1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



645 



be found. They were almost all punctured. It was 

 not unusual to see two or three bees hang-ing- to one 

 berry. The pickers were also in danger of stings. 

 Toward the last of the season last year I abandoned 

 all to the bees. After the berries have been placed 

 in the bo.xes, I have seen the bees collect upon them 

 in such numbers as to cause them to settle down 

 two inches or more, if left uncovered for a few 

 hours. My bees were near by my berries, but I had 

 less than 30 colonies. None of my near neig'hbors 

 have many bees. I have never noticed any account 

 in any of the horticultural or bee journals of bees 

 injuring fruit in the way 1 have mentioned; but I 

 remember noticing' an article a few years ag:o in 

 Purdy's Fruit Recorder, where he (Purdy) discour- 

 aged the keeping- of bees and fruit tog-ether, and 

 then mentions a case of how some bees collected 

 on some ripe peaches which he had pi'epared for 

 market, so as to cause them to settle down in the 

 bo.xes. I believe that the cause of the bees taking 

 to the berries so is on account of a dearth in the 

 honey-flow about the time their depredations be- 

 gin. My bees have never bothered blackberries or 

 the black-cap raspberries; but I am convinced that 

 no one in this part of the country can raise the reds 

 with any profit for market, and keep very many 

 bees near by. I have not tried to exaggerate in the 

 above, but only to tell the facts as nearly as possi- 

 ble. J. A. Carter. 

 Varck, Kan., March 5, 1888. 



Friend C, this is about the first report of 

 the kind we have ever had from one wlio 

 keeps both bees and fruit. I am glad to 

 hear you come out so freely and frankly, 

 though I do think it very unusual for bees 

 to attack strawberries and raspberries ; and 

 I am sure that no one about here ever saw a 

 bee pay any attention whatever to either. 

 Perhaps the reason is. that we have never 

 had a dearth of honey, that I remember, 

 during the ripening of these berries, so se- 

 vere as to cut off the honey-flow entirely. 

 The bees, in fact, are busiest on clover and 

 basswood at the time the berries ripen. 

 When grapes and peaches ripen, however, 

 our bees have little or nothing to work on, 

 and I have seen them attack grapes in bas- 

 kets, so the fruit would settle just as you 

 state. Is it not possible that you may keep 

 both bees and berries a good many years, 

 and not have again such an experience as 

 you have just told us of V 



BEE-NOTES FHOM QUIET NOOK. 



D80METHING ABOUT BEES, FROM ANNA B. QUILLIN. 



fHE ^pidce—commonly called bees— are a very 

 interesting family of insects, and well worth 

 studying. The Osmia, or mason-bee, is blu- 

 ish or green in color, has a circular in-curv- 

 ed abdomen, and they make their nests with 

 sand, in crevices. Megachile, or leaf-cutter-bee— 

 frequently called tailor-bee— cut circular pieces 

 from leaves, and with them make a honey-tight 

 cell. They build the cell in holes excavated in 

 trees or decayed wood, or in the earth. Xylocopa, 

 or carpenter-bee, is of large size; and they burrow 

 a round hole in a tree, or form a tube a foot or 

 more in length in wooden posts or stumps, where 

 they deposit their eggs. The Bombus, or humble- 

 bees (generally called bumble-bees), have large 



hirsute (shaggy) bodies, and build their nests In 

 communities in the ground or under stones. 



We are all more or less acquainted with the 

 bumble-bees, and I have often wondered why boys 

 took such special pleasure in fighting them. 1 

 have known boys to walk a mile to enjoy the plea- 

 sure of fighting bumble-bees, when they would 

 think it a great hardship to walk two dozen steps 

 and carry an armful of wood. It would be very 

 tiresome to carry wood; but to walk a mile and 

 then dance around with a dozen raiid bees in hot 

 pursuit, was just " lots and lots of fun." 



One morning, a year or more ago, my little friend 

 Max came in to see me; and as lie walked across 

 the room I noticed that he held both his hands be- 

 hind him. As he approached my couch he explain- 

 ed. "I've got something for you— just hear them 

 sing!" and suddenly, before I realized what he 

 was going to do, he was holding his hands up by 

 my ears. And, oh such a buzz, b-u-z-z. b-u-z-z-i-n-g 

 as I heard! I felt as though a whole swarm of 

 bees had surrounded me. Glancing up at him I 

 saw his eyes were twinkling, and he was shaking 

 with suppressed laughter as he watched my aston- 

 ished countenance. 



"O Max! " I said; "are your hands full of bees, 

 or what have you got in there? It sounds like a 

 swarm of bees." 



"Just five bumble-bees," he replied; "but they 

 can't hurt you, for they are nothing but drones." 



"But, where did you get them, and how did you 

 know they were ' nothing but drones "? " I ques- 

 tioned. 



"Why, 'cause I found them on that old dead tree 

 in the lane I " he replied. 



"But, Max," said I, "how could that tell you 

 they were drones'?" 



"Ho!" he said, "don't you know how to tell a 

 drone? Why, I'll tell you how you can tell them 

 every time! The workers are too busy to lounge 

 around and do nothing; and when they alight it is 

 always on something they can work on; and when 

 you see bees sitting around on dead wood, with 

 nothing to do, you may be sure they are old lazy 

 drones. Why, I have caught dozens of them, and 

 they are always drones. I never caught a worker 

 that wasn't at work, or else looking out for a job." 



"Well, Max, that is a new idea to me," I said; 

 "but if that is the case, the bees are very much 

 like people, aren't they? For a man who spends 

 his time sitting around on old store-boxes, and 

 lounging about saloons, is generally a drone in 

 the human hive. Our workers In the world haven't 

 much time to waste, for they can always find plen- 

 ty to do, and take pleasure in being useful." 



The apis, our true honey-bee. Is said to have origi- 

 nated in Asia, whence it has spread over Europe, 

 and been imported to America. I presume the 

 bees are believers in " woman's suffrage " and 

 " woman's rights " for thej' are always governed by 

 a queen, and it used to be asserted that the females 

 did all the work. I suppose it was in accordance 

 with that idea that the poet Milton, in " Paradise 

 Lost," says: 



" —Swarming next appeared 

 The female bee, that feeds her husband drone 

 Deliciously, and builds her waxen cells 

 With honey stored." 

 Ipava, Ills. Anna B. Quii.lin. 



Your little story has a very good point to 

 it, friend Anna. If I had been told it before, 



