THE AMERICAN iJEE JOURNAL. 



391 



For the American Beo Journal. 



Haldimand, Ontario, Convention. 



The llaUliinaiuI, Ontarici, bee-keep- 

 ers met at Ilaiiersville on Friday, May 

 3(1 ; i") nieiubeis being present. 



The niinntes of tlie previous meet- 

 ing were read and adopted. The lirst 

 subjeet discussed was "The Best 

 Race of Bees." 



The chairman.- Jilr. R. Buckley, ad- 

 vocated tlie Italians as the best race 

 of bees. 



^Ir. Kindree liad not much e.xperi- 

 euce with any except brown bees and 

 Italians ; but lie preferred the Ital- 

 ians, or a cross between them and the 

 brown liees. 



Mr. Smith preferred the Italians for 

 handling, but thinks that hybrids are 

 the be.st honey producers. 



Mr. Abbott said he did not know 

 anything about the Italians ; he had 

 good success with the German bees. 

 He noticed that some of his colonies 

 were becoming hybridized by meeting 

 with Italian drones, and that they 

 were powerful workers. 



Mr. Williamson said that anybody 

 who had any experience in keeping 

 bees would never say that the brown 

 bee is better than the Italian ; but he 

 thought the hybrids were belter than 

 either. 



Mr. Armstrong had kept both 

 brown and Italian bees for some 

 years ; but he did not want any brown 

 bees, or hybrids either, after this. 

 The Italians were better workers and 

 easier to liandle ; they work earlier 

 and later, and defend themselves 

 from robbers and moths far better 

 than the brown bees. He read ex- 

 tracts from Prof. Cook's and A. I. 

 Roofs bee-books in favor of the Ital- 

 ian bee. 



The Secretary spoke in favor of the 

 Holy Land bees, or a cross between 

 them and the Italians. His Syrian 

 bees were better workers, and quite 

 as gentle as Italians. They winter 

 better, and build up more rapidly in 

 the spring. He believes " the coming 

 bee " will be a cross between the Syr- 

 ian and the Italian. 



THE BEST JUSTHOD OF INCKEASE." 



jNIr. Smith preferred natural swarm- 

 ing for the reason that the bees lost 

 no time, but went to work at once. 



Mr. Kindree also preferred natural 

 swarming for the same reason. In 

 reply to Jlr. Hull, he explained how 

 to divide them. 



The Cliairinau preferred dividing, 

 and said tliat all good bee-keepers 

 practiced that method ; but care must 

 be taken not to divide too much. It 

 takes less time, and there is less dan- 

 ger of losing swarms. 



Mr. Armstrontj said if a man did 

 not know anytning about bees, he 

 should not try to divide them, but 

 allow tlie bees to manage for them- 

 selves. For liimself he preferrred 

 dividing, as it was easier ; but a laying 

 queen should always be given to the 

 new colony. 



Tlie following was reported by the 

 members preseiit, as the number lo.st 

 during the winter : Fall count. 443 ; 

 spring count, 353; loss, 90 colonies. 



INTRODUCING A QUEEN TO A COLONY 

 HAA'INCi A FERTILE WORKEK. 



Mr. Kindree had not much experi- 

 ence in this line, but he once suc- 

 ceeded by putting a weak colony with 

 a queen, into the fertile-worker colony. 



JSIr. Armstrong advocated breaking 

 up the colony altogether, and giving 

 the frames to other colonies. 



Tlie Secretary stated that he had 

 succeeded in getting rid of a fertile 

 worker by removing the hive to 

 another part of the yard, shaking the 

 bees off the frames, and then putting 

 the hive back on its old stand. He 

 then introduced a queen without any 

 trouble. E. C. Camit.ell, Sec. 



" PUTTING UF HONEY FOR MARKET." 



Mr. "\Mlliamson did not produce 

 more honey than he could sell in his 

 home market; but he thought that 

 the small sections sold more readily. 

 Extracted honey put up in glass jars 

 sold about as well as section honey. 



^Ir. Armstrong put most of his 

 honey in glass jars, and only lost two 

 in shipment. When he sold honey in 

 large quantities, he put it up in half- 

 barrels. Comb honey should be in 

 one-pound or two-pound sections. 



The Chairman said lie thought the 

 smaller the package the more readily 

 it could be disposed of. 



:Mr. Smith had tried both tins and 

 glass jars, and preferred the glass for 

 home trade. 



The Secretary thought it would not 

 make much difference how it was put 

 _ np. after the people had tried the 

 " honey. He had used both tins and 

 glass, and preferred the tin, on ac- 

 count of its cheapness and safety in 

 handling. I 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Bees and Flowers. 



CLARENCE M. WEED. 



Every person at all acquainted with 

 bees and bee-culture knows that with- 

 out flowers bees could not exist ; but 

 it may be a new thought to some, at 

 least of the younger readers of the 

 Bee Journal, that without bees 

 flowers could nol^exist. It is proposed 

 in a few short articles to give an idea 

 of the mutual relations of bees and 

 flowers, and of the views of eminent 

 botanists in regard thereto. It will 

 be seen that the subject is a much 

 more interesting one than it would at 

 first appear to be, and that for the 

 beautiful tints and sweet fragrance 

 of our most dearly loved flowers, we 

 are indebted to the bee. Certainly it 

 must be admitted that any bee-keeper 

 who understands the philosophy of 

 his calling, will make a more success- 

 ful apiarist, as well as a broader and 

 more cultured man. 



Before discussing the subject proper, 

 a knowledge of the structure of flow- 

 ers is necessary. There are many 

 flowers,whicli are notcommonly called 

 such, as those of the elm and ash, but 

 these will be passed over and only 

 those treated of which are of special 

 interest to the bee-keeper. To illus- 

 trate flower structure, let us examine 



an apple blossom : The first thing 

 noticed is that there are live white, or 

 pinkish-white fl.attened portions which 

 form the most conspicuous part of the 

 flower and clothe the tree in beauty. 

 These are tlie petals. On the inside 

 of the petals are a large number of 

 small yellow stems surmounted by a 

 cap of the same color ; these are the 

 stamens, and are a very essential part 

 of the flower, because they contain 

 the yellow powder called pollen. At 

 the centre of the group of stamens is 

 a greenish stem differing from the sta- 

 mens in size and shape; this is the pi'.sti;. 

 another essential part of the flower. 

 The lower portions of the pistil is 

 called the ovary, because it contains 

 the ocijfes or young seeds. In order 

 that these ovules may develop into 

 seeds, a particle of the pollen from 

 the stamens must fall upon top of the 

 pistil and penetrate it by means of a 

 microscopic '• pollen tube." This is 

 the process of fertilization. But if 

 this is done by pollen from the same 

 flower, the ovule will in most cases 

 not develop at all, or if it does de- 

 velop, it will be much less vigorous 

 than if the pollen came from another 

 flower of the same tree ; or still bet- 

 ter, of another tree. Here comes in 

 the aid of the honey-bee ; its function, 

 as regards flowers, is to carry pollen 

 from the stamens of one flower to fer- 

 tilize the pistil of another. 



In the apple, pear, peach, thorn, 

 and many similar flowers, the process 

 of fertilization is very simple. The 

 bee lights upon the blossom, and in 

 so doing some pollen is brushed upon 

 its head and body, some of which 

 will be rubbed on the pistil of the 

 next flower visited in its eager search 

 for the honey secreted at the base of 

 the stamens. 



Lansing, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Reversible Frames Once More. 



M. M. liALDRIDGE. 



It does seem that " the woods are 

 full of them," for Michigan has been 

 heard from again. I now refer to 

 some exceedingly funny remarks on 

 page 233 of the Bee Journal, con- 

 cerning " reversible frames." 



The writer says : " When we have 

 a frame all flxed so that it will re- 

 verse, ivhen we say the loord, of what 

 advantage is it over a frame that does 

 not reverse?" My reply is, please read 

 carefully and critically what has been 

 said in the Bee Journal, and else- 

 where, on that side of the subject, and 

 then you will see for yourself. Xow. 

 please do not ask the advocates of 

 "reversible frames" to All column 

 atter column of the bee-periodicals 

 with matter that would be a mere repe- 

 tition of what has been said, and 

 thereby ?ini«sea(ethe intelligent reader. 



" When the combs are full of sealed 

 brood, perhaps it might help the 

 voung bees to gnaw out, if we reverse 

 Ihe combs." This is evidently in- 

 tended for one of those " funny " re- 

 marks, and I introduce it here simply 

 to give everybody a chance to smile who 

 feels like it". 



