THE AMERICAI^ BEE JOURNAL. 



131 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Bees as Fertilizers of Jlowers.— The 



Chicago Herald very truthfully re- 

 marks as follows: 



It is a well known fact that bees 

 fertilize fruit blossoms by mixing the 

 pollen, thereby making the fruit trees 

 and slirubs i)nKluce more and much 

 better fruit than they would without 

 the visits of the bees. 



Honey is the purest and most health- 

 ful sweet known to man, and should 

 be used in every family in place of 

 the great abundance of adulterated 

 sugars and syrups. The management 

 of bees improves the mind and 

 enlarges the power of observation, 

 and when properly cared for liberal 

 returns are realized for the outlay. 

 Tliere has been great progress in api- 

 culture in the past few years, so much 

 so that an apiarist of 10 years ago 

 would be decidedly behind the times 

 if he has not kept pace with the pro- 

 gress that has been made. 



The Use of Crowders.— Mr. E. E. 



Hasty, In the Bee-Keepers'' Exchange, 

 thus describes their use in his Gallup 

 hives: 



I just don't know whether crowders 

 have ever been used by other folks or 

 not. The general reader, at least, 

 will want a definition at the outset. 

 What is a crowder? A square bit of 

 ordinary board inserted into the combs 

 at the bottom of the frame, to prevent 

 brood being reared there, i. e., to 

 crowd the brood close up to the top 

 bar. Why crowd the brood upward? 

 To bring the brood nest and the sec- 

 tions closer together, tliat the work- 

 ers may be more ready to commence 

 storing surplus. The flat frames are 

 an advantage over the square ones, in 

 that the top sections can be placed 

 much nearer the brood. By crowding 

 the brood nest up, the square frames 

 can be put on nearly an equality with 

 the shallow ones in that respect, and 

 that without sacrificing the advantage 

 previously held. 



I have only been using this innova- 

 tion the present season, and not be- 

 ginning their use very ^arly in the 

 season, I am not ready to make a de- 

 cided report, as to whether or not they 

 pay for the trouble of putting them 

 in. I am favorably impressed with 

 them, however, and purpose to use 

 them in most of my Gallup hives next 

 summer. Only three frames in the 

 hive need to be crowdered. If brood 

 is carried up to the top in one frame, 

 the tendency is to carry it up into the 

 adjoining one also. Thus three 

 crowdered frames, alternated with 

 four ordinary ones, crowd up the 

 brood for seven frames. Outside of 

 these, brood is not very likely to be 

 carried to the bottom any way, "unless 

 it is to get a place to rear drones. 



Kow as to the manner of insertion. 

 From ordinary Jg lumber saw out 

 blocks 3x3?^ inches. Choosing frames 

 that have some drone comb, or some 

 badly made comb at the bottom, cut 

 away the lower portion clear across, 

 so as to leave an open space just a 

 little scant of 'A% inches. Into this 

 vacancy press three of the blocks, 

 spacing them equal distances apart. 

 The design is to have the bottom as 

 open as possible for the passage and 

 clustering of bees, and yet to have 

 just block enough in to prevent any 

 pieces of comb being started there. 

 To make all secure, draw a piece of 

 fine wire around the bottom of the 

 frame laterally, to keep the blocks 

 from being moved out of place. When 

 the bees have built the blocks fast to 

 the edge of the combs, as they will 

 soon do, the wire can be taken ofE. If 

 one block 3%x5 was put in the center 

 I presume that the comb in the lower 

 corners of the frame might be left. 

 Usually, however, there is some empty 

 space in the corners which the bees 

 are prone to use for building drone 

 comb, and putting the crowders clear 

 across stops that game. For other 

 frames than the Gallup the size of the 

 block must of course be varied. I am 

 not sure but tlie Langstroth frame 

 might be crowdered up to five or six 

 inciies with good effect; but as yet I 

 have made no experiments in that 

 direction. 



Seasonable Hints.— Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son, in the Prairie Farmer gives this 

 " bee gossip : " 



Bees thus far have wintered well, 

 and to-day, Jan. 11, were busy clean- 

 ing house. They are not like some 

 housekeepers, who leave decayed 

 fruit and vegetables until summer, 

 before removing them; for if a mild 

 day occurs, they carry out all the dead 

 bees and debris, thus keeping their 

 hives clean and sweet. Sometimes 

 the entrances to the hives get closed 

 with dry leaves or dead bees, and, if 

 not removed, result in the destruction 

 of the colony. It is a little thing to 

 take a wire or little twig and clean out 

 the entrance to a hive, yet even this 

 small attention may save the life of a 

 valuable colony. 



A leaky roof should not be tolerated 

 in any apiary. I'aint well applied 

 pays good interest in preserving hives 

 from decay and dampness, and might 

 be brushed into cracks and upon the 

 surface during mild days. We once 

 visited a prosperous apiary where 

 each hive had an extra covering of 

 sheet iron, and which was turned up 

 at the lower side, forming a gutter to 

 carry off the rain. 



As bees are active during mild win- 

 ters tliey consume much lioney, and 

 all those who neglected to feed their 

 bees in the fall should see that they do 

 irot starve. In some localities the fall 

 pasturage was abundant, and bees 

 were able to secure ample stores, in 

 others this failed. Some writers claim 

 that syrup made of granulated sugar 

 is the best winter feed, but if this is 

 so, why did not their Creator teach 

 them how to make it, instead of 

 gathering honey from flowers V 



The Little Pets.— The Rev. John 

 Irving, Md., delivered a lecture in 

 Kining Park, Scotlaiul, lately. A 

 Scotch paper remarks as follows con- 

 cerning it: 



After describing the history of the 

 bees and their workings very minutely, 

 Mr. Irving said that of all the crea- 

 tures we are in the habit of making 

 pets of he knew of none* more inter- 

 esting or whose acquaintance is better 

 vi'ortli cultivating than the bee, and 

 at the same time he knew of none 

 which has received more ignorant 

 treatment at the hand of man. After 

 giving an interesting sketch of bees 

 and tlieir daily work, he described the 

 use of a bar-frame hive, which he ex- 

 hibited, also comb foundation, the 

 honey extractor, and other appurte- 

 nances connected with apiculture. 

 The lecture was illustrated by en- 

 larMd and colored microscopic views 

 of bee anatomy. 



Keeping Bees in Paris. — A telegram 

 from Europe states as follows: 



The practice of keeping hives of 

 bees in the streets of Paris has spread 

 so extensively that the Prefect of 

 Police has issued an order forbidding 

 it for the future, except in the case of 

 persons who shall have received a 

 special authorization. The preamble 

 of the decree represents the great 

 danger to the population of the ex- 

 istence of so large a nmnber of bees 

 in the neighborhood of the markets, 

 schools and refineries, as well as the 

 opinion of the Council of Public 

 Health of the Department of the 

 Seine condemning the practice. 



i^An exchange remarks : The use 

 ot honey should become so common 

 and general that a honey store or 

 depot would be found profitable in 

 every large town. If every family 

 in the land would make honey an 

 article of daily use, in place of the 

 unhealthy syrups, then all concerned 

 would be benefited. 



1^" A meeting of the bee-keepers of 

 New Jersey will be held at Hall No. 

 2.5, Albany street. New Brunswick, N. 

 J., March 1.5, 1882, at 10 a. m., to or- 

 ganize a State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion. All interested are cordially in- 

 vited. G. W. Thompson, Stelton ; C. 

 H, Rue, Manalapan ; J. H. M. Cook, 

 Caldwell, Committee on Call. 



^ The Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention will be held at McKinney, 

 Texas, on Tuesday, April 25. 1882. 



i^°The Champlain Valley Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will hold their semi- 

 annual meeting at Middleburg, Vt., 

 May 11, 1882. T. Brookins, Sec. 



i^The Marshall County Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will meet at the court 

 house in Marshallton, Iowa, on Satur- 

 day, March 4, 1882, at 10 a. m. 



J. W. Sanders, Sec. 



