May 1, 1912 



insects or are self-pollinated. Most of them 

 are small or even minute; many have no 

 petals, as 15 species of the buckwheat fami- 

 ly, 8 species of the pink family, and also 

 several in the rose family. While they very 

 generally have the power of self-fertilization, 

 as in the small flowers of the pinw^eed 

 (Lechea), in some instances the sexes are 

 borne on different plants. 



They are chiefly attractive to flies and the 

 smaller bees; but the yellowish-green pen- 

 dulous llowers of the garden asparagus are 

 very frequently visited by bees for nectar. 

 The large greenish panicles of the sumac are 

 also very attractive to bees. Mr. Allen La- 

 tham has described in Gleanings how in 

 Connecticut, if there is fair hot weather in 

 July, a colony of bees will store from 20 to 

 100 pounds of honey from J?hus glabra. 

 The honey is described as golden in color, 

 and at first intensely bitter in taste; but 

 with age it acquires a most agreeable flavor. 



Our common species of sumac in Maine 

 is not Shus glabra but J?hus typhina, which 

 is often common in dry uplands. Besides 

 bees, which are frequent visitors, I have 

 taken on the flowers a large company of 

 wild bees, flies, beetles, and even butterflies. 

 The staminate flowers are white, and much 

 oftener visited by insects than the green 

 pistillate panicles. Some of the smaller 

 bees which visit the former, apparently nev- 

 er visit the latter. 



In the grape or vine family the small val- 

 vate petals never expand, but fall away by 

 separating at the base and coiling spirally 

 upward. The fragrance, which resembles 

 that of mignonette, can be perceived at a 

 long distance. Kerner relates that, in a 

 journey up the Danube, he found the whole 

 valley of the Wachan so filled with the scent 

 of the vine flowers that it seemed impossible 

 that they could be far oil; yet the nearest 

 vines were three hundred yards from the 

 boat. The bee has been collected on the 

 flowers, and cross-pollination is also occa- 

 sionally effected by the wind. 



Various exotic species of the nightshade 

 family and some Brazilian orchids possess 

 large green flowers. They are strongly 

 scented in the evening, and are attractive to 

 moths. As would be expected from their 

 size, structure, and past history, the major- 

 ity of green flowers are of little value to bee- 

 keepers. But in his list of honey plants of 

 Texas, Scholl mentions several other shrubs 

 or trees, besides the sumac, with small 

 greenish or dull-colored flowers which pro- 

 duce nectar abundantly. 



Waldoboro, Maine. 



DOES IT PAY A BEEKEEPER TO MAKE HIS 

 OWN HIVES? 



BY a. C. GREINER 



Since the appearance of my pictures in 

 the July 15th issue for 1911 I have had nu- 

 merous inquiries, both verbal and by letter, 

 in regard to the practicability of beekeepers 

 making their own hives; and the main 



269 



point always seemed to be the financial 

 part of it. The questions asked run some- 

 thing like this: 



" Do you think it would pay me to make 

 my own hives?" 



Without entering into any detailed dis- 

 cussion, my answer would be, "Yes, under 

 certain conditions; but as a rule, emphatic- 

 ally no." 



Years ago, when hive-making occupied 

 moie of my time than it has for the last ten 

 or fifteen years, I expressed my opinion on 

 this subject in one or the other of our bee 

 magazines. To take up that subject again 

 now, seems like dishing up an old story, 

 and undoubtedly it is to so ne older bee- 

 keepers; but during the last decade or two 

 a new advice-seeking generation has sprung 

 up, and for their benefit I give my views 

 again. 



The prospective hive-maker may be anx- 

 ious to know what those "certain condi- 

 tions" are. I will enumerate them in the 

 order of their importance: 



1. The hive-maker must have a fair 

 knowledge of bee nature, especially in re- 

 gard to the way bees use the inside of a hive 

 for comb-building, brood-rearing, etc. 



2. He mu&t have access to true-running, 

 properly arranged power rip and crosscut 

 saws, and be handy with a planer. 



o. He must have a certain amount (the 

 more the better) of natural mechanical in- 

 clination, and — 



4. His necessary supply of lumber must 

 be obtainable at a reasonable rate. 



To the uninitiated, the first one of the 

 named conditions may not seem of suffi- 

 cient importance to take the first place. He 

 may think that almost anybody can follow 

 the instructions a properly constructed mod- 

 el will give. That may be true in some 

 cases. We did the same thing when we 

 launched out on our present occupation; 

 but we happened to have a model to work 

 from that allowed changes with no great 

 inconvenience and expense, when progress 

 and advancing ideas made them desirable. 

 With others it may be different. It may 

 not be long before the individual's experi- 

 ence may, for various reasons, make a 

 change desirable. He may want to change 

 from comb to extracted honey, or from 

 one size of section to another, or change 

 from eight to ten or ten to eight frame 

 hives, and so on. All this would necessi- 

 tate a change of appliances, which, after 

 once started in with a quantity of a certain 

 pattern, would be very inconvenient and 

 expensive, or else it would cause a mixed 

 lot of different sizes and dimensions among 

 the outfit, which would be equally objec- 

 tionable, for the most rigid uniformity in 

 every thing is strictly necessary in any aj)!- 

 ary. It is the keynote to convenient and 

 rapid work. A little forethought on the 

 part of the person who contemplates taking 

 up beekeeping for a living, a little more 

 study of our textbooks and literature, com- 

 paring his readings with his locality, his 

 demand, and the outfit he intends to use, 



