,THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



261 



on their bodies durinff their flights 

 among the flowers, while collecting 

 the exuding sweets, is evident ; that 

 this is the sole object for which nectar 

 is secreted does not seem admissible. 

 Pollen is borne from flower to 

 flower on the breeze as well as on the 

 bodies of insects ; in fact, that ap- 

 pears to be nature's prime method of 

 conveying the fertilizing germs from 

 the anthers of the staininate to the 

 pointals of the pistillate blossoms. 

 Among insects, it seems the honey- 

 bee, in her floral wanderings in search 

 of nectar and pollen, in consequence 

 of her peculiar form and downy cov- 

 ering, should be entitled to a tirst 

 place in the work of direct and cross- 

 fertilization of fruit-producing flowers 

 of all kinds ; and were it not for this 

 generous and disinterested aid to the 

 chances of nature, the loss to fruit 

 growers would be much greater every 

 year from sterile bloom. 



That the honey-bee causes injury 

 by extracting the nectar from fruit- 

 producing trees and shrubs. Is simply 

 fallacious, notwithstanding the gen- 

 erally entertained and oft-expressed 

 opinion of those ignorant of dame 

 nature's process of reproduction, to 

 the contrary. During the past two 

 following seasons I have observed 

 apple trees loaded with well developed 

 matured fruit in autumn, that 

 bloomed several days earlier than the 

 remainder of the orchard, and were 

 swarming with bees until the bloom 

 from the other trees shared their at- 

 tention. Two of the trees alluded to, 

 stand but a few feet from some of my 

 hives, and have always been favorites 

 with the bees during the season of 

 bloom, but I have yet to note any 

 diminution in their products caused 

 by the bees sipping nectar from their 

 blossoms. 



The discussion of this subject, of 

 " planting for honey," is receiving a 

 merited attention from contributors 

 to the Bee Journal, but it appears 

 to be too desultory to produce the 

 benefit it might, if in a more concise 

 form. Would not a more favorable 

 influence be exercised by having a 

 space in the bee publications in whicli 

 those wlio have tested the qualities of 

 honey-producing trees, shrubs and 

 plants of various kinds, can be al- 

 lowed to give their experience in de- 

 tail. The names of trees, etc., and 

 their adaptability to location in all 

 sections of our land, from Maine to 

 California, is needed. As the pur- 

 suit of the apiarist is constantly 

 prompting his attention to the sources 

 from which honey is obtained by his 

 bees, who is more favorably situated 

 to observe and reduce the results of 

 his observations to utility V 



Again, if properly appreciated, a 

 triple benefit may be derived from the 

 result of such a consolidation of ef- 

 fort ; a more general cultivation of 

 food-producing trees, shrubs and 

 plants, a more bountiful return for 

 apiarian enterprise, and the unequaled 

 advantages of studying the illustra- 

 tions of nature from her open book of 

 floral beauty ; for 



" There are sermons In stones. 

 Music in the trees, 

 Boolts in runnine brooks. 

 And good in everything." 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Sundry Matters from Canada. 



ALLEN PBINGLE. 



I find, no matter how much one 

 may know about the science of bee- 

 keeping, or even of the art, through 

 experience, the Bee Journal is a 

 great desideratum — a real aid to be de- 

 sired and valued. The varied experi- 

 ence of different bee-keepers contri- 

 buted to its columns, is interesting 

 and valuable, no less to the profes- 

 sional than the amateur apiarist. 



With one thing, however, I feel dis- 

 posed to find a little fault, or rather 

 kindly admonish those concerned, 

 and in doing so, I hope to give no of- 

 fence, as the admonition is given in 

 no carping or captious spirit, but 

 solely for our common good as bee- 

 keepers. Some of the reports sent in 

 seem, at least, pcMJia facie, to be over- 

 drawn or exaggerated. This, how- 

 ever, may be entirely unintentionally 

 on the part of those who send such 

 reports ; nevertheless they are mis- 

 leading, and tend to lead to evil con- 

 sequences in more than one way. 



When a correspondent says he has 

 taken so many hundred pounds of 

 honey — an almost fabulous amount — 

 from a single colony of bees in the one 

 season, he may be quite honest in his 

 statement ; but his statement may, at 

 the same time, need much qualifica- 

 tion or, at least, explanation, and this 

 ought always to be given. A hive of 

 bees may be large— much above the 

 average— and it may have one story, 

 on top of another, and it may be kept 

 the whole season gathering honey in- 

 stead of allowing it to swarm or divid- 

 ing it ; and under sucli circumstances, 

 such a colony would, no doubt, during 

 a good season, carry in an immense 

 quantity of iioney.comparti vely speak- 

 ing. But it would be either disingen- 

 uous to say Uiat one colony of bees 

 did all this, without giving any ex- 

 planations. 



By a colony of bees, the reader un- 

 derstands an average colony, under 

 ordinary circumstances or conditions. 

 Now, please bear in mind, I do wish 

 to impeach the honesty or sincerity of 

 a single correspondent. 



So far as my experience and obser- 

 vation have gone, bee men, as a class, 

 are proverbially honest and fair- 

 minded men ; and let us not, there- 

 fore, tarnish our fair name by mak- 

 ing statements or reports which have 

 even the semblance of fraud or mis- 

 representation. Let us avoid even 

 the appearance of evil. Let us un- 

 der-state, rather than over-state our 

 exploits in our reports. 



The amateur apiarist, starting out 

 in the business with great and com- 

 mendal)le enthusiasm, and, perhaps, 

 superadded to that, great expectations 

 of coining money, is only too apt, 

 when he comes with honest pride to 

 write his report, to draw upon the 

 uttermost fraction for presentation. 

 The temptation is strong to draw it 

 at the highest instead of the lowest. 

 But, gentlemen (and ladies too, for 

 we have lady bee-keepers), let us be 

 strictly, severely, honest and fair in 



our reports, and in our statements of 

 facts in our experience. 



Sometimes incidents of apiarian ex- 

 perience are given, ^hich seem to be 

 in direct opposition to well-estab- 

 lished principles or hypothesis, which 

 have been well-nigh postulated into 

 laws or principles. 



I was present, last fall. In Toronto, 

 at the meeting of the Ontario Bee- 

 Keepers' Association the first night, 

 and one gentleman stated on that oc- 

 casion that one of his neighbors had 

 buried the bees from a hive he had 

 taken up in the fall in a hole in the 

 earth, and duly filled it in, and in the 

 spring, upon exhuming them, they 

 were found to be alive and well — in 

 good health. The gentleman im- 

 proved upon this fact (V) by suggest- 

 ing that the plan of wintering bees in 

 a "dormant" condition, without any 

 food, was well worth considering. 

 This sage bee philosophy no one at- 

 tempted to controvert ; albeit Mr. D. 

 A. Jones, our great Canadian bee- 

 king, dryly remarked that he would 

 not mind paying $500 for a queen that 

 would produce such unique progeny. 



Experience, to be valuable, must be 

 real. There must be no mistake about 

 the facts. Then if they are facts, and 

 are in conflict with certain precon- 

 ceived theories, so much the worse 

 for the theories. A few real, stub- 

 born facts will sometimes spoil a very 

 nice, plausible and time-honored the- 

 ory. But before we discard the cher- 

 ished theory, let us be sure that the 

 opposing statements are facts. 



It is, therefore, of the utmost im- 

 portance, if the contributed experience 

 of bee-keepers through the Bee 

 Journal, is to be really valuable in 

 helping us forward to ultimate truth, 

 that such experience should be most 

 carefully and accurately stated, and 

 nothing put forward as a fact if there 

 is any uncertainty or doubt about it, 

 especially if such alleged fact militate 

 against a recognized principle. 



Of course I am well aware that very 

 miusual and even unheard of facts 

 will sometimes arise in our experience, 

 and this, on the other hand, should 

 make us careful about putting any- 

 tliing down as an ultimate principle 

 until it is well supported. The most 

 unexpected things will sometimes 

 turn up in the experience of the prac- 

 tical bee-keeper. 



As relevant here, allow me to re- 

 late a little incident in mv own ex- 

 perience : Last summer, in clipping 

 the wings of a young, recently fer- 

 tilized Italian queen, in a new colony, 

 I accidently cut off one of the legs of 

 her royal highness. This was un- 

 gallant", but there was no malice pre- 

 pense, as the lawyers say. Not know- 

 ing exactly what the upshot of this 

 surgical misadventure might be, I 

 kept an eye upon her majesty for a 

 few days. I found, however, that stie 

 laid all right, only seeming to experi- 

 ence a little difficulty in locomotion, 

 being a trifle awkward in her move- 

 ments. She was very prolific, and 

 things went on swimingly in her es- 

 tablishment, although the head there- 

 of was minus a leg and without wings. 

 In a short time they began to prepare 

 for swarming, by starting numerous 



