THE aMMRICf£I»C SE^E^ JOtyRKai,. 



189 



cle for the honey is so arranged that 

 the insect cannot reach it without com- 

 ing in contact with the anther and the 

 pistils. The wisdom of this is mani- 

 fest. In the case of the apple blos- 

 soms, the insect becomes dusted with 

 pollen-grains, and when visiting 

 another tlower, deposits it upon the 

 stickj' surface of a part of the pistils, 

 causing fertilization. 



But one fertilization is not sufficient. 

 To secure a perfect apple, five inde- 

 pendent fertilizations have to take 

 place. If none are effected, the calj'x 

 which forms the flesh, dries and soon 

 drops. If, as is often the case, only 

 four fertilizations take place, there is 

 an imperfect development of the calyx, 

 the four parts swelling, while the fifth 

 develops imperfectly. The fruit of 

 course is imperfect, and is very liable 

 to drop oft' during the first storm. 

 Opposite the hollow cheek on the apple 

 you find the pips have not been ma- 

 tured. 



Gooseberries, currants, raspberries 

 are largely dependent upon insects for 

 fertilization, and, in the last two, un- 

 developed parts are often found, due 

 to imperfect fertilization, as in the 

 apple, clover, especially white and 

 Alsike, and not unfrequently the sec- 

 ond growth of red (the corolla of 

 which is shorter than in the first 

 gi'owth), is largely visited b}' bees, and 

 who can estimate the advantages to be 

 gained by the visits of these insects ? 



Of course it may be argued that 

 other insects would act as a medium for 

 the fertilization of flowers, and the 

 honey-bee may not be required. Let 

 us see. When we consider the fre- 

 quent rains during the spring, which, 

 for the time, hinder the visits of in- 

 sects, and the uncertainty of the tem- 

 perature, we must at once admit that 

 anj- agent which gives us a more rapid 

 and perfect fertilization of the blos- 

 soms which later develop into useful 

 crops on the farm, is desirable, and 

 that is just what the honej'-bee does. 



Having now shown the utility of the 



honey-bee to secure surer and larger 



I crops, and even better specimens of 



fruit, we at once see the advantage of 



having bees at work on every farm ? 



Who Shouia Keep Uees? 



The next question will be. Who 

 should keep the bees ? Probably the 

 natural way will be for ever}- man to 

 gather his own crop. Some of our 

 specialists have said, "We can make it 

 pay better because we can with our 

 experience, gather a larger and better 

 crop," and give as an instance, the 



{ creamery as compared with farm but- 

 ter-making. Now whiLst the specialist 



' is of greater use in advancing .scientific 

 bee-keeping, and is a blessing to the 

 farmers who did not keep bees before 

 he settled in their vicinity, the com- 



parison between the specialist in bee- 

 keeping and the creamery is faulty. 

 Look at all the processes the product 

 from the cow has to undergo before it 

 becomes butter or cheese for the table. 

 Not so with honey ; the product when 

 left by the bee is tit for table use, or in 

 the case of extracted honey, becomes 

 so by a very simple process, as easily 

 learned, or more so, than milking a 

 cow. 



To point to the failures the farmer 

 has made in bee-keeping, nothing is 

 said, for in comparison the specialist 

 has made as many ; and there are 

 probably as many failures in every 

 other business. It may be claimed 

 that the farmer has already " too many 

 irons in the fire." That may be true, 

 but the question then would be. Would 

 he better remove some which year by 

 year yield a less return for capital and 

 labor invested, and which would not di- 

 minish the profits from other sources ? 



Some of our staunchest advocates of 

 specialists are by practical experience 

 feeling that they should combine bee- 

 keeping with some other pursuit ; that 

 it is better not to have " all their eggs 

 in one basket." 



Many farmers may not, of course, 

 be in a position to keep bees to advan- 

 tage — this must be a matter of indi- 

 vidual judgment. 



W^lio are Canadian Itee>9Ien ? 



It will certainlj' be of value in con- 

 sidering this question, to know who 

 are the bee-keepers of Ontario and of 

 Canada. After a careful studj^ of the 

 question, I cannot to-day point out one 

 who is keeping Ijees alone, and not 

 combining it with something else, and 

 out of these 90 per cent, are farmers, 

 while a small percentage of the balance 

 combine it with gardening. 



Again, I doubt if an)' man could 

 make bee-keeping in Ontario a paying 

 business, unless he or his neighbors 

 cultivated fieULs ; for the bulk of our 

 honey is secured from land which has 

 been cleared from the primeval forest. 

 Clover and thistle both yield first-class 

 honey — basswood, or more properly 

 linden, is the only surplus honey we 

 take from the forest. This fact, to- 

 gether with what lias been shown re- 

 garding the fertilization of fruit-blos- 

 soms and clover, make it apparent that 

 bee-keeping is a branch of agriculture. 

 But is it so recognized? The farmer 

 recognizes it as such, and the various 

 agricultural papers have been com- 

 pelled to so class it. Our "cousins" 

 across the line liavc given recognition 

 of it as such by havingbee-departments 

 at various agricultural colleges, and 

 even by having an experimental sta- 

 tion devoted entirely to the advance- 

 ment of beokeeping. But how are we 

 situated here ? The absence of a bee- 



department at this institution, one so 

 long established, offers no pleasing 

 picture to our enterprise. In many in- 

 stances where the diflerent depart- 

 ments of the farm are referred to, 

 bee-keeping comes under the head of 

 " etc." 



Market ((notations of Honey. 



Our influential papers give market 

 quotations for every other farm pro- 

 duct but honey. What wonder, then, 

 that the exhibit of honey at the Colo- 

 nial and Indian Exhibition has been a 

 matter of surprise to those visiting it? 

 This lack of market quotations is an 

 injur)' to bee-keepers, and is largely 

 the cause of such varying prices ; such 

 quotations would also assist in develop- 

 ing our market. But far more all this 

 lack of recognition is hindering the 

 development of the resources of our 

 country, and in reality impoverishing 

 it. The British market will never open 

 to us until we can give them an unfail- 

 ing supplj' of honej'. In England, 

 when an article such as Canadian 

 honey drops out of the market for a 

 season, it is uphill work regaining the 

 former position. 



In closing I do not ignore the fact 

 that we have amongst us some who see 

 with disfavor every new bee-keeper, 

 and every development of the industry. 

 When a merchant is settled in a pros- 

 perous communitj", he Avould doubtless 

 often desire t(j see a law jiassed to pre- 

 vent another from starting in the same 

 community; but in store-keeping, in 

 bee-keeping as well as man)- other pur- 

 suits, it must be " the survival of the 

 fittest," and the best way to look upon 

 this question is not what is best for a 

 few individuals, but for the community, 

 for the country ; and no argument can 

 refute the statement that One wiser, 

 more far-seeing, and One who never 

 wrongs any one, has decreed that bee- 

 keeping is a branch of agriculture. 



Brantford, Ont. 



BACTERIA. 



The Caiii^es of Foul Brood 

 Auiong Bees. 



Written for the American Bet Journal 

 BV (iEKU WENUELKES. 



I am extremely interested in the sub- 

 ject of fold brood, and have tried to 

 get all tlie information about it I could. 



Science sajs that all, or nearly all, 

 diseases are caused by the development 

 of minute vegetable organism, or so- 

 called bacteria. These tiny plants, 

 the}- say, produce spores, or seeds, 

 which fly in the air, and produce, 

 under certain conditions, fonl brood. 



Diflerent denominations arc applied 

 to the causes of foul brood, such as 



