340 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



located some oO oi' (iO feet from the pump. 

 Ill dry times we had to curry our water in 

 pails from the pump to the vines — an opera- 

 tion that was ratlier Iour- and tiresome. One 

 evening; the thouglit struck me to try the 

 Sraitii force pump. I went over to the fac- 

 tory and got one and stood it in a pail of 

 water right under tlie spout of the cistern- 

 pump. The idea was a very happy one, for 

 f c )ul(i stand right there at the pump, sin- 

 gle out each phint, and give it all the water 

 it wauled, without moving a step. As fast 

 as the pail was emptied 1 stood without 

 moving a step, and turned the handle of the 

 cistern-pump a few times, and the pail was 

 full again. Now, if those tomatoes didn't 

 gfow. and if we didn't have nice tomatoes, 

 it was no fault of the Smith pump. In the 

 same way 1 have drawn up our buggy with- 

 in a convenient distance of tlie cistern- 

 pump, and with the Smith force pump I 

 could just deluge the thing without being 

 tililiged to put "on overalls or any thing of 

 the sort, until I was ready to sponge the 

 buggy off. 



After testing one or two of the clieaper- 

 grades of force-pumps, we have given our 

 preference decidedly in favor of the Smith. 

 It works very easy, in consideration of the 

 large quantity of water it throws, and the 

 distance it forces it. On this account, in 

 case of tire we think the Smith would do 

 better execution than the majoritvof liigh- 

 er-priced force pumps on the market. If 

 any of you are desirous of knowing the 

 height to which you can send a stream, I 

 would say that, on several occasions, we 

 Imve easily sent a pretty good-sized stream 

 of water clear on top of our factory. 



THE SPIDER iVS AN" ENEMY OF BEES. 



A COIII'LE OF INSTANCES IN P(^1NT. 



OUR TEN-CENT KNIFE FOR CUTTING 

 UP SEED-POTATOES. 



THE ONE, AI-SO, KECOMMENDED FOR KITCHEN USE 

 By DR. MILLER. 



tELOW we give you an engraving of the 

 knife that has been mentioned by Mr. 

 Terrv and Dr. C. C. Miller for a kitch- 

 en-knife, and for a knife to cut np po- 

 tatoes to plant. You will notice, that 

 the handle projects in an odd sort of way up 

 along the blade, to give a rest for the fore- 

 finger, spoken about on p. 2oK. The blade is 

 the J. Russell & Co.'s finest steel— the same, 

 in fact, that they use for oui- Novice honey- 

 knife. 



OITR TEN-CEN'J' KITCHEN-KNIFE. 



The special feature of this knife is in hav- 

 ing the blade so thin that, when it passes 

 through a potato or apple, there is scarcely 

 any resistance. Then the keen sharp point 

 is just the nicest thing that can be imagin- 

 ed, for cutting out the eyes or objectionable 

 spots. It is also an excellent knife for par- 

 ing and coring apples. We are enal)led to 

 furnish them at the low price mentioned, by 

 buvinT them i.i great quantities. If wanted 

 by^mail, add 4 cts. extra for postage. 



T various times, Avriters in (Cleanings have 

 pronounced the sjjider a friend to the bee- 

 keeper. It seems to me that this statement 

 ought to be received with considerable al- 

 lowance. A year ago I prepared a number 

 of cases of sections^a considerable time before the 

 honey-harvest beg-au, and piled them on top of each 

 other until I should need theni on the hives. When 

 placed in position at the projier time the bees 

 prom I'tly took possession of nearly all; but there 

 were several very strong- colonies tlmt resisted ev- 

 ery ett'ort to force them into the sections 1 revei-s- 

 ed combs, uncapped honey, and contracted the hive 

 space, but all to no purpose. It never occurred to 

 me to see if any thing was wrong in the cases; but 

 at the end of the season 1 found that each case was 

 oecui>ied by several large and e.xceedingly vigorous 

 spidei-s. They had taken possession before the 

 cases were given to tlie bees, and they held posses- 

 sion all summer at an expense of several dollars to 

 me. 1 doubt very much if the most aggressive col- 

 onies would have the courage to displace such in- 

 trudei'S. 



But it is not at the hive alone that the spider is a 

 nuisance to the bee-keeper. Several years ago I 

 was amusing myself in the ttower garden one morn- 

 ing by pulling open the corollas of pinks that a bee 

 had been vainly trying to enter. When it thrust its 

 head into the narrow opening I would pull the pet- 

 als apart so that it might reach the nectar at the 

 bottom of the cup. At length the bee alighted 

 upon a cluster of flowers on which was a small 

 green spider not more than a quarter of an inch 

 long. For a full minute the insects regarded each 

 other without moving, then with a sudden spring 

 the spider seemed to clasp the head of the bee for 

 an instant with his anterior legs. In a moment he 

 reti-eated to the further edge of the flower-cluster, 

 and the bee rolled to the ground dead. Before the 

 spider made his spring the bee seemed dazed and 

 confused: and my wife, looking- on, begged me to 

 interfere for its protection. But I believed the bee 

 was safe against the attacks of such a puny ene- 

 my, and I could hardly believe the evidence of my 

 eyes when I held the dead bee in my hand. lean 

 not think of the incident yet without a feeling of 

 regret. 



Who can tell how often these tragedies of the 

 fields are enacted? The spider is everywhere; and 

 if it is habitually so spiteful and venomous, it de- 

 serves to be ranked among the most destructive 

 enemies of the bee. If is, undoubtedly, an excel- 

 lent protector of empty combs, t)ut beyond this I 

 consider its usefulness to the apiarist as ended. 

 Denison, Iowa, Apr. IS, 1887. Z. T. Hawk. 



Friend H., the jioint you make is, no 

 doubt, a most important one, and I should 

 like to ask if others have bad a like experi- 

 ence ; and we want Prof. Cook to tell us, if 

 he can, what spider it was that killed that 

 bee, and by what means he did it. There 

 are surely spiders enough at the college 

 museum to include this very chup. If I am 

 correct, spiders have no means of killing 

 their enemies except by a mechanical opera- 

 tion; that is, they have no poison-bag nor 

 poisonous spittle, neither is their bite poison- 



