212 



AMERICAN BEE fOURNAL. 



April 3, 19(2 



ot the combination of the germ-cell with the 

 sperm-cell."' 



He quotes with astonishment the remark 

 that "if the niirse-bees hare as much influ- 

 ence on growing royalty as some have urged. 

 it ought not to be difficult to prove it by a 

 single exchange of eggs." If Mr. Simpson is 

 familiar with European bee-literature, he 

 must know that that statement is true, and if 

 he will read again he will see that in making 

 it there was no reference to him. 



It may in turn be in order to ask whether it 

 was careless reading or writing that allows 

 Mr. Simpson to say: " Suppose that the edi- 

 tor of the American Bee Journal were correct 

 in expectations, and also that there could be 

 a marked difference in each generation, due 

 to nursB influence." There is nothing on 

 page 50 to show that there was any expecta- 

 tion whatever on the part of the editor of any 

 change being made by .a change of nurse- 

 bses, although there is a possibility that such 

 a thing may exist, but if it does, Mr. Simpson 

 is no doubt correct that such a change must 

 be very slight. 



It seems that none of us have yet reached 

 perfection, either in the art of expressing our- 

 selves or deciphering the meaning of others, 

 but with the practice of a little patience we 

 may easily come to an understanding. 



California Reports of late date seem to 

 show that prospects for a honey crop are not 

 so gloomy as formerly supposed. 



Salt the Aiits if you want to drive them 

 away, says Frank Gilmore, of Connecticut. 

 He says he has proven by experience that if 

 salt is sprinkled wherever they are they will 

 leave. If little red ants annoy the good house- 

 wife, put a tablespoonful of salt in a teacup 

 ful of water, dissolve well, and then pour it 

 around where the ants enter. 



This is such an easy remedy to apply, that 

 any one who has both salt and ants can soon 

 test the matter. If it is as effective as Mr. 

 Gilmore .says it is, a good many bee-keepers 

 will want to extend to him a big vote of 

 thanks. 



Cane vs. Beet Sugar. — For years the 

 British Bee Journal has strongly urged that 

 those who feed sugar to bees should be sure 

 that cane and not beet sugar be used. If that 

 journal is right— and it is possible it is — we 

 are in a bad case in this country, for there is 

 probably not one bee-keeper in a thousand 

 who can tell beet sugar from cane, and beet 

 sugar, which formerly formed only a small 

 portion of the sugar used, forms now the 

 larger part, and is constantly on the increase. 



TonKue-l/engtli and Tongue-Reach. 



— In (ileanings in Bee-Culture Prof. C. P. 

 Uillette calls attention to the mistake that has 

 been made in deciding from his experiments 

 that there is no direct relation between 

 tongue-length and tongue-reach, in spite of 

 his saying: "I believe, for practical pur- 

 poses, it may always be considered true that 

 the bee with the longest tongue has the 

 longest possible tongue-reach." It is true 

 that according to his table of measurements 

 it appears that tongue-length and tongue- 

 reach do not correspond, but he does not con- 



sider the measurements of reach as reliable 

 as he does those of length, and says: "I 

 place no value whatever upon my measure- 

 ments of tongue-reach except to show how 

 variable and unreliable such measurements 

 are." 



i 



Weekly Budget. I 



The Epworth Herald, with its nearly 

 120,1*00 circulation ;every week, kindly pub- 

 lished the item on " Comb Honey Not Manu- 

 factured," in its issue ofl March 29, which is 

 its annual Easter number, and a beauty. The 

 Herald has the largest circulation of any 

 religious young people's weekly, being the 

 organ of the Epworth League_of the Metho- 

 dist Episcopal Church. Its able and popular 

 editor. Dr. J, F. Berry, is one of our very inti- 

 mate friends, and would do all he could to aid 

 bee-keepers in getting the truth about honey 

 before the paople. 



business — milling, farming, etc. I have never 

 made a specialty of bee-keeping. 



I have lately secured a farm on the Missis- 

 sippi river bottoms, that I think is a good 

 location, especially for fall honey, so I expect 

 to increase my apiary largely in the near 

 future. At the home apiary, shown in the 

 picture, our surplus honey nearly all comes 

 from white clover. L. J. Clark. 



Bee-House OF L. J. Clark. — When sending 

 the picture shown on this page, Mr. Clark 

 wrote as follows : 



I enclose a view of my bee-house, part of 

 my apiary, and rear view of my residence. I 

 was born in Vermont, Aug. 21, 1S40; came to 

 Minnesota June 1, iSbS, and have grown up 



Apiary of John H. Blessing. — On the 

 the first page is a picture of the apiary of 

 Mr. Blessing, concerning which he has this 

 to say : 



My apiary consists of 29 colonies in Lang- 

 stroth and dovetailed hives, all 10-frame size. 

 1 began keeping bees about nine years ago, 

 and was very successful until last year, when 

 they didn't average over 20 pounds per col- 

 ony. The hot winds killed all ot the white 

 clover, and there was no buckwheat sowed; 

 but I am not discouraged yet, as I have hopes 

 for better things. 



My bees are all hybrids, but they are great 

 workers when there is anything to do. They 

 had the swarming-fever last spring, and I had 

 quite a time with them. 



January 9, 19U2, I noticed the bees were 

 flying quite freely ; I had placed a bucket on 

 a bench that had some rye and oats ground 

 together, and the bees were very busy carry- 

 ing it to their hives. I had intended this rye 

 and oats for the pigs. 



I have always wintered my bees success- 

 fully on the summer stands. The stakes 

 which can be seen in the picture behind the 

 hives are for holding straw. After nailing 

 the poles to the stakes I pack straw in around 

 the hives. 



I read the " Old Reliable," and couldn't get 

 along without it. I also have " I^angstroth 

 on the Honey-Bee." John H. Blessing. 



BEE-UOrSE AND RESIDENCE OF L. .1. CLARK, OF WINONA CO., MINN. 



with the country. When 1.5 1 enlisted to fill 

 a vacancy in the 1st Minnesota Volunteers, 

 but on account of my age, and the War com- 

 ing to a close. I was not sent South. I was 

 married when 23 to Lucie E. Balch, of Lock- 

 port, N, Y., with whom I lived happily for 

 17 years, when death claimed her. and since 

 that time I have remained a widower. The 

 two girls on the back porch are my daughters. 

 May and Allie, aged 13 and 15 years. 



Ever since I can remember I have taken 

 much interest in bees, and when about 10 

 years ot age had. at one time, about 7 colo- 

 nies of bumble-bees, and enjoyed iny.self very 

 much in watching the occasional bee that 

 would come and go. 



The year that I was 16, in June, I paid $12 

 in hard cash, that I had earned by working out, 

 fora colony of young bees in a very plain, un- 

 painted box-hive, and I got up at I am. and 

 went 12 miles so as to get there before the 

 bees were out in the morning. Since that 

 time I have had more or less bees the most of 

 the time, although being engaged in other 



Have the Best Tools.— Editor Hutchinson 

 has this to say in the Bee-Keepers' Review, 

 on the subject of tools for the apiary: 



It is all right for a man with limited capital 

 to put up with make-shifts. In fact, he is 

 rntnpi'lled to or go in debt for them. Get ini- 

 pruved tonh and miirliiiti nj jtiiit as fitsf as the 

 projits of your business will Jtistlfy the ej'jieyise. 

 To sciueeze along with imperfect tools, when 

 the profits of your business will allow the pur- 

 chase of good ones, is the poorest kind of 

 een/ioiiiy. Don't let the habit of putting up 

 with poor tools become so fixed that it can 

 not be changed when conditions change. An- 

 other thing: Watch the conditions; study 

 them closely ; they may change so gradually 

 that you do not realize the change. 



Fortunately, bee-keepers require new tools, 

 and there is little excuse for their using poor 

 ones. The largest factor in the production of 

 honey is labor, and anything that tends to 

 lessen this factor should be given the most 

 1 thoughtful consideration. 



