382 



November, 1916. 



American Vae Journal 



St, at the University of Jena. He con- 

 siders, with the exception of ergot, 

 honey-dew of animal origin, of aphides 

 and scales. 



During a period of drouth the prod- 

 uct of the aphides on the upper side of 

 the leaves dries up. Since this sweet 

 stuff is readily soluble, dew and mois- 

 ture from the air cause it to swell, so 

 often in the early morn after a cool 

 night we have honeydew. This may 

 even happen after the aphides have dis- 

 appeared. The absence of aphides at 

 the time of the appearance of honey- 

 dew would therefore be no proof of its 

 vegetable origin. 



After having given the above as 

 Buesgen's view, Frei says: Should 

 honeydew be of animal origin as above 

 indicated, then after a heavy rain the 

 bees could find no honeydew, it would 

 all have been washed away until a 

 further accumulation had taken place. 

 Experience shows that this is not 

 always the case. The bees gathered 

 from the firs in 1911, on the southern 

 part of the Jura between Biel and 

 Brugg, unusual quantities of honeydew 

 honey notwithstanding the numerous 

 heavy rains. Ji-urther, the fir harbors 

 very few animal parasites, and the 

 aphides and scales practicallydisappear 

 about the middle of August (in Switz- 

 erland). From where can be the honey- 

 dew honey that is gathered sometimes 

 in September, if it is not produced by 

 the plant itself ? 



Buesgen says: "The minute drops 

 of honeydew are never seen to grow, 

 which would be observed if the plant 

 itself produced it." Frei cites the Pfael- 

 zer Bztg., which writes in reference to 

 the above remark: "To observe the 

 growing of the honeydew, /". /, on the 

 fir one must be on the watch before 

 sunrise, then one may in the twilight 

 see in the axis of the young shoots 

 very minute shining drops of a sweet 

 but slightly resinous taste. As the sun 

 rises higher these minute drops will 

 swell and finally begin to flow." 



Mr. Forer (Schw. Bztz., 1893) ob- 

 served on the needles of the firs aphides 

 of one millimeter in length with the 

 heads toward the base of the needles. 



Dr. Brandes confirms this and holds 

 honeydew on the firs as the practically 

 undigested juice of fir needles which 

 the aphides have imbibed and which 

 they flip from the end of the abdomen 

 some little distance in little crystalline 

 balls of about one millimeter diameter. 



This, Frei says, has been repeatedly 

 observed. He himself has observed this 

 a few days in 1914, only a few yards 

 from his apiary, but his bees brought 

 no honey. 



Dr. Soraner, University of Berlin, 

 says in his work: Plant Diseases, 

 1909. "My own observations confirm 

 the existence of honeydew without the 

 intervention of aphides." 



Burkhard Wuert, Bienenpflege says : 

 "We can in some years see the shining 

 spots from the aphides on leaves and 

 plants without getting a drop of honey." 



Dr. Heinis-Basel told Mr. Frei that 

 he had repeatedly seen honeydew on 

 hot-house plants which were free from 

 aphides. 



The French naturalist Bonnier has 

 succeeded in producing honeydew on 

 leaves and plants by artificially chang- 

 ing the temperature and could under 

 the microscope see the exudation of 



the sweet juice on the underside of the 

 leaf. 



Baron von Berlepsch says in his 

 classic work. Die Biene and ihre Zucht : 

 "It would be difficult to understand 

 why or how some people doubt that 

 honeydew may occur without the in- 

 tervention of aphides, did we not know 

 the power of preconceived opinion 

 and that many people lack the power 

 of observation when honeydew occurs. 

 One need only observe the upper side 

 of leaves that are turned up to the free 

 air (heaven), and notice that this side 

 is also covered with honeydew. 



Unger has shown before the Acad- 

 emy of Vienna, that honeydew may oc- 

 cur independent of aphides. 



The honeydew of the fir furnishes 

 some years very good crops. One bee- 

 keeper published the best day's increase 

 of a hive on scales: 



June 29, 1893, 9.4 kilogramm. 

 June 29, 1894, 5 5 



• July 3, 1897, 4.5 

 July 10, 1911, 4,2 

 July 1, 1914, 4.5 



I have seen a record of one colony 

 producing 385 pounds in 1900. In 1915 

 a friend of mine had an average of 90 

 pounds of waldhonig : the best colony 

 produced 180 pounds. 



This is not all the evidence in favor 

 of honeydew being of vegetable origin. 

 It seems that the fir tree is almost ex- 

 clusively considered. Opinions still 

 differ as to the origin of honeydew, 

 but there is no doubt that the honey 

 from it, as winter stores in our climate, 

 produces diarrhea with records of 

 great losses, up to 50 percent and even 

 more when not removed and sugar fed 

 to replace it. 



Kempten, Bavaria, Germany. 



Work of Provincial Apiarist 



IN none of our States, except Massa- 

 chusetts, are all departments of the 

 beekeeping work under the direc- 

 tion of one head, as in the Canadian 

 Province of Ontario. Minnesota makes 

 equal provision for the work, but it is 

 divided between two departments, one 

 having the educational work in charge 

 while the inspection work is entirely 

 separate. In Ontario the beekeeping 

 work is better provided for and more 

 fully organized than in any other Cana- 

 dian province. 



Prof. Morley Pettit, the provincial 

 apiarist, is a practical beekeeper of 

 many years experience, so that his 

 teaching is made practical, as a matter 

 of course. The writer has had the 

 privilege of visiting the college on two 

 occasions, once during a winter short 

 course and ^gain during the summer 

 session. Aside from the teaching work 

 carried on in the school and which 

 directly affects every student regis- 

 tered in the agricultural courses, ex- 

 tension work in beekeeping is done 

 on a scale not attempted elsewhere as 

 far as the writer is able to learn. The 

 department mailing list includes the 

 names of more than 7000 beekeepers in 

 the province, and each of them receives 

 a circular letter of timely interest sev- 

 eral times during the year. 



The beekeepers are informed as to 

 the crops harvested and probable prices 

 which may be obtained, the time and 

 place of holding beekeepers' meetings, 

 the winter losses and many other mat- 

 ters of vital interest to the practical 

 beekeeper. Extensive correspondence 

 is carried on answering the many ques- 



THE STAFF AT ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AT GUELPH 



Top row— Joseph Roberts, Geo, F, Kinffsmill. Stanley A, Stewart. Lower row— Miss C. 



Koch. Prof. Morley Pettit. and Miss Grace Hamilton 



