162 



TRE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Seplemi 



bees could not get at it, and from this 

 tree all the fruit dropped at the ston- 

 ing period. Insects, and especially 

 bees, which have the nectar-secreting 

 instinct as a motive for labor on bloom, 

 are an aid to pollination for which na- 

 ture seems to have provided no ade- 

 quate substitute. Their office is to dis- 

 tribute pollen fx'om flower to flower, 

 and from tree to tree. Much of the 

 complaint about fruit falling would 

 cease if horticulturists kept bees in the 

 orchard. For the protection of bees 

 the horticulturist should never spray 

 while the trees are in bloom. He owes 

 that much to these valuable assistants 

 in his work. — Green's Fruit Grower. 



The first successful shipment of bees 

 to New Zealand was made by Judge 

 Noah Levering, says Rambler, iu 

 Gleanings. Previous efforts to obtain 

 Italian bees had failed, but in 1S80 Mi. 

 Levering shipped two colonies which 

 made safely the sea voyage of 7,000 

 miles. Ample ventilation was given, 

 the combs were old and strong, natural 

 stores were used, and a sponge pro- 

 vided water which was renewed as 

 needed. He made many subsequent 

 shipments without a single loss. 

 * * * 



R. C. Akin thinks foundation does 

 not differ from natural comb in taste, 

 but is tougher. The main object he has 

 in using foundation in sections is to 

 start the bees in the right place, a nar- 

 row strip at the top and one at the bot- 

 tom being sufficient. But a full sheet 

 has a good effect in the way of bait. He 

 does not value full sheets to prevent 

 drone-comb in sections, believing that 

 drone-comb in sections looks just as 

 well as worker-comb. The editor of 

 Gleanings differs from him in this last 

 view. Moreover, he has shown that 

 nature-built drone-comb is consider- 

 ably gobbler than worker-comb built 

 on ordinary thin foundation. 



A receipt for starting foul brood Is 



thus given by J. F. Teel, in Gleanings 

 "Cut out about three gallons of brooi 

 both drone and worker. Put it betwee 

 ice so it will freeze to death, then put 

 out in some warm place, about 70 or i 

 degrees. Keep it in bulk, and moist a 

 the time for ten or twelve days; the 

 put it in water, and make the bees si 

 at it a few days, and that will be su 

 ficient." Some people would prefer I 

 go without foul brood rather than to i 

 to all that trouble. The editor agre( 

 with many others that no foul broc 

 can be started without the seed, that i 

 the spores of bacillius alvei, Mr. Te 

 believing, however, that the seed 

 present in every larva, only developl'^ 

 under proper conditions. — Am. B( 

 Journal. 



^^^■LlTERARY N0TE5.!ai^^ 



ADVICE ABOUT CAN'XIKCi FKIMT. 



To prevent fruit jars from breakin 

 dip a large towel in cold water, wrir 

 it out half dry, fold double and place 

 on the kitchen table; set jars on top ( 

 the towel and fill them to overflowiii 

 with the boiling hot fruit. As each jt 

 is filled, put on the cover and clot 

 tightly. When all are filled, wash thei 

 in waim water and set them upsic 

 down till cold. This is the best metho 

 of finding out if the jars are all aii 

 tight. Many jars often require tw 

 rubbers to make them air-tight. — Froi 

 "Preserving," by Mrs. Gesine Lemck' 

 in Demorest's Magazine for August. 



TABLE TALK. 



The August issue of "Table Talk 

 furnishes excellent and timely readin 

 and helps for the housewife. It open 

 with an interesting article on "Wa> 

 side Wanderings and Wedge-Woo 

 Study," by Martha Bockee Flint, tha 

 will interest most women; "Let Fa 

 the Curtains," by Virginia Lynda 

 Dunbar, who is widely known to th 

 reading public. The article is a prac 

 tical help to the housewife. Anion 



