138 



TH® SB«KRICSf« BE® J@WItlfSIr. 



•■^^^^'■—'■^'■^'■' 



Some claim that the bees which 

 bring the nectar in from the field, de- 

 posit it in the cells, but my experi- 

 ments have led me to believe that all 

 honey brought in by the outside labor- 

 ers is given to tlie young bees, they 

 taking it into their sacs directlj- from 

 the bee which brings it in ; and if 

 moi"e is gathered than the sacs of the 

 inside bees can contain, it is deposited 

 by them in the cells till night, and 

 then evaporated down, although this 

 evaporation is going on to some ex- 

 tent during the daytime. At night all 

 hands join, from the outside laborer 

 with jagged wings, down to bees but a 

 day or so old, when the nectar or thin 

 sweet is taken into the honey-sac, 

 thrown out on the proboscis, drawn 

 back in again, and so on, until by the 

 heat of the hive, these small particles 

 of honey are brought to the right con- 

 sistency, when it is deposited in the 

 cells for sealing up. 



In order to do this, the bees hang 

 loosely so that when the proboscis is 

 thrown out it shall not hit another bee, 

 the combs or the hive. 



Now by their great roaring, hum- 

 ming, or whatever we call it, the heat 

 is increased in the hive till the nectar 

 is thickened very fast, by this stirring 

 up process, which is being gone 

 through as spoken above. 



Take a short straw in your mouth, 

 and blow a drop of water gently 

 through it out to the end, and then 

 draw it in again, and you have an 

 idea of the process, all except the stir- 

 ring up. The bees do that part better 

 than j'ou can, because they have tools 

 made on purpose for that business. 



All bee-keepers of any experience 

 can tell whether the bees have been 

 getting honey of any amount during 

 the day, by the roaring they make at 

 night, as bees only make this I'oaring 

 while reducing their honey. Let two 

 or three days of rain succeed a plenti- 

 ful honey harvest, and all roaring 

 ceases with the night of the third 

 day. 



Many a night have I watched this 

 reducing of thin nectar to honej-, and 

 by the liglit of a lamp you can see the 

 tiny drops of nectar sparkle, as it is 

 thrown out on the proboscis and 

 drawn in again. When honey is com- 

 ing in slowly, you will not be likely to 

 see this process, as it goes on so slowlj- 

 at such times. 



All have doubtless observed that 

 when bees are getting honey plenti- 

 fully it shakes rcailil)' from the combs 

 at night, while in the morning before 

 the bees go into the lields, not a par- 

 ticle can be shaken from the combs ; 

 this going to show tliat most of the 

 evaporating of the nectar is done at 

 night. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



HOUSE-APIARIES. 



Experience Avitti Keeping Bees 

 in Houses. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY W. J. DAVIS, 1st. 



From the answers given to Queiy 

 612, on page 85, I am inclined to think 

 that some practical experience along 

 the line of the second part of the ques- 

 tion would have brought out quite dif- 

 ferent replies from those given, es- 

 pecially those who condemn without a 

 trial. 



I have been experimenting for a few 

 years with house-apiaries, where I 

 have kept bees away from home, and 

 I must say, from three years' experi- 

 ence, that I am more than pleased with 

 them. 



House No. 1 is 8 miles from my home 

 apiary ; easily reached by either of two 

 lines of railroad, which makes it more 

 convenient in doubling the opportu- 

 nities of going and returning. The 

 house is 12x16 feet, and nicely accom- 

 modates 33 colonies, with plenty of 

 chance of tiering-up the section-cases ; 

 besides room ou the top row for 16 

 swarms, with room for only one sec- 

 tion-case each. 



The house is sided with 1-inch 

 grooved siding, and painted two coats. 

 Separate alighting-boards are attached 

 on the outside for each colony, each 

 board being 4 inches wide, and every 

 alternate one painted white, and the 

 next one red, both diflfei'ing in color 

 from the siding. 



The bees do not have access to the 

 inside of the building, but must pass 

 out at the entrance. The advantages 

 of such an arrangement are numerous, 

 viz : 



1. Economy. Such a house, and the 

 hives to stock it, will cost less than the 

 same number of hives made for out-of- 

 door exposui-e. The hives are simple 

 boxes vinpainted, made the proper size 

 to hold the number and kind of brood- 

 frames desired, and covered with a 

 light honey-board— I mean board, not 

 cloth. 



2. There is no cumbersome packing, 

 or carrying to the cellar for winter. 



3. If properly constructed, a far 

 more even temperature can be main- 

 tained, both in the brood-chamber and 

 section-cases, than with hives standing 

 in the lawn. 



4. It makes a superior honey-house, 

 after the surplus has been removed 

 from the hives. 



5. The door is shut and locked at 

 night, making cverytliing secure from 

 a class of beings that arc not desirable 

 in anj' community, yet probably all 

 localities have them. 



6. It secures a clean and convenient 

 storage for such cases and sections as 



must be carried over until the next 

 year. 



House No. 2 is but 8x10 feet, and 

 was a wintering-house worked over 

 into a house-apiary. It accommodates 

 20 colonies. 



The past three years have been poor 

 honey seasons here, but those in the 

 house-apiaries have done much the 

 best. How they would do in a good 

 honey season, I am not able to say ; 

 but I would not have the slightest ob- 

 jection to tx-ying it. I think that the 

 house-apiary would still be ahead. 

 Bee-keepers are not the " bloated bond- 

 holders," in this part of the country. 



Youngsville, Pa. 



BEE-KEEPING 



Considered as a Branch of 

 Agriculture. 



Read at the Ontario Agricultural Union 



BT E. F. HOLTEEMANN. 



To be in a position to treat the sub- 

 ject before me, I must refer brieflj" to 

 a few peculiarities in the method of 

 fertilization in the organs of flower 

 vegetation. In doing this, I am in- 

 debted to various scientific works. 



Tlie stamens and pistils ai'e the es- 

 sential organs of fertilization in the 

 flower. On the stamens grows the 

 pollen. The pistils are the bodies in 

 which the seeds are formed. The pol- 

 len coming in contact with the pi,stils 

 at a certain time is the important step 

 towards reproductions. Many plants 

 have not the anther and pistils upon 

 the same flower ; these must be in- 

 debted largely to insect life for ferti- 

 lization. Again, many which do bear 

 both anther and pistils must also owe 

 their fertilization to insect life, self- 

 fertilization being prevented by either 

 the anther or pistils maturing first. 

 Again, there are others not coming 

 under the head of the two previous, 

 which in order to yield the best seeds, 

 and the largest number, must be ferti- 

 lized by crossing. 



It has been proved by experiment 

 that in such cases pollen placed on the 

 stigma of the flower on which it grew, 

 becomes powerless when pollen is 

 added from the complementary blos- 

 som ; the prepotency is so arranged as 

 to secure cross fertilization. 



Fertilization of Friiit-UIosisionis 

 l>v tlic UeeM. 



Now let us take the apple. Each 

 blossom carries five stigmas, and to 

 each stigma belongs a division of the 

 ovary constituting the core fruit. We 

 have hei'C .an example of the stigma 

 maturing before the anthers. In the 

 construction of this, as I believe in 

 almost every other flower, the recepta- 



