468 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the season for rain or dry weather is 

 longer to produce a failure or a crop of 

 honey. In the North, to produce a good 

 crop of honey, the rain ought to com- 

 mence as soon as frost kills vegetation, 

 and continue to the first or middle of 

 January, or about three months. This 

 is for linden and white clover in the 

 North ; for linden and sourwood in the 

 South, and white clover, too, but clover 

 is no good in the South, farther than 

 Kentucky, as a honey-plant. It has to 

 rain through February for poplar, as the 

 wetter it is, the better it produces. 



Because I made predictions on the 

 honey crop of the Pacific Coast, Mr. 

 Johnson thought I meant white clover, 

 and said that plant did not grow there. 

 I knew it did not grow in Southern 

 California — I never thought of any per- 

 son thinking that I thought Mr. John- 

 son was better posted than to think 

 white clover did not grow on the Pacific 

 Coast. It grows there, all the same. 

 I knew that the Nevada bee-keepers got 

 their principal crop from alfalfa. 



When Mr. Johnson undertakes to " do 

 up" any one again, as he claims or 

 thinks he "did up" what he calls the 

 " Tennessee Honey Prophet," I would ad- 

 vise him to try to know something of 

 what he is talking about, and not get so 

 humorous, and so full of conceit. 



If bee-keepers will watch, they will 

 see I am right. I would like to tell how 

 I first learned the true cause of flowers 

 failing to produce nectar. Snows before 

 a good year, and exceeding dry weather 

 before a bad year, got me started on the 

 right track. Snow is better than rain, 

 by its keeping the ground wet all the 

 time, if it is deep enough to melt at the 

 bottom. Rain is as good, if it would 

 rain often enough, but that is the 

 trouble, especially with clover. 



Cosby, Tenn. 



Co-OBcratioii of ExBeriineiit Stations. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY H. W. SCOTT. 



The question of State experimental 

 apiaries is one that deeply interests me, 

 perhaps more so since we have had one 

 in our State. But to confine myself to 

 the subject, "Co-operation in the man- 

 agement of experimental stations." 



To-day the experiment stations that 

 have made apiculture a branch, are 

 practically all in the North. But the 

 stations are wide apart, as we go the 

 other way, from Vermont or Rhode 



Island in the East, to California in the 

 West. 



The bee-keepers in each State are the 

 ones that should say what experiments 

 shall be tried at these stations ; and 

 while they may require some that would 

 have a local interest merely, others will 

 doubtless be tried, that a knowledge of 

 would aid Vermont as much as Cali- 

 fornia. 



In Vermont the State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association elected a committee of three, 

 who are to receive suggestions and rec- 

 ommendations for experiments, and then 

 decide what ones shall be tried. I think 

 Michigan has a similar committee. 



Now I would suggest that it would be 

 well if these committees (or whoever 

 has the experimental work in charge in 

 the various States) would communicate 

 freely with each other. Would it not be 

 a good thing for us here in Vermont, if 

 we knew what experiments were to be 

 tried in Michigan the coming season, 

 and for them to know what we are 

 going to try ? Might it not assist us In 

 our work ? I for one would be glad to 

 know what is going to be done in each 

 of the other stations the coming summer 

 in the line of apiculture. 



The trouble and expense of this com- 

 munication would be slight, in this day 

 of the typewriter and its capabilities in 

 manifolding. 



I simply wish to place this matter be- 

 fore those interested, and if it has any 

 points that recommend themselves to 

 them, they can be acted upon speedily. I 

 wish to hear from others on the subject. 



Barre, Vt. 



Darwin anl Bees— Eeiily to a Criticism. 



Written for the American Bee Jourrwl 

 BY REV. L. J. TEMPLIN. 



On page 215 I quoted some state- 

 ments from the writings of Mr. Darwin 

 on the habits of bees that do not accord 

 with what is now known to be the facts 

 in the case. On page 341 Mr. Chas. 

 Dadant offers some criticisms on my 

 article. 



I say : "As I understand It, every 

 egg that is laid and hatched is a birth." 

 Mr. D. takes exceptions to that state- 

 ment, and appeals to Webster to show 

 that I am wrong. He quotes the 4th 

 and 8th definitions of the word " birth," 

 as given by that author. I quote from 

 the edition of Webster's Unabrigded 

 Dictionary, edition of 1861, about the 

 time Mr. Darwin wrote: 



