20 



AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



January 



The bulk of the apicultural litera- 

 ture of today is devoted to a dis- 

 cussion of the same puzzles our 

 granddaddies struggled with, and the 

 solutions offered are much the same. 

 But the "solutions" are such only in 

 name. The guesses are the same be- 

 cause the beliefs regarding the bees' 

 habits are the same. The truth about 

 the latter must be learned if we are 

 to stop blundering along year after 

 year in the same unintelligent and 

 costly way. 



It is costly in that the bee-keeper 

 cannot predetermine what each colony 

 in his apiaries will do and hence he 

 often has to devote many profitless 

 hours to them. "Universal panaceas" 

 are repeatedly offered in the shape of 

 hives and appliances, and in methods 

 of manipulation based thereon, yet 

 every honest bee-keeper will acknowl- 

 edge that he always has more or less 

 unprofitable colonies, that the cost 

 of wintering is high and the death list 

 uncertain. How can he better con- 

 ditions? By learning the laws gov- 

 erning the actions of the bees. To 

 help in this matter we ask that each 

 of our readers, whenever he notices 

 any unusual or remarkable feature of 

 his colonies or acts of his bees to 

 report it to the associate editor. Ev- 

 ery little fact helps. (M.) 



more substantial than wind to propel 

 his craft hereafter. 



The Bee-Keeper hardly hoped to 

 "blanket his sheet" so effectually the 

 first run, but if the job stays accom- 

 plished there will be cause for a gen- 

 eral thanksgiving in bee-keeping cir- 

 cles next November. (H.) 



DRIFTING TO LEE. 



The sea of apiarian journalism of 

 late has been quite turbulent — what 

 the "old salt" would call "lumpy." 

 The Modern Farmer and Busy Bee 

 captain, however, has been holding 

 high carnival upon the crest of the 

 waves and sailing into everything in 

 sight; but it appears that the No- 

 vember Bee-Keeper sailed so close 

 to windward that Captain Abbott 

 couldn't "hold his luff," and complete- 

 ly lost steerage-way. He is now tak- 

 ing a reef and will probably drift 

 ashore, where he may find something 



DISILLUSIONMENT. 

 Facts Versus Fiction About Bees. 



The myths and fables about bees, 

 the heritage of our forefathers cling 

 to us with strange pertinacity. For 

 so long have the bees been used as 

 examples of industry and other vir- 

 tues, for so long have they been called 

 upon to point a moral, that their 

 supposed virtues have become to us 

 as facts, and as we look at them we 

 see only what we have been told, be 

 it false or real. 



The "busy bee" is a misnomer. Un- 

 easy, yes. Busy, no. But little of her 

 short life is spent in productive in- 

 dustry. Oft but three or four trips 

 for honey or pollen constitutes her to- 

 tal daily toil without the hive, while 

 within the hive she lies in any con- 

 venient cell, preferably on empty one 

 or one containing an egg. Once en- 

 sconced in such a bed she remains 

 utterly inert, scarcely breathing and 

 oblivious to all scrambling over so 

 much of her as protrudes from the 

 cell, and for hours at a time she so 

 sleeps. Even the work of ripening 

 nectar must be classed as recreation 

 not as labor, for it is but the pleas- 

 ures of the gourmet which lead her 

 to gorge herself with sweets fresh 

 garnered from the flowers and once 

 gorged she turns the sweet drink 

 over her palate until converted by 

 the operation it ceases to please and 

 satiated she deposits her load and 

 sleeps. 



Even the careful packing of pollen 

 is but her desire for a sweet pastry. 

 As soon as the fresh pellets are drop- 



