JULY 1. 1913 



435 



fruits. In this connection it may be well to 

 mention that Prof. Waugh is a national au- 

 thorit}' on fruit-gTowing. He is the author 

 of a practical work on the American apple- 

 orchard,* and also a producer of fruit him- 

 self. The readers of the A B C and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture will remember a quotation 

 from him on the subject of spraying fruit- 

 trees, and his caution against appl3ing such 

 sprays when the trees are in bloom. We 

 asked Prof. Waugh to give us his complete 

 address at some future time; but at this 

 time we may state that he gave some con- 

 clusive evidence showing that the honeybee 

 was the principal and almost the only agent 

 in the pollination of fruit-trees. He re- 

 ferred to the claim to the etfect that there 

 are other agencies thain bees for doing this 

 work, principally among which is the wind. 

 He had taken pieces of glass, coated them 

 with vaseline, and secured them on the 

 windward side of fruit-trees in full bloom, 

 at a distance that would be about equal to 

 another tree that is supposed to receive 

 wind pollination. He found that these glass 

 plates, smeared as the}- were with grease, 

 received almost no pollen dust, even when 

 the wind blew through the trees in full 

 bloom in the direction of the plates. He 

 further stated that there are practically no 

 insects except bees that are flying when 

 fruit-trees are in bloom, and that nearly all 

 the cross-pollination that is eifected at all 

 is through the agency of the bees. There 

 are some varieties, he said, that are self 

 pollinating; but even these varieties hiive 

 more and better fruit when bees are pres- 

 ent. 



Prof. Waugh's address was all the moi'e 

 convincing and conclusive from the ' fact 

 that he said he was a not a beekeeper, nevei' 

 had been one, and never expected to be. 

 His statement is especiallj- valuable when 

 we remember he is regarded as one of the 

 greatest authorities on fruit culture in the 

 United States. 



ONTARIO A GREAT PROVINCE FOR BEES. 



On the evening of June 11, Mr. Morley 

 Pettit, general instructor in apicultural 

 work at the Ontario Agricultural College, 

 gave an exceptionally interesting stereopti- 

 con address on the subject of Ontario bee 

 culture. His views were unusually instruc- 

 tive. At the close of his address it was 

 apparent that Ontario, Canada, would rank 

 with any State in the Union, if it did not 

 surpass it, in the number of its extensive 

 honey-producers and in the amount of hon- 

 ey annually produced. The conditions in 

 Ontario seem to be exceptionally favorable 

 — so much so that it is extremelv doubtful 



* Published by the Orange Judd Co., of New 

 York, at $1.00. 



whether any State in the Union, not even 

 excepting Texas, Colorado, Nevada, or Cal- 

 ifornia, can equal it. " And yet," said ]\Ir. 

 Pettit, " not all the available bee territory 

 in the Province is taken up." He refen-ed 

 to some spots in the northern part where 

 the seasons are necessarily short, but where 

 the crops are good. The average Yankee 

 could not help wishing, perhaps, that On- 

 tario were a part of the United States. 



FONDANT OR THE NEW BEE CANDY FOR 

 QUEEN-CAGES. 



On the morning of the second day Mr. 

 0. F. Fuller, of Blackstone, Mass., gave an 

 address on the subject entitled " Experi- 

 ments with Bee Foods." Mr. Fuller has 

 for several years past been experimenting 

 with a soft candy that he has made use of 

 as a substitute for the candy now made 

 with honey in our queen-cages. Under 

 present government regulations all honey 

 used in candy must be thoroughly boiled to 

 kill any possible disease germs that may 

 be present. Mr. Fuller has been working 

 on the proposition that it is better to have 

 a cand}' that uses no honey. He presented 

 a letter from the Postoflfice Department 

 showing that such a candy will be accepted 

 and welcomed. 



The candy Mr. Fuller has been experi- 

 menting with is technically known by can- 

 dy-makers as " fondant." A formula that 

 he has been using with considerable success 

 is, granulated sugar 12 lbs.; glucose, such 

 as the makers of cand}^ use (not the com- 

 mercial article known as karo or corn syr- 

 up), 1^2 lbs., water II/4 quarts, and from 

 one-fourth to one-third of a teaspoonful of 

 cream of tartar. The cream tartar, water, 

 and glucose are put together; and as soon 

 as they begin to boil, the sugar is added. 

 The mixture is then stirred until it reaches 

 the boiling-point, when it is discontinued. 

 As soon as it reaches a temperature of 238 

 or 240 by a sugar-boiling thermometer made 

 on purpose for the candy-maker, it is then 

 removed from the stove to cool. While the 

 ordinary stirring is discontinued at the 

 boiling-point, ]Mr. Fuller stirs the mixture 

 just enough and no more after that point 

 is reached to keep the temperatirre about as 

 uniform as possible. But a general Stirling 

 should be avoided. When the candy cools 

 to 120 or 125, it is stirred or beaten until 

 it begins to " cream." As soon as it looks 

 Like paste or starch it is ready to turn into 

 the feeders. These are nothing more nor 

 less than little • wooden trays with glass 

 slides at the bottom. These are filled with 

 soft eand}', and when cold are laid glass 

 side up directly over the cluster of bees as 

 a winter food. He has fed a number of 

 colonies with this food, and found that 



