"256 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



greatest effective work, the hives of bees 

 should be in the orchards, and perhaps near 

 tliose varieties that are the hea\-3^ pollen- 

 bearers. Some honeybees work at night in 

 Colorado and Idaho. Growers there think 

 -one average hive of thrifty bees for each 

 two acres of mature orchard necessary for 

 •effective pollination. The hairy covering 

 of the body and leg's of the honeybees, and 

 their brushes and combs for gathering and 

 carrying the pollen, make their visits more 

 etlficient than those of other insects. 



From some flowers the bees take only 

 nectar; fi-om others, only pollen; and some 

 bees at times gather nectar alone, and 

 others pollen alone; for bees make their 

 pollen-collecting trips during the morning 

 hours (Cast eel). 



The harmony of nature and the divine 

 law is shown in these facts, that the tree- 

 fruits bloom early, each in its own time and 

 order, so that each gets its own pollen, and 

 at a season when the honeybees are usually 

 most of the flying insects present. They 

 are numerous, active, and are insatiable 

 and untiring gatherers of both nectar and 

 pollen from the fiTiit blossoms. Then the 

 rapidity and great increase in numbers of 

 the bees is another favoi'ing factor. 



Chas. A. Green (Rochester, N. Y.), the 

 well-known horticulturist, suggests that a 

 single honeybee may \dsit 100,000 blossoms 

 in gathering an ounce of honey; while D. 

 C. Polhemus, a Colorado apiarist, says that 

 a bee visits about 125,000 blossoms in mak- 

 ing a pound of honey. If either estimate 

 be true, and there are some 100,000 bees to 

 every tlu'ifty hive, surely effective cross- 

 pollination could be secured with a liive to 

 each two acres. 



The use of bees in greenhouses, for fer- 

 tilizing the bloom of vegetables gi-own for 

 early markets, has been long a recognized 

 necessity. The demand for bees for cross- 

 fertilizing orchards is insistent. It should 

 be a universal practice. 



Colorado Springs, Col. 



HOW TO PUT IN BOTTOM STARTERS 



BY EMMA WILSON 



Dr. C. C. Miller: — Several times I have tried to 

 put bottom starters into sections, but could never 

 make a success of it. With full-size foundation I 

 have no difficulty. My Daisy foundation-fastener is 

 of the old style, with a high rounded top coming 

 above the section. To facilitate the removal I cut 

 a deep groove into which I can insert a finger 1 p- 

 hind the foundation, and with the end of the finger 

 support this, while I take the section away. 



However, with the bottom start«rs it is different. 

 The block (against which the foundation rests) al- 

 ways gets very warm, and covered with a waxy 

 film to v.liich the ho'.; an starter adheres, so that, 



when I remove the section, the starter either sticks 

 to the block or drops over backward, and, in the 

 latter case, if I try to raise it up it comes loose 

 from the section. Wm. Muth-Rasmussen. 



Independence, Cal., Jan. 20. 



Dr. Miller has placed this in my hands 

 for I'eply, saying that it is much more in 

 my line than his. 



Putting in bottom starters is so easy for 

 me that it is almost done mechanically. Still, 

 I can imagine conditions that would make 

 it difficult. We use the same style of Daisy 

 foundation-fastener that you do, and I can 

 not see why you need to cut any groove or 

 need any support from behind in putting 

 in the large top starter. 



Now as to that troublesome bottom start- 

 er. I wonder if the chief difficulty is not 

 that you cut the starter too naiTow. Even 

 so good an authoritj^ as A B C and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture gives the depth ^ or % 

 inch. We find % inch the best depth. If 

 the starter is too narrow it is much harder 

 to fasten in, and the bees will be apt to 

 gnaw it down. It seems to me a 14-inch 

 starter would be veiy difficult to handle, 

 and even an experienced workman would 

 make very poor work with any thing so 

 small. The bottom starter is always fast- 

 ened in first. 



If foundation must be put in during very- 

 warm weather, use the early morning hours 

 for the work, and keep the foundation as 

 cool as possible. Do not allow the wood of 

 the section to become heated. If this hap- 

 pens, take a fresh section, and allow the 

 heated one to cool. The quicker the work 

 is done, the better; so, if possible, do not 

 get nervous over it, as it will help a whole 

 lot if you yourself can keep cool too. 



I will now ti-y to tell, as well as I can, 

 just how it is done at Marengo. Take a 

 section upside down with the right hand. 

 Place it on the machine; then with the 

 thumb of the left hand at the bottom of the 

 section at the left end, and fingers of the 

 same hand at the top, push the section and 

 machine back so that the section will be 

 under the plate, and at the same time pick 

 up the bottom starter from the lap with 

 the right hand. Put the starter in place 

 against the block with the edge resting on 

 the plate, keeping the tip of each fore fin- 

 ger ]n-essing lightly on the top edge of each 

 end of the starter. Then veiy quickly pull 

 back so that the starter will slip off the hot 

 plate, and hold in position not more than a 

 second. If the work has been done quick- 

 ly so that the wood of the section has not 

 been heated, tlie foundation will cool in 

 that lime so as to hold firmly when the 

 setion is reversed to put in the top starter. 



Marengo, 111. 



