20 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



January 



the top rail of the fence. I had more 

 personal worries. Our bees that had 

 shown such activity earlier in the sum- 

 mer had almost ceased to fly, and were 

 cross to the point of savagery; and 

 whereas I had formerly been alarmed 

 lest they would fail to come back, I 

 had now become alarmed because they 

 would not fly forth. 



This state of affairs had become 

 almost intolerable when one bright 

 morning about Nov. 15, we heard a 

 subdued roaring which grew louder as 

 we crossed the road. It came from 

 above. We looked up and discovered 

 our bees busy in the tops of the euca- 

 lyptus trees, in which hung great clus- 

 ters of white bloom. By using a huge 

 pair of pruning shears that operate 

 with rope and pulley, the head gardener 

 brought down a splendid specimen. 

 We carried our treasure to the house. 

 It was as large as a small Christmas 

 tree. Soon the books and papers on 

 the table beneath its spreading branches 

 were daubed with a substance similar 

 to molasses, which we discovered came 

 from the cups of the flowers. The disc 

 of the nectar cup in the eucalypts is 

 fully as large as a 10 cent piece, and in 

 the room at a temperature of 70 degrees, 

 yields two or three heavy drops of 

 fluid when held in any position out of 

 the horizontal. 



We removed the spray to the porch 

 where it was eagerly pounced upon by 

 the bees. Through a magnifying glass, 

 the bee appeared to dip its tongue deep 

 and suck up the nectar rather than lap 

 up the liquid where the flow is more 

 slow. Close observation showed a 

 pumping motion or convulsive move- 

 ment of the abdomen, as though the 



bee might be sucking the nectar 

 through its tongue or, rather, through 

 the round tube on the tongue. 



The blossoms continued throughout 

 the winter and disappeared entirely 

 only about the first of June. During 

 that time there was no month when the 

 hives did not contain some brood. The 



bees were on .the wing, almost rain or 

 shine, since they actually dodged out 

 between showers whenever the sun 

 was warm enough to start the nectar to 

 flowing. I did no winter feeding last 

 year and the colonies came into spring 

 with the hives full of stores. 



One day my neighbor unlocked the 



A ROW OF EUCALYPTUS. THE "TALL STRAIGHT SENTINELS" 

 (Photograph by Alice Coldwell) 



iron gates and crossed the road to wish 

 me a Happy New Year. As he turned 

 away he noticed the row of white hives. 

 " What do your bees get to eat in the 

 winter?" he asked evidently associat- 

 ing flowers and bees only with spring- 

 time. 



"Just now," I replied, "they are liv- 

 ing off your eucalyptus hedge." 



He eyed me cannily for a moment, 

 then as a satisfied grin overspread his 

 features, "Well, I'm glad those trees 

 have been found good for something, 

 at last." 



Los Gatos, Calif. 



A SPLENDID SPECIMEN OF THE EUCALYTUS BLOSSOM 

 (Photograph by Alice Coldwell) 



A Farmer Beekeeper's Success 



BY C. E. MILLER. 



I AM living on a farm ten miles north 

 of Scranton, Pa., where, in 1812, my 

 grandfather settled ; here my father 

 was born and died, and here I also first 

 saw the light of day. My residence, 

 which has all modern conveniences, is 

 the third to be built on the same cellar, 

 and is only one of several buildings 

 erected by the financial aid of the bees. 



In the spring of 1870 I attended a 

 public sale where I purchased a large 

 hive of black bees at $8.25, and well do 

 I remember tying it with a rope for its , 

 removal, as it was split from top to | 

 bottom. This colony was the nucleus ( 

 of my present apiary. 



When these bees swarmed I put them 

 inTa movable-frame hive, transferring 

 also the parent colony. It was in 1875 

 that I bought my first Italian bees of 

 one George Cramer, of Thompkins- 

 ville. Pa., and to him 'credit is due for 

 bringing to my attention the American 



