May 31, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



339 



grounds, and under essentially the same conditions, the 

 grading would be as follows : 



Red raspberry, 9.5. Gooseberry, 4.5. 



Blackberry, 9. Peach, 3.5. 



Plum, 9. Pear, 3. 



Cherry, 8.5. Currant, 2. 



Blackcap raspberry, 8. Strawberry, 1. 

 Apple, 6. 



On the morning of May 17th, between the hours of H:M) 

 and 9;30, 16 bees were caught singly as they came from the 

 hive and were immediately killed by means of a cyanide 

 bottle. Each tiee was weighed separately, and the results 

 are given in the following table ; 



TAIjLK II, — OlouKj u^eii/hta 1)/ outf/olitg bn's. 



It will be seen that the lightest bee weighed .071 of a 

 gram, and the heaviest .092 of a gram, the difference be- 

 tween the extremes being .021 of a gram. The average of 

 the 16 weighed is .079 of a gram, or 1.219 grains. Accord- 

 ing to this average it would require in round numbers 5,750 

 bees to weigh a pound. A prosperous colony of 30,000 

 workers would weigh at this rate about 5 1/5 pounds. 



On the morning of May 19th, between the hours of 8:30 

 and 9:00, 16 bees were caught singly as the)' entered the 

 hive. None were taken except those that bore every evi- 

 dence of being honey-collectors. These bees were imnie- 

 diatelj' killed and weighed separately as before. The re- 

 sults are shown in the following table : 



TABLE III. — Qiving weights of hoiiey-coUeHiitg bees. 



No. 

 1.. 



Gram<=. 

 ^22 



083 



116 



085 



105 



100 



082 



114 



Total weight 1.511 grams. 



No. 



9 



10 



11 



12 



13 



14 



IS 



16 



Average weight - 



Grams. 



073 



086 



081 



^22 



086 



096 



082 



078 



.094 grams. 



It is shown by the table that the honey-loads of bees 

 are quite variable, and it is probable that their efficiency as 

 .honey-collectors is like the efficiency of men as money- 

 makers — some accumulating great stores, while others, ap- 

 parently as industrious, have little or nothing to show for 

 their labor. 



If we take the average weight of the out-going bee (.079 

 of a gram), and deduct this from the heaviest honey-laden 

 bee, the weight of which is .122 of a gram, we have a differ- 

 ence of .043 of a gram. This means that a bee that is an 

 energetic and capable honey-collector returns to the hive 

 considerably more than one-half heavier than when it be- 

 gins its collecting trip. 



Deducting the average weight of the out-going bee (.079 

 of a gram) from the average weight of the in-coming honey- 

 laden bee, .094 of a gram, leaves .022 of a gram as the nor- 

 mal or average weight of the honey-load. This is 27 per- 

 cent of the average weight of a bee, or a little more than 

 one-fourth of its own weight. 



On May 26th, between the hours of 8:30 and 9:00 a.m., 

 12 pollen-laden bees were taken just as they were entering 

 the hive. Their individual weights were as follows : 



TABLE IV. — Oivinfj weitjht.s of pollen-ladex bees. 

 No. Grams. No. Grams. 

 1 091 7 080 



; 091 



1 077 



■ 081 



; 098 



075 



Total weight 1.019 grams. 



8. 



9. 

 10. 

 11. 

 12. 



Average weight. 



092 



091 



080 



081 



079 



.085 grams. 



Taking the average weight of the out-going bee, which 

 we found to be .079 of a gram, and deducting this from the 

 pollen-laden bee, we have .006 of a gram as the average 

 weight of a load of pollen. This is about 7.5 percent of the 

 average weight of the bee. 



Taking- the average weight from the weight of the 

 heaviest laden bee, we find that the pollen weighs .some- 

 thing over 16 percent of the weight of the normal bee. In 

 other words, a bee may carry about one-sixth of its weight 

 of pollen, altho the average load \s certainly much less. 



The statement is frequently made that bees collect 

 honey and pollen at the same time. My observations lead 

 me to believe that this is not tlie case. I have killed scores 

 of pollen-bearing bees just as they were entering the hive, 

 and have never found one loaded with more honey than one 

 is likely to find in any worker-bee when it leaves the hive. 

 The bee acts upon the maxim that "a little provender hin- 

 ders no man," and almost invariably takes a lunch, or car- 

 ries a small supply of food when starting out on a collect- 

 ing-trip. Altho the pollen-gatherers, as we have seen, do 

 the light carrying work of the hive, I am firmly convinced 

 that they are of equal if not of greater service in the work 

 of pollination than the honey-gatherers. 



Painstaking counting under many different circum- 

 stances shows that for the same time, and speaking with 

 reference to our commoti fruit-plants, the pollen-gatherer 

 visits from three to five times as many flowers in a given 

 time as the honey-collector. 



The observations I have briefly recorded, while not im- 

 portant in themselves, may stimulate others to investiga- 

 tions of equal interests and profit to apiarists and horticul- 

 turists. 



No. 10. 



-Our Helpers— How to Get the Most Out 

 of Them. 



BY "OLD GRIMES. 



AS to human beings, the most of us are like the magnet, 

 either positive or negative, and in varying degrees — 

 some attract and some repel. In every-day life Old 

 Grimes meets people he attracts and others that he repels, 

 and sometimes he thinks that those he repels are in the 

 majority, and this subtle force is felt not only between us 

 and the stranger, but with our own blood in ourown family. 

 To get the most out of the growing helpers in our own 

 family there should be the utmost confidence between par- 

 ents and children, there should be no stage secrets, and no 

 skeletons in the closet. The word fitly spoken, with the 

 heart and not the lips, in the way of advice, commendation, 

 sympathy, or as an incentive to better things, has saved 

 many a young person, while the need of it has sent many 

 to the pit. 



Old Grimes gets along fairly well with his helpers, and 

 especially with our boys there has always been harmony. It 

 is well to give the boys and the girls a share in the proceeds 

 of the apiary, and a liberal share at that. If the boy con- 

 fides in you, and makes a good use of his share, it can be 

 profitably increast the next year, for your boy's welfare is 

 yours. If he does not make good use of it don't discourage 

 him and harden his heart by cutting off his share, but do 

 not increase it until he does make a good use of it, then 

 there will always be an incentive to better deeds. 



The Grimes family have generally been able to do their 

 own work, but sometimes when the older boys were called 

 away to an early term in the academy, an outsider was called 

 to fill their places for a few weeks. We always take a new 

 man upon probation, for the bee-business calls for certain 

 traits possest by but few, but in the first place we have no 

 use for a drunkard or for a person who uses profane or 

 filthy language ; this settled, the next consideration is our 

 status toward each other. If we are both of the kind that 

 repel, the helper will not stay long, and he will probably go 

 away with not a very good opinion of us. If, on the con- 

 trary, we attract each other, we get along finely for awhile, 

 and if he readily takes to the management of bees we may 

 get along one season together, but we are so chummy that 

 it is not long before the helper has an idea that he owns the 

 apiary and takes a fatherly interest in the owner: when 

 that trait develops, the helper would better go. 



If the conditions are just right between us, there are 

 many features that arise during the probationary period 

 that try the patience. Perhaps he is careless and always 

 breaking things, or leaving things where it requires half 

 an hour to search for them, leaving the doors open, putting 

 supers or covers on askew, or the honey runs slow from the 

 tank, and he slips away to do someting else and forgets the 

 tank, but by and by suddenly thinks of it, and comes around 

 with a rush and finds the receptacle full and30 or 40 pounds 

 upon the floor. And right here Old Grimes wishes to say 



