Sept. 7, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



563 



would not be repaid by the exclusion of a few combs of pol- 

 len or brood. 



It may be, however, that not only the shape of the 

 frames, but the location, and the conditions of the honey 

 crop may have something' to do with the queen's occupation 

 of the supers, and for that reason we would not entirely de- 

 ter Mr. A., or anj' one else, from trying- these excluders if 

 they find themselves unable to keep the queen in the lower 

 story ; but we would urg^e them to use them sparingly until 

 they find them of actual benefit, and I believe that the ex- 

 perience of a number of seasons will show that it is only ac- 

 cidentally and rarely that the queen will lay in the super 

 if the lower story furnishes her sufficient breeding-room. 



Whatever we do in bee-culture, it is always advisable to 

 look to the comfort of the bees and to try to keep them, as 

 nearly as possible, in a manner to give them the g^reatest 

 possible ease for the gathering of their crop. We must re- 

 member that it takes millions of loads of a single bee to fill 

 a good-sized super, and the results of their industrious toil 

 will be much greater if we make the work easy for them. 



Hancock Co., 111. 



Bee-Keeping" and Horticulture. 



BY HON. GEO. E. HILTON. 



The interests of the bee-keeper and the horticulturist 

 are mutual. If we are both successful, we are both enthu- 

 siastic. I need not remind any one who plants trees and 

 grows fruits, of the genuine pleasure that thrills the soul 

 when Nature responds to his intelligence, thought, and 

 careful direction. He builds a world in which he himself 

 lives. He desires no other intoxicant to insure his happi- 

 ness. Horticulture is one of the fine arts, and requires the 

 skill of a master. It is just as impossible for the thought- 

 less, brainless man or woman to reach the highest round in 

 the ladder in propagating fruit or carrying on a successful 

 apiary, as it is to appreciate success if achieved. 



But, after all man's skill in planting, after searching 

 the world over for improved varieties, after propagating, 

 grafting and hybridizing, he must relj' mainly upon Na- 

 ture's methods of fructification. The balmy winds of spring 

 and industrious bees are needed to fertilize the bloom to in- 

 sure a harvest of fruit. For this purpose, there is no ques- 

 tion but that the bee is of great service to the grower of 

 fruits. No other insect appears in such vast numbers at 

 this very important time in the spring when their agency 

 is so much needed to fertilize the orchards and small fruits. 

 If the winds, and other insects aside from the bee, were the 

 only means of carrying the pollen from flower to flower, 

 how often would perfect fertilization fail from too much or 

 too little wind during the brief opportunity when the burst- 

 ing- buds are sighing for the life-giving dust from the 

 neighboring flowers. 



Not only has Nature, in her wisdom, provided the 

 tempting honey to entice the bee, but the pollen, so essen- 

 tial to the plant 

 ■~ „ (and just as essen- 



tial to the bee in fur- 

 nishing the proper 

 food for its young), 

 is placed in close 

 proximity to the nec- 

 tar, so that in get- 

 ting either, the bee 

 is unwittingly car- 

 rying the dust from 

 flower to flower, or 

 working out the wise 

 plans of Providence 

 as relates to plants, 

 and catering t o 

 man's taste at the 

 same time. 



The Creator did 

 not place the drop of 

 nectar in the flower 

 because it is needed 

 to perfect either the 

 flower or fruit, but 

 for no other purpose 

 than to tempt the 

 bee to brush its hairy 

 legs against the an- 

 thers, and carry the 

 Director II'. Z. Hutchinson. golden dust from one 



flower to an- 

 other. So 

 the horticul- 

 turist cannot 

 but look upon 

 the bee as his 

 friend, a n d 

 certainly the 

 horticultur- 

 ist is a friend 

 to the bee 

 and b e e - 

 keeper, and 

 their inter- 

 ests should 

 be mutual. 



What, then 

 is t h e r e to 

 hinder these 

 two V o c a- 

 tions from 

 going hand 

 in hand since 

 each is help- 

 f u 1 to the 

 other? They 

 should at 

 least be on 

 the very best 

 of terms, as 

 each furnish- 

 es indue e- 

 mentsfor the 

 other to live 

 and profit 

 thereby. 



A great deal has been said about bees injuring fruit — 

 some fruit-growers claiming that bees puncture the ripe 

 grapes, suck the juice and destroy the crop. But from the 

 physical structure of the bee, this is said to be impossible 

 by scientific entomologists. It has no jaws like the hornet ; 

 it is made to suck, not to bite, and on close observation, and 

 after repeated experiments, it has been found that where 

 bees are found helping themselves to ripe fruit, the skins 

 had been ruptured by the weather, or over-ripeness, or that 

 hornets, wasps or birds, had first been the infringers. But 

 after the skin has been broken from any cause, if there is a 

 scarcity of honey, the bees, ahvays anxious to be doing 

 something, will endeavor to get their share of the plunder. 



Therefore, as regards bees injuring fruit, I, as their at- 

 torney, shall claim to the jury that the charge is not proven, 

 and I believe that to-day the more intelligent class of horti- 

 culturists agree with me. 



I feel I cannot dismiss this subject, which, to the lover 

 of fruits, flowers and bees, is a genuine source of delight, 

 without quoting a few lines from "The Planting^ of the 

 Apple-Tree," by that venerable sylvan poet, our own Bry- 

 ant, who saw .so much of future hope and promise as he 

 sifted the soft mould about its tiny rootlets : 



^' What plant we in this apple-tree? 



Sweets for a hundred flowery springs 

 To load the May Wind's restless win^s, 



When from tlie orchard row he pours 

 Its fratrrance at our open doors — 



A world of blossoms for the bee." 



Director l>r. t . C. iMiller. 



Newaygo Co., Mich. 



— Michigan Farmer. 



Bee-Keeping' at Experiment Stations and Agri- 

 cultural Colleges. 



BY KEY. EMERSON T. .\BBOTT. 



IT has long been a query in the mind of the writer why 

 more attention is not paid to apiculture by those who 

 are interested in the general advancement of agricul- 

 ture. Most of our experiment stations and agricultural col- 

 leges ignore this industry and utterly fail to recognize the 

 fact that it is one of the most important of the minor in- 

 dustries of the farm. In addition to the regular curriculum 

 most of the agricultural colleges have what they call " short 

 winter courses," during- which time instruction is given on 

 the practical side of farm life to those who may desire to 

 attend, but there is seldom anything said about bee-keeping 

 in this course. It is as completely ignored as tho there was 

 no such industry in the land. In our own State (Missouri) 

 only once in a number of years has anyone been employed 

 to represent this industry before the .students of the short 



