CUCUMBER 335 



haustive to the insects. They naturally resent confine- 

 ment and such abnormal conditions. The cucumber, too, 

 though it supplies pollen which the bees gather, produces 

 practically no- nectar. Unless unusual care is exercised, 

 the colonies soon become very weak and unfit for the 

 performance of their important work in the forcing of 

 cucumbers. Most of our commercial growers are not 

 apiarists, and they have no interest in bees except as they 

 are essential in the forcing of cucumbers. Such men do 

 not devote more time to the bees than is absolutely 

 necessary. They often prefer to buy new colonies every 

 year, and then simply sacrifice them for the crop of cu- 

 cumbers. In some -sections, as around Boston, some 

 apiarists make a business of producing bees mainly or 

 perhaps especially for cucumber growers, and a good 

 price is generally charged for the colonies. Pure Italian 

 bees are considered the best workers, and they are also 

 more docile and not so ill-tempered as common bees and 

 crosses between the blacks and Italians. 



The hives of bees should be placed in the houses during 

 the night and the entrances opened the next morning. 

 The bees will be very impatient for a few hours or per- 

 haps a day or two, and some of them are always lost in 

 their repeated attempts to escape by flying against the 

 glass. If the ventilators are kept closed, or nearly so, for 

 a couple of days, or until the bees have adjusted them- 

 selves to the new conditions, comparatively few will 

 escape. It is unnecessary to screen the ventilator open- 

 ings, for a large percentage of the bees that venture out- 

 side will find their way back to the hives. Placing the 

 hives just outside the houses is a great advantage from 

 this standpoint. An excellent plan when the weather is 

 warm is to remove a pane or two of glass in the corners 

 of the houses so that the bees can get out when they 

 worry themselves by bumping against the glass. They 

 will find their way back through the ventilator openings 



