110 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



June 



sufficient to supply all demands, yet 

 never to flood the inhabitants of any 

 part of the hive. This food must be 

 given daily, when commenced, until the 

 honey-season opens. 



Siwce there are days in early spring in 

 which it is not advisable to open the 

 hive, some prefer to feed candy instead 

 of sugar and water, as this can be givtvn 

 in quantities that will last two or three 

 days at a time. To make it, moisten 

 granulated sugar with a little water and 

 cook until it " hairs." Test a small 

 quantity by taking it out and stirring it 

 constantly until cold. It should be 

 opaque and not so hard but that it is 

 easily broken. When done, take from 

 the fire and stir constantly until it is of 

 the consistency of thick cream. Then 

 pour into buttered tins to set. The 

 stirring causes it to form grains, and it 

 is less liable to be waxy, a quality which 

 cannot be tolerated in bee-food. It also 

 renders the product soft and easily bro- 

 ken, yet not so soft as to be sticky. A 

 little practice will enable one to approx- 

 imate the ideal ; and this ideal can be 

 made a clearer mental conception after 

 feeding once or twice. For convenience 

 the cakes should not exceed one-half 

 inch in thickness. Lay pieces of this 

 caudy on top of the brood-frames and 

 the bees will soon find and appropriate. 

 Use granulated sugar, and never feed 

 candy that has been scorched. 



BEES ANI> FRUIT. 



Periodically we are regaled with the 

 depressing announcement that bees are a 

 positive nuisance to the fruit-grower in 

 that they feed upon and destroy his 

 fruit, the grape being especially subject 

 to their devastations. 



Scientists have proved repeatedly to 

 their own satisfaction that a bee will 

 not, can not mar even a grape unless the 

 skin has been previously broken ; then 

 it improves the opportunity to feast 

 upon the juice ; but since imperfect fruit 

 is not saleable, the extraction of their 



juices represents very little damage, 

 after all. If a bird pecks a skin and 

 breaks it, the bee feasts, upon the rem- 

 nants. But maybe it deserves to be 

 served. 



In fact, the bee is second to the 

 bird iu its assistance to the horti- 

 culturist. Nature is as averse to in- 

 breeding in plant life as is the progres- 

 sive farmer among his domestic animals. 

 To thwart it, she employs a number of 

 skillful devices, none more elBcient than 

 that of cross-pollenation by insects. In 

 brief, a bee alights on a blossom for 

 nectar; but some of the pollen naturally 

 clings to its downy coat. This is pretty 

 sure to come in contact with the stigma 

 of the next flower visited ; and thus the 

 work of cross-fertilization is accomplish- 

 ed, thereby resulting in more fruit and 

 that of a better quality. The origin of 

 one-sided apples is thus graphically de- 

 scribed by Selina Gaye in The Grcnt 

 World's Fann : "The calyx of the appi(^- 

 blossom is a tube which spreads out at 

 the top into five leaf-like divisions. In- 

 side the tube, and ioined to it, are the 

 ovaries, which together form the horny 

 core. When the stigmas are all prop- 

 erly dusted with pollen, each ovary, 

 with its two pips, begins to grow ; but, 

 if nothing else grew there would be no 

 apple, only a horny seed-vessel, the only 

 eatable part of which would be the seeds. 

 But the calyx enclosing the core grows 

 too and so does the top of the stalk from 

 which it spring; and it is these which 

 together form the apple. If, however, 

 one of the stigmas be by chance left 

 without pollen, then the -ovary belong- 

 ing to it, with its two pips and the part 

 of the calyx next to it, does not grow, 

 and the apple is misshapen.'" 



Thus it is that bee and blossom were 

 designed to live in harmony, each giving 

 aid to the other ; and the more closely 

 the demands of both are studied by 

 scientists, the finer and more beautiful 

 appear the mutual bonds. 



Harmondsburg, I'a. 



