496 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of its kind had not been in existence, I doubt very much whether we would eat such 

 delicious fruit as we do to-day ; as the knowledge of hybridization was not in former 

 years so generally understood as it is now. 



But the point I am trying to show is, that bees are of inestimable value to the 

 fruit-grower, and that it is ridiculous in any one to suppose that the honey-bee does 

 any harm to the fruit-blossoms which they visit, by abstracting the nectar, which 

 they think should go to nourish the embryo fruit. But from the writings of the 

 most scientific botanists, and my own experience, the nectar is produced most 

 copiously at the time the stigma is nearing maturity, and when the whole flower 

 may be said to be in a state of extreme vigor, and if the pollen fails to come in con- 

 tact with the stigma, the nectary continues to secrete nectar for a short time, as if 

 to try to keep up the fast falling energy of the stigma ; but, on the other hand, if 

 the stigma is fertilized, then all the energies of the plant is directed to the young 

 fruit, the nectary becomes withered, and the leaves take its place ; so, as a result, 

 we see the bees load the pollen baskets generally with the fresh-matured pollen, 

 and in its travels carries it to the matured stigma, thereby helping Nature. So we 

 see that Nature has provided a surplus of nectar as if to entice insects to help her 

 to perform a task for the general building up of the vegetable kingdom. 



Planting Basswood Tbees. — Dr. Miller said in his "Notes and Comments" 

 awhile ago, that you must first get trees before planting them. It would be comical, 

 Doctor, to plant them if you did not have them ; but if you seek out some basswood 

 trees that were cut last year, you will find a lot of young growth around the old 

 stump, and if early next April you cut them all off close to the stump, and plant 

 them in a row as soon as cut, you will have some young basswood trees in a short 

 time. Florence, Nebr. 



ISVINXERINO BHHS IN CI^OSBD APARTMENTS. 



BY CHAS. DADANT. 



In warm countries, as in Italy, for instance, the hives are often placed in frame 

 buildings, each hive having a hole in the southern wall, through which bees can fly 

 out. The room is carefully closed in winter, and, as the outside temperature gets 

 rarely lower than a few degrees under the freezing point, the bees can stay in good 

 health for the winter, even when they have nothing else to live on but heath honey 

 or honey-dew. But, in this country, such a dwelling would not succeed. We have 

 seen it tried, and the owner of the bees lost all — about 40 colonies — when he made 

 the experiment. 



It is true that such a room could be warmed, but the results would be about the 

 same, for it is diflScult, if not impossible, to maintain the temperature of the room 

 exactly between 42"' and 46°; for, very often, a warm day is followed by a very 

 cold night, or vice versa. When the mercury rises to 48^\ or more., the queen be- 

 gins to lay, and the bees, unable to fly out, become uneasy. On the other hand, at 

 35^ or 38 , the bees eat more to raise the temperature, and as soon as their intes- 

 tines are filled, they get the diarrhea. Besides, in both cases, they suffer from 

 dampness. 



It is, therefore, less diflBcult and more safe to winter bees in silos or in cellars. 

 I have tried the silos or in cellars. I have tried the silos for three years. These 

 silos were dug in a sound and well-drained field. They consisted in ditches as long, 

 large and deep as was necessary to accommodate the hives. Un the bottom of these 

 ditches I placed two scantlings to support the hives a few inches above the ground. 



