1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



129 



This part of York State is a very fair locali- 

 ty for bees, and a good many are being kept 

 by the farmers and others in this and near-by 

 towns. 



By trying at all times to place a good article 

 on the market in the best possible condition I 

 have, during the past few ) ears, built up a 

 fine home trade so that I am able to dispose of 

 nearly all my honey at home and in near-by 

 towns. The honey crop was very poor with 

 us the past season on account of the great 

 drouth, so I was quite unable to supply the 

 demand. I run my apiary mainly for comb 

 honey, producing only a small amount of ex- 

 tracted to supply the local demand. 



I used the tall sections with cleated separa- 

 tors in a small way during the past season, 

 and am favorably impressed with them, so 

 that I shall use more this year, and will also 

 try using the fences in some of my supers 

 with narrow 4:% sections. 



Youngs, N. Y. 



NOTES FROM THE ONTARIO CO. BEE-KEEPERS' 

 CONVENTION. 



BY F. GREINER. 



The bee-keepers of Ontario Co. seldom fail 

 to have a profitable meeting. Their annual 

 convention was held Dec. 14 and 15. So many 

 good things came up that ought to be known 

 in wider circles that I will pick out some of 

 the good things for the benefit of the readers 

 of Gleanings. Through the influence and 

 by the aid of the Bureau of Farmers' Institutes 

 we were fortunate enough to have Prof. F. 

 Benton, of Agricultural Department, "Wash- 

 ington, with us, and naturally every thing 

 centered around him. From his several lec- 

 tures I make the following extracts : 



FERTILIZATION OF FRUIT-BLOSSOMS BY THE 



BEES. 



The cross- section of a matured apple shows 



five separate seed-chambers grouped around 



the center in star shape. The pistil of the ap- 



)^a5pt.^^^,so-n. 



ple-blossom is also in five sections, with con- 

 ductors leading to these embryo seed-cham- 

 bers, and unless a grain of pollen reaches each 

 one, the fertilization is incomplete — a perfect 

 apple can not form. Perfect fertilization re- 

 quires five different acts. An apple-blossom 

 has many stamens, and the pollen is produced 

 at the extreme end of each one, forming there 

 an enlargement called "anther." A single 

 anther contains one million or more grains of 



pollen, of which but five are needed for the 

 fertilization of one blossom. A raspberry- 

 blossom is built differently from the forenam- 

 ed one. The raspberry (fruit) is composed of 

 some 200 separate little sections, each contain- 

 ing a seed, and so the blossom is constructed 

 in a like manner. What will later be the fruit 

 is already present in an embryo state, 200 little 

 sections in miniature, and from each of them 

 protrudes the pistil, like a fine short hair. A 

 grain of pollen must be conducted through 

 every little hair- — really a tube, the end of 

 which is receptive through the organ called 

 stigma. A bee, after alighting on a blossom 

 of this kind in search of honey, which is to 

 be found at the base of the blossoms, rubs 

 over the anthers with its body, which is cover- 

 ed, especially on the under side, with many 

 hairs of a compound feather-like nature, and 

 becomes covered with the pollen dust. Whirl- 

 ing around, first one way then another, in 

 order to reach fully all the nectar-secreting 

 glands, it brushes again and again over the 200 

 protruding pistils. One bee after another vis- 

 its the same blossom at short intervals as long 

 as the secretion lasts; and in time every one 

 of the stigmas receives its grain of pollen, and 

 a perfect fruit results. 



During the earlier part of the season, when 

 pear and apple trees bloom, the weather is 

 often unfavorable for pollination ; the pollen 

 remains too moist and sticky. In such a case, 

 not much fruit can set. Should the sun come 

 out for but an hour, the pollen becomes dry. 

 The bees turn in ; and the more numerous the 

 bees are, the more fruit will set. There may 

 be seasons when fruit would set abundantly 

 without the help of honey-bees. In an unfa- 

 vorable season, however, they are an absolute 

 necessity. Cross-fertilization is strictly neces- 

 sary for raspberry, gooseberry, and huckle- 

 berry. When the bee visits a blossom of the 

 last-named kind, and pushes its body into the 

 bell-shaped flower, it seems that the stamens 

 are so arranged that the white pollen is dusted 

 upon the head and thorax of the bee. The bee 

 is unable to remove the dust from these places; 

 and when the next blossom is entered, the 

 head and thorax of the bee come in contact 

 with the stigma first, and before the anthers 

 are touched, and in this manner cross-fertili- 

 zation is assured. 



It would take too much space to go through 

 the long list of flowers benefited by bees. 

 However, bees are not the only agents to per- 

 form this work. There are other insects and 

 the wind. In the early springtime bees are 

 most numerous, and therefore indispensable. 



Some pollen is not utilized by the bees, 

 probably on account of coarseness or peculiar 

 shape of the grains. 



QUEEN-REARING, AND FEATURES CONNECTED 

 WITH IT. 

 The professor had used artificial queen- eel Is 

 made of many different materials — acorn-cups, 

 paper, gauze, and glass. The latter were used 

 with fair success and a great deal of satisfac- 

 tion. From a glass tube of proper size, short 

 pieces were snapped off by means of a heated 

 wire. The ends only of these pieces were 



