1900 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



645 



bottom starters. [I think I understand your 

 point. You say you use bottom starters, and 

 that you would use them any way. Now, 

 then, if the bees prefer to build their comb 

 deeper than wide, is it not a wise policy on 

 the part of the bee keeper to give them a sec- 

 tion that will cater to their inclinations? in 

 other words, so long as it is practicable, is it 

 not wise to follow nature by giving them a tall 

 section, and a bottom starter, and thus cater- 

 ing to their natural instincts, and at the same 

 time inviting them to make a bottom attach- 

 ment ? Are you sure that, by getting the sec- 

 tion enough shorter to make it square, the 

 bees will make a better fastening at the bot- 

 tom ? I do not see that the conclusion neces- 

 sarily follows. — Ed.] 





'd//lOM OU/i NEIGHBORS rmDS.Tjf!:, 



From brazen skies the sun pours down 



A flood of torrid heat ; 

 AU nature pants beneath the scourge. 



The bees get little sweet. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 

 On page 370 Prof. Cook says the true stom- 

 ach of the bee is larger than the honey-stom- 

 ach. Mr. Hasty says this is true when both 

 are empty; but the fact that the latter, when 

 full, is more than half the weight of an un- 

 loaded bee makes it impossible that the real 

 stomach should be larger than the honey-sac. 



\ii 



In the issue for July 26 F. Greiner has an 

 article on crimson clover. He ranks it as one 

 of the most desirable honey -plants in exist- 

 ence. He has counted on it 20 bees to the 

 square foot, of which three out of four were 

 gathering honey. He thinks 25 acres would 

 keep 100 colonies busy, and says he could 

 afford to pay 75 cents to $1.00 for every acre 

 sown within a mile of his place. 



\lu 



C. P. Dadant and daughter stopped at Dr. 

 Mason's in Toledo while on their way to 

 Paris. I have forgotten hitherto to congratu- 

 late the bee-keepers of the United States on 

 having such a representative as Mr. Dadant at 

 the coming bee-keepers' congress in Paris. 

 Not only in his ability to speak French, but 

 in every way, he is just the man. Mr. Dadant 

 left his old home in France in 1863, and, I 

 believe, has not seen it since then till now. 

 We can well imagine his feelings on again 

 treading what must be to him sacred ground, 

 and in meeting as many of the " boys " as 

 may be still living. 



In the issue for July 19 Mr. J. O. Grimsley 

 makes a vigorous defense of the National 

 Queen-breeders' Union, and it strikes me he 

 is about right. It seems Mr. York was rather 

 opposed to such a union, and said: " Suppose 



the supply-dealers should form a union, tell- 

 ing how honest they are." But Mr. Grimsley 

 shows that the object of the association is to 

 sift out incompetent and irresponsible breed- 

 ers of queens, an 1 to let purchasers know 

 just what they are getting, and to enable 

 them to get what they pay for. He adds : 

 " It wants to ber.efit all, and is exactly the 

 same class of oigau'zation as the National 

 Bee-keepers' Association, except that it is 

 composed exclusively of qiaeen-breeders, and 

 the members must be received by a vote." 

 \b 

 Mr. Hasty says, "After a long period of 

 valetudinarianism, intentionally consuming 

 much sweet, and with my prejudice (if I had 

 any) in favor of honey, you will see me eat- 

 ing sugar as a horse eats oats, and not much 

 honey." If Mr. Hasty had said he eats sugar 

 as a horse does, his case would seem hopele.ss. 

 For some time he has figured as the cham- 

 pion honey- eater ; and the cause of this sud- 

 den change in taste is not evident. Probably 

 it is not permanent, and can be accounted for 

 by the fact that " a cook is never hungry." 

 May be the sight of honey constantly before a 

 person will cause him to tire of it ; but still 

 we see sugar a hundred times where we see 

 honey once. Mr. Hasty objects to tracing 

 evolution so far back as to say that the apple 

 was developed from the wild rose. He ad- 

 mits that both, several millions of years ago, 

 may have come from one common parent. 

 More likely, however, that "common par- 

 ent " was Mother Earth. 



Dr. Miller says he has seen sweet clover 

 growing in places where the grass was eaten 

 away all around it, but he has seen more 

 places where cows had eaten the sweet clover 

 close to the ground. He considers it a matter 

 of education. Till recently I had lost con- 

 siderable sleep over the question whether ele- 

 phants would eat sweet clover or not. A few 

 days ago a rusty specimen of that tribe was 

 anchored in front of this establishment. 

 Some boys gathered large wads of sweet clo- 

 ver, which grows in profusion everywhere 

 here, and the huge animal ate it with as much 

 avidity as a cow does green cornstalks. It 

 certainly was a sight to see that clover twisted 

 in the trunk and then stuffed in the mouth. 

 If an elephant's trunk does not show the in- 

 telligence of its Creator, I don't know what 

 does. 



In speaking of sweet clover, and the preju- 

 dice of some farmers against it, Mr. C. W. 

 Snyder, of Utah, says, " I had much oppo- 

 sition when I planted my first seed, but I 

 planted the seed just the same. Now nearly 

 all the farmers see the value of it." Strange 

 that farmers will smile over acres of ragweed 

 and prickly lettuce, and storm at the sight of 

 sweet clover. 



\k 



BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 

 In Western Australia there is a law requir- 

 ing every person who may have in his pos- 

 session or under his care any colony, hive, 

 or swarm of bees affected with foul brood or 



