SC) 



GLEAI^^INGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. 



.lAX. 15 



become the fruit. Now, the inimerons stamens 

 produce pollen, which is inclosed in minute an- 

 thers at the head of the stamens, and is the 

 fertilizing matter which must be brought in 

 contact with the stigma, or top of the pistil. 

 Thus the ovules, or seed-vessels, are fertilized, 

 or impregnated, and develop into perfect fruit. 

 One of the agencies for the proper distribution 

 of pollen is the wind; but sometimes if we hap- 

 pen to have a few still days during the blos- 

 soming period this would be inadequate to the 

 designed purpose: so nature has ])lacid a little 

 drop of sweet deep down in the flower, at the 

 base of the stamen; and our little friend the 

 bee comes flitting about in search of nectar for 

 his future winter store, and, discovering the 

 tempting morsel, he literally stands on his head 

 in an effort to reach it, and in so doing his back 

 becomes dusted with pollen from the stamens; 

 and as he reaches down into the flower his back 

 is brought in direct contact with the pistil of 

 the flower, thus i)erfoi'ming a very important 

 work in nature's gicat i)aii()i'ama. 



Who has not noticed bees coming into their 

 hives, in the season of fruit-bloom, with their 

 backs so covered with pollen from the flowers 

 that they had the appearance of being adifferent 

 race? Truly there are wonderful things in na- 

 ture, and it seems as though no individual can 

 fail to see the agency of a higher po\A'er in the 

 design of these things. Verily, "All things 

 work together for good to them that love God." 



Elsie, Mich., Jan. 3. I. A. Wooll, 



Proprietor of the Oak Grove Fruit-Farm. 



[Friend W., this is a matter that ought to be 

 strongly emphasized and most emphatically 

 taught. Right in sight of where I am writing 

 is a strawberry-bed of strong, I'ank, thrifty 

 plants. They are Jiubachs; but there has not 

 been a decent berry in the whole patch for two 

 years, just because there are no perfect-flower- 

 ing plants near them that they may be fertiliz- 

 ed. They were red witii berries, but they were 

 all stunted, twisted, poor, insigniticent speci- 

 mens of strawberries. Now, my opinion is, 

 that many of the poor. inii)erfect cherries, 

 plums, apples, etc., that we see in various local- 

 ities is becaus(! there are not bees enough kept 

 to insure perfect fertilization. Market-garden- 

 ers have tested this matter so thoroughly that 

 they now invariably keep one or more hives of 

 bees in every greenhouse where they nndeitakc 

 to raise fruit, cucumbers, or any thing that re- 

 quires the agency of the bees.] 



ERNEST'S NOTES OF TRAVEL. 



A VISIT WITH DK. C. f. .MII.I-ER. 



After leaving the Dadants, Dr. jNIiller and I 

 took the train for Marengo: and such a tiine 

 as we did have visiting! On the sleeper thiit 

 night we talked till the " wee sma' hours" of 

 the morning: and after sleeping for two oi- 

 three hours we again commenced it. We 

 changed cars and then began to argue about 

 some of the new fixings, and the probable out- 

 come of thick top-bars, flxed distances, outside 

 winter cases, and width of sections. Although 

 I was very sleepy, Dr. Miller would, every once 

 in a while, say, " Now, about that width of 

 section. Ai-e you sure that it would be wise to 

 recommend to your trade 1%' instead of 1{-^ next 

 year?" 



I was so sleepy that I did not know what 

 was wise, and, in fact, I did not care very much. 

 I finally began to revive a little bit under the 

 temporary stimulus of a good crisp apple which 

 the senior Dadant handed me just before we 



left. Dr. M. would not eat between meals, but 

 I felt a good deal better, whether it was in ac- 

 cordance with the laws of health or not. In 

 response to his question I said. "' Yes, sir: the 

 trade demands a section a little less than a 

 pound; and we, as supply-dealers, are obliged 

 to cater to theii- demands, more or less. Be- 

 sides," said I, "docto)-. don't you see that with 

 IK sections you can use a follower and wedge 

 in a super ISVs wide inside? From what I saw 

 in my trip in the East I am thoroughly satisfied 

 that the sections wc'dged up in supers save a 

 great deal of afterwork in scraping. All the 

 ■ big guns ' in the East do it. Almost all L. 

 supers are 13,V^ wide, and in these you can not 

 wedge up sections l^ii thick with a follower and 

 wedge." 



The doctor nodded his head with a somewhat 

 doubtful assent. 



"But, see here, Ernest," said he, "do you 

 think it is right or fair to sell a section, that 

 weighs less than a pound, for a pound section ?" 



"No, I don't." I replied; "but sections are 

 sold by the piece largely, nowadays." 



So on we argued. I do not quite remember 

 how we came out. Every once in a while our 

 conversation broke off with, " Oh I by the way, 

 Ernest, I want to know about those Hoffman 

 frames;" or, " You haven't said yet how your 

 bees are wintering in the cellar;" " Say, doctor, 

 you did not tell me how your thick top-bars 

 work, that you • doctored ' up with pieces of 

 separator stuff." 



Whenever friend M. cornered me in argu- 

 ment it was convenient to change th(> subject. 

 Soon we discussed persons and things until we 

 reached Marengo. I had fixed out in my mind's 

 eye that the to\\'n was so and so; but every 

 thing was just the other end to. As we stepped 

 oft' the train the doctor said, " Y>,s, there's Em 

 with the horse." 



Most of our readei'S know that " Em " is Dr. 

 Miller's sister-in-huN'. the one who helps him in 

 the bee-yard. Although I felt as if I knew her. 

 of course I had to go through the formality of 

 the usual iiiti'oductiou. 



We drove for about half a mile, till we arriv- 

 ed at Dr. Millei''s home. It is situated quite a 

 little distance back from the street, upon a con- 

 siderable knoll overlooking quite a stretch of 

 country. The doctoi' had told me that I need not 

 (>xpect to see any thing very orderly; that his 

 hives were such as nobody but himself would 

 tolerate, etc. He evidently did not intend that 

 1 should raise my expectations vei'y high. 



Just as I alighted from the buggy I turned 

 about, and there was his apiary, ready to go 

 into the bee-cellar soon. This, if I remember 

 correctly, comprised all of the home yard and a 

 part of an out-apiary. The apiary looked very 

 neat and oiderly, and the hives — why, they did 

 not look bad at all. It is true, they-were not 

 painted, and never have been. They had for- 

 merly been old ten-fratue Langsti'oth portico 

 hives. Gradually the doctor had imbibed the 

 idea of eight inst(»ad of ten frames, like the 

 rest of us. To make them eight-frame he pried 

 oft' one side of the hive, cut olf about two inches 

 of the ends, replaced the side removed, and 

 narrowed the cover of the bottom-board, and 

 it was not such a very long job either. 



The hives looked veiy much like ordinary 

 Dovetailed hives without the dovetail. At the 

 time of my visit, the; bottom-boards had all 

 been reversed, and sci'(>wed on upside down — 

 that is, in such a way as to leave a two-inch 

 space under the frames for winter. A lai-ge- 

 mesli wire cloth was let down into peri)endicu- 

 lar grooves In the bottom-board, closing the 

 entrance to rats and mice while in the cellar. 

 Bees, of course, could [tass in and out. 



While the doctor was putting up th(^ horse I 



