THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



603 



at the time. AVhen the pistil has 

 pushed itself tlirough the liusty mass, 

 more or less of which adheres to its 

 sides, it, rising well above, separates 

 into two lobes each of which curls 

 outward so that the surfaces pre- 

 viously applied closely to each other 

 become exposed. It is only on these 

 latter- surfaces tliat the pollen can 

 germinate, and thus fertilize the 

 flower ; but they are the very parts 

 not smeared witli pollen as the pistil 

 pushes up through the mass. Pro- 

 bably by swinging with the wind and 

 brushing against other ol)jects. many 

 tlowers might be fertilized \vithout 

 insects, but the pollen-grains are too 

 rough to be easily blown away from 

 their place of contact or scattered by 

 tlie wind. Certainly, nectar-loving 

 insects do good service to the plant, 

 and for these the flaming signs are 

 hung out. 



No. 2. Epilobium angusHtolium. This 

 splendid, violet-purple flower is of a 

 noble race, to which belongs the eve- 

 ning primrose, and those glories of 

 the green-house, the fuchsias. In 

 them all the ovary is situated below 

 the showy part of the (lower, and in 

 this case the latter seems perched on 

 the upper end of a pod which rapidly 

 develops, and nltimately gains a 

 length of five or more inches, filled 

 with very numerous seeds and a quan- 

 tity of silky fibers (coma) like the 

 milkweeds. The plant is found 

 throughout the Nortliern States, and 

 reaches into Artie America, but is at 

 home only on certain soils and under 

 certain conditions, hence the distribu- 

 tion is far from uniform. I cannot 

 state what value the species has for 

 honey producing. Medicinally, it has 

 latterly gained some repute. — T. J. 

 BuituiLL.] 



Hooks for Tops of Frames.— Last 



winter 1 brought safely tlirough 37 out 

 of 39 colonies ; united down to 30 

 Strong ones to begin tlie season's 

 work. Took over 1,000 lbs. nice honey, 

 about half comb and half extracted ; 

 increased to 46, and will wjnter a 

 dozen nuclei, besides requeening most 

 of my jipiary. I wish to say to Mr. C. 

 H. Deane, that I am using a much 

 better substitute for the lioles for 

 wires in the frame, than liis hooks, 

 and cheaper by far. It is simply the 

 tin tack used for tacking in window 

 glass, similar to tin points used for 

 glassing sections. Drive nearly down 

 and then bend it over to form the 

 head of the tack, and being broadest 

 at the top, the wires will not slip off : 

 or, better still, have a steel tool made 

 to cut the tin triangular and cut your 

 own tacks long enough to go through 

 the top and bottom-bars and clinch on 

 the other side. If any one lias a bet- 



ter substitute for pierced frames let 

 us have it. I object to Mr. Deane's 

 hook, because its peculiar construc- 

 tion must make it expensive. 

 Barnesville, O. J. G. Steer. 



Still Swarming. — And yet they 

 come; another swarm to-day, and two 

 on August 29tli ; l(i now from <j in the 

 spring. I am getting more bees than 

 honey this season; but they seem to 

 be doing well now, as fall bloom is 

 very plenty. There is a yellow flower 

 growing here very plenty along Eel 

 river, tijat bees are working on from 

 morning until night. It seems to be 

 the favorite flower. From the des- 

 cription that IJr. Tinker gives of the 

 golden honey plant I think it the same. 

 1 send you a sample. 



II. C. Whitlow. 



North Manchester, Ind., Sept. 8. 



[It is undoubtedly the same.— Ed.] 



Botanical. — Please name accom- 

 panying flowers. No. 1 grows upon 

 low land, and has yellow blossoms; 

 Nos. 2 and 3 grow upon medium low 

 and high land, the first witli violet 

 tinted, and the last with white blossom. 

 Daniel Wiiitmer. 



South Bend, Ind. 



[No, 1 is a soiidago; No. 2, mother- 

 wort; No. 3, white aster.— Ed.] 



Late Clover Bloom.— Our bees are 

 yet hard at work. White clover is 

 still in abundant bloom, as well as all 

 kinds of fall flowers. I began in the 

 spring with 4 colonies, and none of 

 them very heavy, I have increased 

 them to 10 strong colonies, and have 

 taken 224 lbs. of extracted and 134 

 lbs. of comb honey, in 2-lb. sections, 

 and will still liave several pounds of 

 comb to take off. which will make 

 over 90 lbs. per colony. My increase 

 has been entirely by division, by 

 taking from one to three frames from 

 a hive at a time, and putting empty 

 combs or frames in their place. I be- 

 lieve this portion of Iowa is going to 

 be hard to beat for a bee country, for 

 we have a good white clover district 

 that is generally in bloom for weeks, 

 besides other bloom in the fall. 



J. W. Sanders. 



Le Grand, Iowa, Sept. 8, 1882. 



Done Well.— *Iy bees have done well 

 tills summer. I started with 3 colo- 

 nies, increased to 12, have taken 300 

 lbs. of extracted and -50 lbs. of comb 

 honey in sections. Sold all my ex- 

 tracted honey for ]-")C. per pound at 

 home, and could sell lots more if I 

 bad it. E. L. Fuedenburg. 



Fentonville, Mich., Sept. 9, 1882. 



To Clean Moth out of Combs.— Take 



all the web out of the comb in the 

 frames, then place the comb in a tub 

 of water, filling each cell with water 

 and leaving the comb in the water 

 about four hours. In two days after 

 placing the frame in the hive, they 

 will commence to fill the comb with 

 honey again. Winfield Bommel. 

 Metuchen. N. .1. 



Yalue of "Bees and Honey." — 



Father bought a colony of bees last 

 winter in a Simplicity hive. The 

 spring and summer has been so wet 

 that the bees did not do much. Tlie 

 first swarm came out Aug. 10th, the 

 second Aug. 12lh and the third the 

 13th. I returned the tliird swarm, 

 but they came out again the next day, 

 so I put them In a new hive. They 

 are all doing well and getting in good 

 condition for winter. We now have 

 hot days and cool nights. 1. Will it 

 pay to buy a honey extractor for 4 colo- 

 nies y 2. Do you think it a good plan 

 to clip the queen's wing V 3. What is 

 the color of a pure Italian queen ? I 

 learned what little I know out of 

 " Bees and Honey." I think it worth 

 twice its cost. Herbert H. Fish. 

 Spencer, Iowa, Sept. 11, 1882. 



[1. It will not, unless you expect to 

 increase next season. 



2. Yes; as it does not injure the 

 queen if properly done, and it is a 

 great safe-guard against losing 

 swarms. 



3. They vary. Some area very pretty 

 gold yellow, with only the tip of the 

 abdomen black, while others are a 

 leather-colored yellow, and the seg- 

 ments of the abdomen are black, with 

 a black tip to the abdomen.— Ed.] 



When Shall I Feed.— I have taken 

 from my bees a very nice surplus of 

 extracted honey, but they have stored 

 none in the brood-chamber. I will be 

 compelled to feed during the winter. 

 Would you advise feeding now, or 

 wait until later in the season 'r' The 

 brood-chambers are full of capped 

 brood, larvie and eggs, and if I feed 

 now, the food will become scattered in 

 all parts of the hive. How would it 

 do to wait until about the 1st of Oct., 

 then remove a few of the brood combs, 

 close up with division boards, and 

 feed all at once V W. T. Clary. 



Clarysville, Ky., Sept. 7, 1882. 



[Take off the upper or surplus story, 

 if not already done, and feed now ; a 

 change in the weather is liable to take 

 place at any moment. Even though 

 scattered in the hive, the bees will 

 bring it together as the young bees 

 emerge from the cells.— Ed.] 



Inferior Honey.— This has been a 

 very bad season so far. All of the 

 earlier honey is dark and of an in- 

 ferior qualitv. The later honey is 

 good, and sells readilv at 1.5 cts. per 

 lb. for extracted, and 20 cts. for comb 

 honey, and can be retailed for higher 

 fio-ures. N. II. Rowland. 



^Troy, Ky., Sept. 18, 1882. 



Toads and Bees.— Nothing can be 

 truer and more to the point, than the 

 extract from the Canadian Fanner, 

 given on i)age .547 of your invaluable 

 Weekly. Some years ago, my bee- 

 house being in a'locality where toads 

 abounded, my attention was drawn 

 to the '• previiig " attitude described, 



