FEBRUARY 1, 1914 



97 



distribution of the pollen, as they mix it to 

 a great extent, and thus in a large measure 

 prevent in-breeding, which is so detrimental 

 to fruit-growing in most instances. Many 

 of the leading liorticulturists are now agreed 

 that bees are a great lielj^ in fruit-growing. 



One of the most extensive fruit-growers, 

 who has a great many orchards in different 

 States, says that he always wants bees in or 

 near his orchards, as in so many cases they 

 aj'e a necessity to growing fruit by properly 

 securing fertilization of the bloom. 



As has been stated before, there are other 

 insects that work on fruit-bloom besides 

 bees; yet, as most people know, in early 

 spring in blooming time, when it is so nec- 

 essary for the insects to work on the bloom, 

 bees are anich more plentiful than perhaps 

 all other kinds together, especially when 

 bees are kept in any great quantities, as the 

 bees live through the winter in colonies, 

 whereas other insects live as indi\dduals, 

 and have to breed up. In many cases they 

 are too late for early fruit-bloom. . As an 

 illustration, bumble-bee queens winter sin- 

 gly, so that, when the first bloom of clovers 



is on, there are only a very few of these 

 bees ; but by the time the second crop comes 

 on, the queen bumble-bee has raised large 

 families, and there are gi'eat numbers of 

 them at this time; so the second crop of 

 clover — especially red clover — is the crop 

 that has the seed, the first crop having but 

 very little. If it had been properly fertiliz- 

 ed it might have as much seed as any crop. 



In our observations in the past we have 

 noticed that in a wet time, when bees can 

 scarcely get around, but little fruit sets on 

 the trees. During one wet cold time the sun 

 came out for a wliile, and we had one pear 

 tree on the east side of a house that the bees 

 worked on an hour or so. This tree set 

 fruit, and had pears on it, and no other of 

 cur trees or any others in our neighborhood, 

 so far as we know, had any pears on the 

 trees that season. If fruit-trees are so pro- 

 tected that bees can not visit the blossoms, 

 little or no fi'uit will set. In all our experi- 

 ments on this line we have never had any 

 fruit to set if the bees could not get to the 

 bloom. 



Mexico, Mo. 



500 PERFECT COMBS FROM FOUNDATION HAVING WIRES IMBEDDED 



OUT OF LINE. 



BY W. N. RANDOLPH 



[The following article was written last spring, but our correspondent had neglected to send it to us 

 until the publication of the article by H. H. Root on the same subject in our Nov. 15th issue. We are 

 glad to place it before our readers here as an additional endorsement of the plan of pulling the wires 

 out of alignment when imbedding. — Ed.j 



It seems that, with all that has been writ- 

 ten on the subject, it would be exhausted; 

 but I am satisfied that we have a lot to learn 

 yet in all departments of beekeeping. Be- 

 lieving this, I will give you my plan. 



I use the Hoffman brood-frames with 

 full sheets of foundation, and with four 

 wires imbedded in the wax across the frames. 

 I use the frames with grooves and wedges 

 in the top-bar to hold the foundation fast 

 at the top ; but I find in practice that the 

 heat of the hive will very often loosen the 

 foundation, and the bees drag it down and 

 make a mess of things, even with the wedges 

 pressed firmly in. In order to prevent this 

 I pour a tiny stream of melted paraffine 

 along each side of the foundation where it 

 joins the top-bar, to hold the foundation 

 secure. I use the paraffine because it costs 

 only 9 cents per lb., while the wax is worth 

 30 cents, and the bees do not seem to notice 

 the substitution. 



In wiring I use the spur imbedder. There 

 is a point in wiring that is overlooked; the 

 top strand of wire should be pulled down 



slightly in the center, and the bottom strand 

 should be pulled up in imbedding, so that 

 the bottom wire will brace against the pull 

 of the top wire, and prevent the wrinkling 

 or buckling of the foundation. The two 

 middle wires should run straight across 

 the frames. This will give smooth straight 

 and strong combs, with the wires braced 

 as in a suspension bridge, and the wires will 

 take the jars from the combs as they were 

 intended to do. The wires should not be 

 pulled down too tight or a job of buckling 

 may be the result ; for while outside the hive 

 the foundation may be cold and stiff enough 

 to offer sufficient resistance to the pull of 

 the wires and look just right when it is in 

 the hive, and the heat of the bees softens it, 

 it will often give way to the pull of the 

 wires. 



I used this plan in making some 2400 

 combs a year ago, and an equal number last 

 season, and nearly or quite all of them made 

 perfect combs. 



Do not give your nice new prepared 

 combs to the bees until a honey-flow is on 

 and they are secreting wax. Remember to 



