THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



185 



The pollen is gathered in this wise: 

 The back of the bee is covered with a fine 

 wool or hair, and on entering the tiowers 

 the pollen slicks to it, and when neces- 

 sary to release it, it is combed out. The 

 bee' has six legs, three on each side, and 

 the middle one on either side has a comb 

 on the under side, from the forked toe to 

 the first joint. As this can reach only 

 half way across the back, it is combed 

 from both sides, and tlie pollen is taken 

 from tlie comb by the two fore feet. It is 

 then llattened by the two fore feet, and 

 caught between the toes, and passed back 

 to the thighs of the hind legs, each one 

 receiving the same weight, as nearly as 

 possible. The pollen is taken from the 

 end of the petals of such flowers as the 

 bee cannot enter while on the wing, the 

 front feet being used for this purpose. 

 The pollen is removed by putting the leg 

 in the cell, when it is pushed oft' with the 

 forked toe, and, stepping to one side, the 

 other is cleaned in the same manner. 



The drones are killed in the fall, the 

 exact time depending upon the character 

 of the winter we are to have, a fact which 

 they surely know by instinct. If it is to 

 be long and cold they are killed in the 

 early part of September; if an open win- 

 ter, not until the last of October. Last 

 fall they were killed during the last of 

 August and the earfy part of September; 

 the previous fall, the first of November. 

 I have carefully noticed this operation of 

 the bees for the past seven years, and it 

 has never failed. 



A hive of bees will consume about 

 fifteen pounds during the winter, or two 

 and a half pounds per month. The 

 weight of a swarm is from 33^ to 5 

 pounds. I have one of the best of my 

 stock hanging to a patent beam scale, and 

 can, therefore, tell the loss and gain as 

 often as I choose. 



We have nothing in the insect line 

 which is more useful than the honey bee, 

 and nothing more industrious, working 

 early and late, and with economy, and on 

 scientific principles. Their combs or 

 cells are all six-sided. Owing to this 

 shape, the cells of every other row are 

 the only ones necessary to build, except 

 the front and backs of the second ones, 

 thus doing away with much labor; and 

 there is nothing of any other shape which 

 will hold more in the same number of 

 square inches. 



Trul}^ the Almighty has created all 

 things in wisdom. Wii. J. Pyle. 



West Chester, Pa., June 3, 1875, 



Now is the time to kill moth worms. 



Bee-keepers, up and at them! Slaughter 



every last one of them, and there will be 



no moth millers to cause trouble to weak 



colonies. 



. ♦ » 



Read the article on Seasonable Hints. 



A Stin^in^ Subject. 



My wife is very proud of our garden, 

 and while gushing over it the other morn- 

 ing, a happy thought worked its way 

 under her back hair. 



What a delightful thing it would be to 

 have a hive of bees and raise our own 

 honey, as well as everything else. 



I have always thought that woman 

 inspired ever since she convinced me that 

 I couldn't do better than to marry her. 



This was an original, bold idea; happy 

 thought; glorious idea. I promised her 

 a hive of bees, and went to business with 

 a lighter heart and a firmer belief in the 

 genuineness of home comforts and amuse- 

 ments. 



I bought a hive of honey-bees and 

 brought it home with me that very night. 



It was one of those patent, hydrostatic, 

 back-action hives, in which the bees have 

 peculiar accommodations and all the 

 modern improvements. 



It was a nice little hive, none of your 

 old-fashioned twists or barn-size aft'airs. 



It even had windows in it, so that the 

 bees could look out and see what was 

 going on, and enjoy themselves. 



Both myself and Mrs. B. were de- 

 lighted, and before dark I arranged a 

 stand for the hive in the garden, and 

 opened the bay windows so that the bees 

 could take an early start, and get to busi- 

 ness by sunrise next morning. 



Mrs. B. called me "Honey" several 

 times during the evening, and such 

 sweet dreams as we had. 



We intended to be up early the next 

 morning to see how our little birds took 

 to our flowers, but a good half hour be- 

 fore we probably should have done so, 

 we were awakened by the unearthly yells 

 of a cat. 



Mrs. B. leaped from her downy couch, 

 exclaiming: 



" What can be the matter with Billy ? " 



The howls of anguish convinced us 

 both that something more than ordinary 

 was the matter with him, and so we hur- 

 ried into our toilettes without waiting to 

 do much buttoning. 



We rushed out into the garden, and oh! 

 what a sight met our astonished gaze! 



The sight consisted of a yellow cat 

 that appeared to be doing its best to make 

 a pin-wheel of itself. 



It was rolling over and over in the 

 grass, bounding up and down, anon dart- 

 ing through the bushes and foliage, stand- 

 ing on its head, and then trj ing to drive 

 its tail into the ground, and all the while 

 keeping up the most confounded howling 

 that was ever heard. 



"The cat is mad," said Mrs. B., af- 

 frighted. 



"Why sliouldn't it be? The bees are 

 stinging it," said I, comprehending the 

 trouble. 



