192 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



observers of the habits of animals, in- 

 sects and plants, that the world ever 

 knew, Dr. Charles Darwin, maintained 

 that insects, especially bees, have a 

 great deal to do with the cross-fertili- 

 zation of plants. Bees flit from flower 

 to flower, extractinj; honey and trans- 

 portin<>- pollen dust from one flower to 

 another. It is quite reasonable to 

 suppose that some of the pollen drops 

 from the legs of bees upon the recep- 

 tacle of the pistil and so fecundates the 

 germs. Botanists and practical fruit- 

 growers very well understand tlus prin- 

 ciple and when they wish to eftect a 

 cross between two varieties of fruit 

 they place the plants under glass, or 

 milinet, so that the bees may not tran- 

 sport pollen from other varieties. 

 Wind is an important agency in dis- 

 tributing pollen, but it is not the only 

 agency. Nature is fertile in resources 

 for propagation of species of plants, 

 as well as animals. The cool wet sea- 

 son was probably one cause, of the 

 failure of the clover seed ; scarcity of 

 bumble-bees may have been another, 

 and, in some localities the midge in 

 the heads of clover, destroying the 

 germs, was a third cause of failure. 



Mr. Pierce did not believe that the 

 Italian bees could reach the honey in 

 red clover. 



trouble and expense of translating it 

 into the English. 



I predict that this will make your 

 paper largely sought for by beekeepers 

 generally. 



The first sentence of this introduc- 

 tory chapter will prove to every 

 thoughtful person what the character 

 of the man was who wrote this won- 

 derful book of his time. 



L. C. Root. 



Christianshurg , Ky., Nov. 21, 1883. 



Dkau Apicultukist : Notwithstand- 

 ing the dry weather of August and fore 

 part of September, my bees go into 

 winter quarters in fair condition. In 

 arranging my bees for winter I find 

 them self-sustaining, and some surplus 

 besides. This is quite gratifying to 

 me after suftering some apprehensions 

 of a big bill for sugar. '• No sugar in 

 mine " this time. We had quite a cold 

 snap about the middle of this month 

 which caused the usual mortality 

 among the old worn out bees. It is 

 quite warm now. 



G. W. Dkmauek. 



NOTICE. 



LETTER BOX. 



3Iohawk, N. Y. , Dec. 7, 1883. 



Friend Lockk : I have read with 

 great interest the initiatory chapter of 

 the old German work in your Nov. 

 No. of the "ApicuLTUKisT." Through 

 the kindness of Mr. Julius Hofl"man, 

 who spent a day with me at my home, 

 and translated some of the most inter- 

 esting parts of the work to me, I am 

 able to say that your readers will 

 find this work of interest to them. I 

 understand that a chapter of this work 

 is toappearineachNo. of your journal 

 until the entire book has been trans- 

 lated and printed. When it is con- 

 sidered that this book was published 

 one hundred years ago and that the 

 experiences there given are those of 

 a practical bee manager for fifty years 

 previous to his writing, it will not be 

 wondered at tiiat vou are going to the 



Over one hundred years ago, T. L. 

 Christ the author of the German work 

 which we are having translated for the 

 Apicultukist, says, " one ought to pay 

 more attention to this branch of agri- 

 culture" and yet we in this enlightened 

 age of the world are just recognizing 

 the fact that apiculture is properly a 

 branch of agriculture, and one upon 

 which agriculture is dependent for its 

 success and which should be taught as 

 one of the necessary branches of study 

 in a thoroughly agricultural education. 

 Where are our apiarists? We hope 

 and trust that our prominent active 

 apiarists will become members of our 

 agricultural clubs, and urge the neces- 

 sity of recognizing apiculture as a 

 sister industry. There is a great deal 

 of good work to be done and who will 

 do it. 



