igo2 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



137 



sons for either for a number of years 

 until this season, which was the best 

 for sugar niiaking of any season in 

 many years. During the same lengtll 

 of time there was but Httle white clov- 

 er and scarcely any at all last season. 



This season the pasture fields are 

 whiter w'ith blossoms than I ever 

 knew them to be before. The lawns are 

 more or less seeded, meadows and 

 highways have considerable and even 

 fields that grew tilled crops are sprinkl- 

 ed with it. There is a great mystery 

 among farmers as to how the land be- 

 came so fully seeded after several sea- 

 sons of scarcity. There can be only one 

 solution — the seed does not always 

 grow the first season. 



Bees are busy on clover when it is 

 not too cold for them to work. It is 

 too early to predict on the season but 

 it would be well to watch in different 

 localities to see if there was plenty of 

 nectar wdiere there was plenty of sap 

 during the sugar season. If the two 

 run together generally it will give bee- 

 keepers an idea of what they will need 

 each season. 



Waverly, N. Y.. June 22, 1902. 



currence. There were eggs and larvae 

 in the hive at the time of giving the 

 cell-cups. 



Naples, N. Y., June 30, 1902. 



Bees rioving Eggs and Larvae. 



(F. Greiner.) 



IT is a question with many bee- 

 keepers of this and foreign lands 

 whether or not bees ever move eggs 

 or larvae from one cell to another. 

 Rauschcnfels of Italy denies that bees 

 can do so. Staeule of Switzerland is 

 not satisfied that they can or cannot 

 transport eggs or larvae. Gerstung of 

 Germany thinks now, that some evi- 

 dence that he has had of late point out 

 that they may. Dzierzon does not be- 

 lieve in it. Dr. Gallup, of California«, 

 thinks bees cannot do so. Certainly we 

 have very little evidence that bees can 

 do such a thing. 



Among fifteen artificial queen-cups, 

 that had been stocked with young 

 larvae by myself, the larger part of 

 which had been built out and finished 

 up to near maturity. I found one the 

 other day with a half-grown larva in 

 it. The cells had been glued to a nak- 

 ed wooden bar. This is a singular oc- 



The Editor and the Bird. 



THE Gainesville Sun states a fact 

 and asks a question thus: As a 

 newspaper representative and 

 three candidates were entering about 

 dusk, on Thursday evening, the great 

 plain known as Payne's Prairie, a 

 chicken hawk shot past the carriage 

 seemingly in great terror. Strange to 

 say, perched on the back of the hawk 

 was a bird about the size of a canary, 

 pecking the hawk's head with all the 

 power he had in his little bill. Who 

 knows the name of this brave httle 

 bird? Can any reason be given why the 

 hawk did not turn and rend it? 



In the days that have passed and 

 gone the chicken yards of the South 

 usually contained poles from which 

 gourds were hung, on one side of 

 which an opening had been made for 

 the entrance of a little bird that guard- 

 ed the vicinity from birds of prey In 

 return for a home and shelter. The 

 boys of the family were rigidly enjoin- 

 ed against disturbing these friends, and 

 strenuous application of the paddle was 

 the certain punishment exacteH when 

 the amateur marksman sought practice 

 or fun at the expense of this mosf ef- 

 fectual protector of the barnyard. Ke 

 was called the kingbird or the bee 

 martin, and he never shirked battle 

 with any antagonist — he would attack 

 a soaring hawk or eagle as quickly and 

 fiercely as a noisy crow, but never mo- 

 lested the songsters or the grain-eat- 

 ing members of the family. 



Lately a farmer, mourning the lack 

 of profits from grove and garden, was 

 asked why he did not try chickens, and 

 made answer that the woods were full 

 of hawks; he did not have time to hunt 

 them like a little boy! Half-science has 

 clearly convicted our little friend of 

 eating bees, and he is denounced by 

 those who never gather a pound of 

 honey except from the market in aH 

 their lives. It has been also groveJ 

 that the kingbird is a friend as well as 

 enemy to the bee, since he catches alsO 

 the moth that enters their homes to de- 



