MARCH 15, 1914 



hives so that in all we wintered just four- 

 teen colonics. As 1 think of it now it seems 

 a wonder that we got any honey at all; but 

 the bees did most of their swarming- during 

 locust bloom, and we secured more honey 

 than our family of seven could use. We 

 sold some and divided with relatives and 

 friends. This locust honey was the wonder 

 of every one who saw it, as, indeed, all of 

 our honey is to the people here who keep 

 bees on the " robbing " jdan. The locust 

 honey is Avater-white, and lias a very fine 

 flavor. The flow from locust is a little un- 

 certain on account of the danger of bad 

 weatlier oi' frost, as in the case of the year 

 1!)13. 



In the fall of 1912 we had to feed con- 

 siderably in order to winter the bees; but 

 we did not feed enough. The followiig 

 spring was so cold that the bees nearly 

 starved, and only six colonies gave us sur- 

 plus honey during 1913. It was so cold all 

 the spring that we did not get any locust 

 or apple-bloom honey. On the contrary 

 they nearly starved until the last of June 

 when we secured two supers of fine honey 

 from each of the best colonies. Later we 

 were surprised to get a super of buckwheat 

 honey from each one, but we do not like 

 buckwheat honey.. 



We had no swarming during 1913. I gave 

 (he bees plenty of room; and whenever they 

 began to hang out on the front of the hives 

 I propped up the brood-chamber on four 

 blocks. I am anxious to see whether this 

 will keep them from swarming during a 

 good year, as I want to start an outyard 



229 



somewhere along the mountain. We live at 

 the foot of the Blue, on the north side. On 

 the south side of the mountain they have an 

 entirely different climate with sourwood, 

 honey-locust, and many other plants tliat do 

 not grow on this side. I think our bees go 

 to the south side for sourwood honey. Our 

 side of the mountain is colder and higher, 

 but, nevertheless, a good country for clover. 



The honey in 1913 came too late for the 

 beekeepers who depend merely on .robbing 

 the colonies in the fall, and we were the 

 only ones who had any honey to sell. It 

 was hard work dividing it, for the people 

 were so anxious to buy. In fact, we had so 

 much honey that the neighbors thought we 

 fed our bees, and one man tried to feed his 

 CO get them to make surplus also; but he 

 gave it up when the bees • from the sur- 

 rounding country nearly took possession 

 of his place. 



Our bees have paid for themselves several 

 times over, and they certainly furnish plen- 

 ty of entertainment. They add much inter- 

 est to the life of the farmer's wife, to say 

 nothing of the money. I have chickens, 

 turkeys, guineas, pigs, and calves to attend 

 to, but I prefer my bees to all of them. My 

 friends laugh and tell me I am bee-crazy; 

 but they show some interest at once when I 

 tell them how much money I have made 

 from them. Beekeeping is just as much a 

 woman's work as taking care of chickens, 

 and I never get too tired to hive a swarm or 

 take off a nice super of honey. 



Laurel Springs, N. C. 



VALUE OF BEES FOR TRANSFERRING POLLEN TO DIFFERENT 

 VARIETIES OF APPLES 



BY J. C. M. JOHNSTON 



I have received so many queries from 

 readers of my article in Gleanings, May 1, 

 p. 316, on spraying apples and pollinating 

 the blossoms by means of bees, that 1 think 

 it well to explain the matter more fully. 



W^hen apples are in bloom, bees fly from 

 liower to flower and from tree to tree to 

 collect the honey. Some of the pollen of 

 the blossom clings to the bees; some of it is 

 brushed on the next flower; some is carried 

 to the hive for bee-bread. But the jjart that 

 is transferred from flower to flower pollen- 

 izes the ovaries of the blossom, so that they 

 begin to grow and keep on growing until 

 they develop into an apple. Bees are thus 

 of vast importance to the apple-grower, 

 especially since the pollen does so much 

 more good if it is carried to another flower 



instead of falling on the organs of the flow- 

 er where it grew. It does more good if it 

 is carried to a different tree instead of to a 

 blossom on its own tree. Finally, it is still 

 more valuable if the bee carries it to a 

 different variety of tree from that on which 

 it grew — say from a Northern Spy to a 

 Baldwin or vice versa. For this I'eason 

 modern orchards are often planted with the 

 varieties alternating — first a row of Bald- 

 wins, then a row of Northern Spies, then 

 a row of Greenings, and so on until the 

 whole orchard is planted. The result is that 

 the bees and the wind can readily carry the 

 pollen from Greening to Spy, from Spy to 

 Baldwin, so that each apple is pollenized 

 by pollen from a different tree and from a 

 different variety. Then the apples are big 



