing— no angry 

 warning will keep it out of any hive, for it 

 hears it not." How it operates before it loses 

 its sette, or whether it is born without any fuzz, 

 we are not told. 



WE XEED BEE-EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



I wonder if all is being done that ought to be 

 done toward getting experiments in bee culture 

 made at public expense. I have some doubt as 

 to whether any class of men. as a whole, have 

 spent more time and money in experiments 

 than bee-keepers. There are always unsolved 

 problems, the proper solution of which will 

 help to make the cost of honey less. If one 

 man experiments for a county, the other bee- 

 keepers of the county helping to bear the ex- 

 pense, there would be a saving. If one man, 

 with every convenience at his command, makes 



the experiments for the State, the saving would 

 be immense. 



If you want to know what is the best turnip 

 to raise, or the best cultivation to give the tur- 

 nip, you can find out from the experiment sta- 

 tion of your State. But how much can you 

 find out from that same station about bees or 

 their culture? The turnip business is all right: 

 the State should experiment for all in that di- 

 rection, and yet the bee-interest exceeds that of 

 the turnip— at least, I think it does in most 

 States. 



Why is it that there is nothing done with 

 bees? Possibly one reason is, that the bee 

 business, as a business, is newer. Until lately, 

 getting a crop of honey was all a matter of 

 luck; while, to raise a crop of turnips, one 

 needed to know how. In public matters, 

 changes are slowly made; and the fact that 

 nothing has been done in the way of public 

 experiments heretofoi'e is sufficient reason why 

 nothing of the kind should be done this year. 

 If bee-keepers stir in the matter, and keep 

 stiiTing, there is little doubt that something 

 will be done in all the States where the honey 

 crop rises to any considerable importance. The 

 Hatch Bill, with $1.5.000 to each State, makes a 

 more hopeful outlook than ever before. If one 

 Slate makes a break, it will be easier for all 

 others to follow. If Ohio has a proper outfit 

 established, that will help mightily as an argu- 

 ment with Illinois bee-keepers to get the same 

 thing done in their State, and vice versa. Isn't 

 this a topic worth keeping alive? 



Marengo, III. C. C. Miller. 



SELLING HONEY WITH A WHEEL. 



Mr. Root;— I was very much interested in 

 your article on your wheel, Nov. 1.5. as I bought 

 a Victor pneumatic early last fall for business, 

 and find it a source of great pleasure in the bar- 

 gain. I got it to help me in taking orders for 

 honey, and delivering the same; and I find that 

 I can do as much running around in an hour 

 and a half as I could in half a day without it. 

 I sell the most of my crop of honey (extracted) 

 in the quait Mason fruit-jar. I have a box 

 made of wood (thin boards), covered with black 

 carriage cloth, which holds two jars, which I 

 sling under my arm by means of a strap over 

 my shoulder. With this incumbrance I learned 

 to ride fairly, although it used to annoy me by 

 swinging forward when I mounted; but I need 

 accommodations for two or four more cans, and 

 I think your suggestion of carrying the load on 

 the front wheel, and as low as possible, is a 

 good one. I am thinking of making leather 

 pouches with wooden bottoms, for protection, 

 to attach to the front forks if possible. Now, 

 friend Root, if your ingenuity gets up any thing 

 for carrying glass cans of honey on a bicycle, 

 please let us know. I have about 800 quarts to 

 sell and deliver yet, and I live about four blocks 

 fui'ther away from the business portion of the 

 city than when you favored me with a call last. 



Manistee, Mich. Walter Harmer. 



[Friend H., you can easily carry a dozen Ma- 

 son jars on your wheel by making a ctmple of 

 boxes to hang over the front wheel, saddle-bags 

 fashion. I use such an aiTangement for carry- 

 ing mail-bags, and I have carried 75 lbs. with- 

 out any trouble. One dozen Mason quart jars 

 filled with honey would not weigh over ,50 lbs. 

 I feel certain that the great business world has 

 as yet scarcely a glimpse of what the wheel will 

 be in time, in this direction. The ingenuity of 

 our best minds has been for so many years de- 

 voted to this matter of reducing friction, that 

 no method of transportation can just now com- 

 pare with it.] 



