504 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURF 



ing a honey-pump, and who cannot enjoy 

 liimself until he just aches using them, 

 had better change his business. But laying 

 aside the i^leasure of using such an outfit, 

 it is a money-saving proposition to own one. 

 T have seen combs extracted by hand power 

 that I know had more than two pounds of 

 honey left in the combs of each super that 

 could have been emptied clean, and in less 

 lime, with a power outfit. For the person 

 who cannot get help, it is almost a necessity. 

 I ran it alone awhile one day, did the un- 

 capping, tending extractor, and all, and 

 extracted at the rate of more than .300 lbs. 

 an hour, and my extractor is only a four- 

 frame one. 1 hope to have an eight-frame 

 outfit next summer. We had every thing 

 in perfect running order before we started 

 extracting. The pulleys were all lined up 

 perfectly. I spent more than three houi's 

 in getting the honey-pump fastened down 

 and lined up to suit me; but when we did 

 start, every thing worked well. The belt 



slipping on the honey-pump was the only 

 trouble we had; but a little belt-dressing 

 quickly ended that. 



I wish to say to all beekeepers who pro- 

 duce extracted honey, if you never saw a 

 power outfit at work, go somewhere next 

 summer where they have one, and see it 

 work. My guess is, that you will soon own 

 one yourself, even if j'ou have to mortgage 

 your automobile to pay for it. Knowing 

 what I do now, if I had only 6000 lbs. of 

 honey to extract, I would have a power out- 

 fit. 



The most of my beekeeping life I have 

 been in partnership in some form or other 

 with my late brother, W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 and through all the pleasure in using our 

 new plant, there comes a feeling of sadness 

 that he is not here to use it with me. His 

 one great hobby, aside from bees, was ma- 

 chinery. 



Pioneer, Mich. 



BEES AND MOMTICULTURE 



In looking over our large stock of old bee-books we came across one in Trench entitled " Bees and 

 Apiculture," written by Mr. A. de Prariere, and published in Paris in 1855. The advanced position taken 

 by the author causes the book to seem almost as if published within a year. He was a successful and scien- 

 tific beekeeper in his day, and has left a little work which should no longer be allowed to " waste its sweet- 

 ness on the desert air." The chapter on the fertilization of fruit-blossoms by bees is so graphically given 

 that we have translated it entire for the pleasure of our readers. It will be noted that the author seems to 

 have had the impression that the promiscuous mixing of pollen on different branches and even different trees 

 would have a tendency to cause the fruit to degenerate; but, as shown on page 229, March 15, this is a 

 great advantage, especially when the pollen of one kind of apple is mingled with that from an entirely 

 different kind. The writer not only shows that the bees do not do any damage to the blossoms, but confer a 

 great benefit on them by fertilizing them. — Ed. 



One of the prejudices (and they are 

 numerous in France) which retard the de- 

 velopment of apiculture in some countries 

 is the belief that bees injure fruit-trees. As 

 I have already given one instance of the 

 kind I will risk a second one, in exact con- 

 formity to the truth, in order to dispel this 

 erroneous opinion. 



One of my friends, whose fine apiary I 

 had just visited, told me one day of the 

 opposition which he encountered at the 

 hands of one of his farm-tenants, in setting 

 out some hives at a point on his land that 

 seemed very favorable for the bees. 



" Would you believe it," he said to me, 

 " that our peasants imagine very seriously 

 that the bees are partly the cause of the bad 

 crops from our fruit-trees? and their rea- 

 sons for it are not lacking. I am convinced 

 they are in error; but I have made efforts 

 to enlighten them on this subject. To-mor- 

 row you will hear my tenant talk. You 

 combat this prejudice, and perhaps you 

 will have better success than T. I shall be 

 able to use my authority; but I fear that, 

 pushed to the wall, he will not try to prove 



to me in one way or the other that I was 

 wrong. The country people are very rustic." 



It was only a few days after that when 

 (he weather permitted the realization of 

 this plan. On that day the sun marched 

 out victoriously into a cloudless sky. The 

 peach, apricot, plum, and other trees, the 

 blooming of which had been retarded by the 

 cold days of the preceding month, dis- 

 played a thousand blossoms which spread 

 out under its beneficent rays. Finally, all 

 Nature was adorned as if she had invited 

 all creatures to a splendid feast. The happy 

 little birds twittered as they leaped from 

 branch to branch, and myriads of insects 

 hummed joyously, while the plants seemed 

 to show with pride the limpid pearls which 

 the dew had deposited on their gi-owing 

 leaves — a decoration of whicli the sun would 

 soon deprive them. 



The farm to which Mr. Sarrazin led me 

 was situated at the extremity of a village 

 which enjoyed the privilege of furnishing 

 the most beautiful fruits, which were great- 

 ly admired in the market of Orleans. The 

 farmer himself raised a considerable amount 



