GLEAJSriNGS IN BEE CULTURE 



number of plants which grew outdoors, his 

 experiments would have been impossible 

 had the flowers been frequently pollinated 

 by insects. In his famous paper, which is 

 now before me, he says that the risk of 

 false impregnation is very slight. " Among 

 more than 10,000 plants which were care- 

 fully examined, there were only a very few 

 easts where an indubitable false impreg- 

 nation had occurred." 



Here are two kinds of flowers belonging 

 to the same family, possessing form, struc- 

 ture, color, odor, and nectar, adaptations 

 for insect pollination, and yet they are 

 rarely visited by insects. It would be easy 

 to draw hasty conclusions. But let us re- 

 member that these plants are growing far 

 from their original home or habitat under 

 greatly changed conditions. The sweet pea 

 comes from Sicily. The garden pea is no 

 longer known in the wild state, but is be- 

 lieved to have been introduced into Europe 

 from Western Asia. It was cultivated by 

 the ancient Greeks, and even in the prehis- 

 toric times of the bronze age, for the seeds 

 have been found among the relics of the 

 lake-dwellers of Switzerland, Though only 

 occasionally cross-pollinated to-day, there 

 is not a shadow of doubt that insects have 

 played a most important part in the past 

 history of these flowers, when, growing wild 

 in some distant land, they were in the proc- 

 ess of becoming what they are. Their util- 

 ity to man and their existence in America 

 depends upon the fact that they have re- 

 tained the power of self-fertilization. 



Though acclimatized strains of the sweet 

 pea are fruitful in India, seed brought 

 from and sown in the gardens of Calcutta 

 produces plants with small leaves and a 

 few sterile flowers. How mistaken would 

 be the conclusion of a native of India who 

 should form the opinion that the flowers 

 are never fruitful! We who live in Amer- 

 ica would err to an equal extent if we should 

 assert that insects had never been beneficial 

 to the flowers of the garden pea {Pisum 

 sativum L.), or to those of the SAveet pea 

 (Lathyrus odoratus L.). 



Waldoboro, Maine. 



BEES IN AN ATTIC IN A CITY OF 423,000 IN- 

 HABITANTS 



BY JOHN A. BRAME 



In the spring of 1911 I purchased a colo- 

 ny of very gentle yellow bees for $10.00, 

 giving the price for the bees only, as I fur- 

 nished my own hive, of which I had plenty. 

 I had lost five colonies the previous fall 

 because sickness had prevented my giving 

 them the proper care. 



Placing this hive in the center window of 

 my attic was an experiment which, so far, 

 is a success. This colony gave me 64 sec- 

 tions of clover honey during 1911, and cast 

 a swarm late in August, which was prevent- 

 ed from leaving by a trap at the entrance 

 for catching the queen. 



The year 1912 was a banner one for me. 

 The daughter of the original colony gave 

 me 96 sections of clover honey. 



Hive No. 2, which had contained the old 

 queen, was queenless early in the spring; 

 so I lost out there, as I did not discover it 

 soon enough to get any surplus. 



Hive No. 3 is a collection of swarms, or, 

 rather, part of two swarms of which I could 

 not get the queens. Part of one swarm is 

 from a church chimney; the other is from 

 a 40-foot pear tree. A friend in Beeville, 

 Texas, in the bee and honey business, prom- 

 ised to mail me a queen. As luck happened, 

 the queen came the day I captured part of 

 the peai'-tree swarm. I locked the bees in 

 an observation hive for three days, with 

 this queen caged, after which she began to 

 lay. A few days later I got part of the 

 chimney swarm. These I kept in a paste- 

 board box in the cellar for three days, feed- 

 ing them through a screen top ; then I punc- 

 tured a hole in the box and set it under the 

 observation hive which they also made their 

 home. 



Previous to purchasing this $10.00 colony 

 I kept bees in my back yard; but I had a 

 neighbor who thought more of cleanliness 

 than godliness, and had the habit of beating 

 rug's and carpets practically all day. Since 

 I have had them in the attic the regular 

 spring and fall carpet beating is sufficient. 

 Being confined all day in the dust and dye- 

 laden department store I find it a relief to 

 work with my bees in the evenings and holi- 

 days. The $10.00, I figure, was well spent ; 

 and if I ever want another colony I shall 

 not hesitate to pay the same for it. 



Buffalo, N. y. 



A Correction 



In regard to the illustration, page 350, May 15, 

 there was a slight error made in reproducing my 

 sketch. The super should be shown with the end 

 toward the reader, not the side. The great advan- 

 tage in using such a device is the ease and quick- 

 ness with which a super can be set on it without 

 crushing bees, and with the knowledge that it will 

 stay where you put it. The cover need not be re- 

 moved from the super — just raise the super with the 

 cover; puflf in the smoke and lift the super on to 

 the holder. I prefer the box arrangement, as it is 

 handy for fuel for the smoker, bee-brush, and tools 

 that are apt to be mislaid and must be hunted for 

 when wanted. 



Mystic, Ct., June 4. Elmbe E. Waite. 



