PH 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Crab spider causht in the act of killing a Ij- 



Aster, aster. Several species or varieties 

 are of' value as honey-plants, some produe- 

 iug much better honey than others. Aster 

 honey is very quick to gTanulate, and is 

 rather strong in flavor. It is not usually 

 considered verj' good for winter stores, 

 especially in the North, where the bees are 

 confined for a long period. There is gen- 

 erally a sour smell about the apiary Avhen 

 the bees are at work on aster. The bloom 



begins in September, and continues until 

 after frost. 



Other late-flowering honey-plants which 

 might be mentioned are buckwheat ; alsike 

 and sweet clover; cotton, cowpeas, wild 

 sunflowers. The common rag'weed, Ambrosia 

 artemisae folia, is one of tlie most 2Drolifie 

 pollen-bearing plants among the late bloom- 

 ers, although it furnishes no nectar. 



Franklin, Tenn. 



THE TRAGIC SIDE OF BEE LIFE 



BY WILLIAM BEUCUS 



When we turn to the daily life of the bee 

 and see how its fructifying mission is be- 

 neficent, how it is called to the delicate fra- 

 grant blooms which crown the vegetable 

 kingdom, and Avhich are a synonym of 

 loveliness, we are cjuite overcome, and ex- 

 claim at the transcendent beauty of it all; 

 but when we find hu'king at the portal of 

 the lily of the field a monster whose only 

 mission is to seize and destroy the bee, to 

 hold it in a ^^se-like grip while it calmly 

 punctures the living tissues of its victim, 

 the face of nature loses its charm, and its 

 ugliness is un\eiled. 



The labor of the bee is kindly and con- 

 structive; and yet it mugt, at every trip, 



face the pirates of the earth and the air 

 whose labor is cruel and destructive. One 

 of these monsters is shown in the photo. It 

 is a white spider wlaich lurks on white 

 blossoms. Its duplicate in form, thougli 

 colored yellow, lurks on yellow blossoms. 

 This spider spins no web ; but with arms 

 outspread, it patiently awaits tlie coming of 

 its only victim, the honeybee. It does not 

 spring, but waits until the head of the bee 

 is in exactly the right position between the 

 outstretched arms, and ihen. with a swift 

 movement, it seizes the bee in a powerful 

 embrace and bites into the neck from the 

 ui^per side, as shown. The bee has no 

 chance to defend itself, and falls an easy 



