1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



172 



sure that they want burlap, but unless 

 it Is put on quite late in the Fall the bees 

 make it almost like enameled cloth by the 

 liberal application of propolis. I doubt 

 if it makes much difference which is 

 used provided the bees have time enough 

 to get settled before cold weather. If 

 prepared early enough a good colony, 

 though with decidedly inferior stores, 

 will get into such shape as to make good 

 wintering reasonably certain. Without 

 time to get settled before cold weather, 

 a good colony with good and abundant 

 stores will winter poorly. To emphasize 

 this still more, I say that early prepara- 

 tion is the most important factor outside 

 of the bees and quantity of food. 



There is also another matter to be con- 

 sidered at this time; it is the Spring care 

 of the bees. A colony with a goodly 

 proportion of young bees now will not 

 '•Spring dwindle," and any colony that 

 has not plenty of such bees should be 

 united at once to some other colony. 

 Such precautions taken this Fall will 

 lessen several fold the attention needed 

 in the Spring and will render more cer- 

 tain the next season's harvest. Do not 

 let the desire for a few more pounds of 

 Fall honey cause you to delay the Winter 

 preparations. In this latitude I have all 

 supers and extra combs out and brood 

 chambers closed down by September 25, 

 not to be opened again until the follow- 

 ing Spring. 



In considering what 1 have said please 

 remember that I am writing for the lati- 

 tude of Southern New England, but I 

 know that much of the foregoing is 

 equally applicable to other parts of the 

 country. 



Providence, July 25, 1901. 



"It isn't making a mistake but repeating 

 it, that merits censure."' 



should try to induce some party near 

 him to engage in keeping them. It has 

 been repeatedly demonstrated that where 

 there are plenty of bees to pollenize the 

 flowers, the fruit, whether it is edible or 

 only the seed capsule, will be more 

 abundant, more prolific, and much more 

 perfect. It is true that bees may fly for 

 several miles to find the nectar from 

 some favorite plant, but not if they can 

 find it nearer home, nor will they do so 

 in bad weather. More than one instance 

 is on record of orchards in full bloom at 

 a season of rain or high winds, when 

 none set a good crop of perfect fruit ex- 

 cepting such as were within a quarter of 

 a mile of the bee stand, and even in a 

 large orchard they have failed to go to 

 the farther end of it, surprising the 

 owner by having his trees bear bounti- 

 fully at one end of the orchard and yield 

 little or nothing at the other end. The 

 beans and peas are equally dependent 

 upon the aid of the bees for perfect pol- 

 leuization; and while there are other 

 insects that may aid in distributing 

 pollen, none equals the honey bees, and 

 none other gives a return of luscious 

 honey for a little care. — American Culti- 

 vator. 



Absolute Need of Bees. 

 Everyone growing fruit or any plant 

 which is to yield seed should be interest- 

 ed in bee-keeping, and either have a few 

 colonies near his orclaards or fields, or 



The King Bird. 



Many bee-keepers feel it their duty to 

 destroy any king bird seen about the 

 apiary, as much as poultry - keepers 

 would a hawk. But if the report of our 

 Agricultural Department is correct, this 

 is a mistake. They examined the stom- 

 achs of 281 king birds shot in different 

 parts of the country, and found bees in 

 but fourteen of them. In these there 

 were 50 bees, of which 40 were drones, 

 four were workers and six could not be 

 identified, being too badly broken. 



There was then only a possible ten 

 worker bees to 281 birds. On the con- 

 trary there were nineteen robber flies, 

 which often do much damage among 

 bees. There were beetles such as those 

 whose larva? are the wireworm, tlie plant 

 eating grubs and the various cutworms, 

 the cutworms themselves, leaf hoppers 

 and other insects injurious to fruit and 

 grain, with some wild berries and grapes. 

 — Florida Farmer and Fruit Grower. 



