June 4, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



361 



suit of chance. Certain flowei's depend upon certain insects 

 for fertilization, and they open when those particular in- 

 sects are on the wing. Flowers sometimes appear to act as if 

 they were endowed with human intelligence. Cut some tine 

 branches of a laurel (sweet bay) from the outside and put it 

 into water in the house. Now. the flowers you have cut and 

 taken into the house will last longer because they are wait- 

 ing for the insect on which they depend for fertilization, 

 and from which they have been separated by your bringing 

 them into the house. It is also said that some tropical 

 orchids last longer in hot-houses here than they do in their 

 native state, for the same reason. 



It may be well to bring up here this fact, which bee- 

 keepers, no doubt, have observed, and that is, that bees 

 visit but one species during each trip. 



I saw an article in the Metropolitan and Rural Home 

 from which these few lines are taken : 



" We think there are years when the seasonal conditions 

 make bees almost the entire dependence for fertilization. At 

 other times, it seems that bees are not needed at all, because 

 other insects and winds furnish satisfactory fertilizing 

 agencies." 



I would suggest that a wet season would require the 

 bees' work. In that condition the flowers and pollen are 

 moist, and therefore the pollen cannot be so well transferred 

 to other flowers by winds. The bee is built for its work on 

 business principles. Hair is situated on its hind legs and 

 form a pocket in which pollen can be carried home, the ulti- 

 mate use of which is for food for the young. 



The bee is covered with pollen in passing from flower 

 to flower, so that it can scarcely help passing the pollen to 

 the stigma of the flower. Henry Co., Ohio. 



[ Our Bec-Heepins Sisters | 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Letters from the Sisters Appreciated. 



I have received so many nice letters regarding the 

 " Sisters' Department " that I feel like writing a personal 

 letter to each in reply, but for lack of time I must content 

 myself by saying through the Bee Journal how much I 

 appreciate them, and I want to express my sincere thanks 

 to each of you for them. If you knew how much good your 

 letters have done me, I am sure you would not hesitate to 

 write again. 



I feel sure the department will be improved for our be- 

 coming better acquainted. E. M. W. 



Hiving: Swarms on Tall Trees. 



On page 232, Miss Wilson gives interesting experiences 

 of hers in hiving a swarm of bees clustered upon the limb 

 of a tall tree. And she calls upon the other sisters to tell 

 how they do it. Now perhaps she may allow me — an ad- 

 mirer of the Sisters' Department in the Bee Journal — to tell 

 the manner of my doing it in one particular case. 



Surrounding my bee-house are many trees, most of 

 them small with the exception of three, two of which are 

 apple, one elm. Well do I remember, a few years since, 

 upon a beautiful May morning, the voice of my wife calling 

 out : " Bees are swarming, come, quick !" Of course, like 

 all good and obedient husbands, I hastily donned my hat 

 and obeyed the call, finding the air full of bees, which had 

 just begun to cluster upon the tall elm on a large limb, 

 fully 30 feet from the ground, and not over 4 feet from the 

 body of the tree. I watched them all cluster, and then said 

 to my wife : " I will never risk my life up there to hive 

 those bees." 



Now, I was made happy in hearing her say : "I would 

 not try to get them. Let them go." 



(Of course, I could not but think my life was not in- 

 sured for her benefit). But I rather wanted those bees, it 

 being an extra large swarm, and an effort to save them 

 could not meet with more than failure, although a wlioUy 

 and untried one with me. So, getting a pole some 1^ feet 

 long, tying a brush upon the end, with a 20-foot ladder rest- 

 ing against the body of the tree, I ascended the ladder to 



give them a brushing-ofl' the limb, and start them for the 

 woods or some o^her place. Of course, the air was full of 

 mad bees, but I soon discovered they were clustering upon 

 the top of the tall apple-tree. I went at them again before 

 they had all clustered, and thoy went for me, too. But 

 their next move was upon a small plum-tree in the garden, 

 from which I secured them without further trouble. 

 Hampshire Co., Mass. Joseph Blake. 



"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." You 

 certainly did deserve being rewarded with success for your 

 perseverance with that swarm. But say, while you were 

 working so hard for those bees, didn't you wish you had 

 clipped the wings of your queens 7 It would have been fun 

 to sit in the shade and watch those bees come back. Now, 

 wouldn't it ? 



Drawn Comb for Swarms— Drone-Comb With- 

 held from the Brood-Chamber. 



1. If you hive a swarm on 10 frames of drawn comb will 

 it not detain them longer than is desirable from going into 

 the sections? 



2. If drone-comb is withheld from the bees in the brood- 

 chamber, will it not force the queen into the sections, 

 where queen-excluders and full sheets of foundation are not 

 used in the sections? L. S. R. 



Answers — 1. Yes, I should think it would ; but why 

 hive them on 10 combs ? Why not give them only 4 or 5 

 combs at first, filling up the rest of the space with dummies, 

 then after they have filled the ones they have, perhaps in 

 10 days, give them the rest. That would give better results 

 as far as the sections are concerned. 



2. If there is little or no drone-comb allowed in the 

 brood-chamber, there is a very strong inducement for the 

 queen to go into the sections under said conditions, and she 

 will be very apt to do it, if no excluder is used. Even with 

 full sheets used in the sections a few drone-cells will some- 

 times be squeezed in the sections for the queen to lay in, 

 and more than once I have found a queen-cell built in one 

 corner of a section from which a young queen had emerged. 



But with full sheets of foundation in the sections there 

 will be so little trouble that it is not worth while to use 

 excluders. 



Getting" Lang-stroth Hives — Uniting- Swarms. 



I am glad to be remembered in regard to the bee-keep- 

 ing sisters' department. I have no suggestions to make in 

 regard to its improvement. 



I have 19 colonies of bees. I have always helped my 

 husband with the bees, but since I have lost my husband I 

 will try to take care of them myself. 



1. Can you tell me where I canget the Langstroth hive? 

 If so, please let me know. 



2. I would like to know if I could unite two or more 

 swarms of bees in the swarming season. That is, if I 

 should have one swarm to-day and another to-morrow, 

 could I unite them ? Mrs. A. W. T.\bor. 



Bremer Co., Iowa, May 19. 



Answers — 1. In the fullest sense of the word, any 

 movable-frame hive is a Langstroth hive, as Langstroth 

 invented the movable frame. The one most commonly in 

 use is probably the dovetailed hive, and can be had from 

 almost any dealer in bee-keepers' supplies. 



2. There is little trouble in uniting swarms that issue 

 on the same day, and there may be no trouble in uniting 

 them if they issue a day apart, or even several days apart. 

 But you may have trouble trying to unite a prime swarm 

 and an after-swarm that do not issue at the same time. 



Honey as a Health-Food is the name of a 16- 

 page leaflet (3'/ix6 inches) which is designed to help in- 

 crease the demand and sale of honey. The first part is 

 devoted to a consideration of " Honey as Food," written 

 by Dr. C. C. Miller. The last part contains "Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes" and "Remedies Using Honey." It should be 

 widely circulated by every one who has honey for sale. It 

 is almost certain to make good customers for honey. We 

 know, for we are using it ourselves. 



Prices, prepaid— Sample for 2 cts.; 10 for 10 cts.; 25 

 for20cts.; 50 for 35 cts.; 100 for 65 cts.; 250 for $1.50; 500 

 for $2.75; 1000 for $5.00. If you wish your business card 

 printed at the bottom of the front page, add 25 cts. to your 

 order. Send all orders to the Bee Journal oflfice. 



