306 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bees, Fruit and Flowers in Virginia. 



In the Winchester, Va., Times, we 

 notice the following concerning Vir- 

 ginia's bee-master, Mr. E. C. Jordan : 



"We have received some very tine 

 strawberries from Mr. E. C. Jordan, 

 the proprietor of Jordan's White Sul- 

 phur Springs. He regrets that his 

 mammoth variety is not yet ripe, but 

 if they are any larger than tlie tine 

 ones he sent us, strawberries can no 

 longer be classed among the small 

 fruits. 'In the course of a few days,' 

 he writes us, 'we will have them by 

 the bushel. Come out and see us, our 

 bees, tlowers, and strawberries.' 

 Thank you, sir, ' if we know our- 

 selves, and we tliink we do,' we will 

 be there to see the place so well- 

 known for its beauty, and to partake 

 of its equally famous hospitality." 



The editor of the Bee Jouknal 

 would be delighted to spend a short 

 time at the "White Sulphur Springs," 

 this summer, for recreation, but we 

 fear he cannot be spared from his 

 "desk" and everlasting round of 

 duties. Nothing would give him 

 greater pleasure than to accept of Mr. 

 Jordan's many pressing invitations to 

 spend some time among the 



Bees and berries. 



Plums and cherries; 



Birds and bowers, 



Fragrant flowers ; 

 In the sunny. 

 Vale of honey: 

 With birds that sing, 

 At Sulphur Sprina - 



In '■ Old Vlrginny !" 



When we we retire from the tripod, 

 Mr. Jordan may expect us to settle 

 down in that locality— to enjoy "old 

 age" with the birds, bees and flowers 

 of the sunny South— that is the iieiglit 

 of our ambition. 



Humble-Bees and the Clover. 



Prof. C. H. Fernald has written the 

 following article for the Maine Farmer 

 on the "Humble or Bumble-bees, 

 their habits and uses," which will be 

 of much interest to many of our read- 

 ers. The fertilization of flowers, both 

 by these bees as well as by the Ajjis 

 Melijica, or honey bees, and other 

 insects, is a subject of considerable 

 interest to farmers as well as to bee- 

 keepers. Prof. Fernald remarks as 

 follows : 



" The Humble-bees, or Bumblebees 

 as they are sometimes called, are 

 among the largest and most showy of 

 our Maine Hpinenoptera, and are ex- 

 tremely useful to the farmers for the 

 work they do in cross fertilizing red 

 clover. It is well know tliat the 

 flower tube of this plant is so long 

 that few insects have a sutticient 

 length of tongue to reach the nectar 

 in the nectary, and, therefore, it is not 

 often frequented by honey bees and 



otiier nectar-loving Hymenopterous 

 insects. We are, therefore, greatly 

 indebted to the Humble-bees, for 

 their visits to tlie clover, their great 

 hairy bodies become more or less 

 powdered with the pollen, and when 

 they visit other clover heads their 

 flowers are fertilized by the pollen 

 which the Humble-bees have brought 

 from the flowers previously visited. 



It has been claimed, and witliout 

 doubt correctly, that unless cross fer- 

 tilization is effected in some way, the 

 clover will run out. Darwin covered 

 100 flower heads of red clover with a 

 net to keep the insects from them, 

 and not a single seed was developed, 

 but from 100 heads on plants grovving 

 outside, which were visited by bees, 

 there were obtained 2,720 seeds. Ex- 

 periments, of a similar character 

 have been repeatedly performed both 

 in Europe and in ttiis country, and 

 with like results. In all my observa- 

 tions I have scarcely ever seen any 

 other insects visiting red clover than 

 Humble-bees. 



These insects are pretty generally 

 distributed over the world, being 

 found in both North and South Amer- 

 ica, in Europe, Asia and Africa, but 

 not in Australia and New Zealand. 

 It is in northern latitudes that they 

 thrive best, and they even occur in 

 the most northern regions to wliich 

 man has penetrated. 



In Australia there are no native in- 

 sects adapted to the cross fertiliza- 

 tion of red clover, and it has been at- 

 tempted to introduce Humble-bees 

 into that country for this purpose, 

 but with what results I have not yet 

 learned. 



There are four different kinds in a 

 colony of Humble-bees, the large fe- 

 males or queens, the small females, 

 the workers and the males. Only the 

 queen lives over the winter, and she 

 hibernates either in the nest or under 

 fallen leaves, or in some protected 

 place. When the warm days of 

 spring come, these large females, or 

 queens, may be seen flying from place 

 to place, crawling in andoUt of places, 

 around and umler stumps and stones, 

 hunting for some place in which to 

 make their nests. 



When one of -these queens linds a 

 suitable place, as a deserted nest of a 

 field mouse, or some hole under a 

 stone or stump, she at once collects a 

 small amount of pollen, which she 

 mixes with honey, making a more or 

 less sticky mass which she sticks into 

 the pollen basket on the outside of 

 the hind leg, and in which it is carried 

 to the nest. As soon as a small mass 

 of this food is collected, the queen 

 deposits several eggs in it without or- 

 der, and without even constructing 

 any cells, but she continues the work 

 of collecting pollen and laying eggs 

 until the first brood emerges. As 

 soon as the eggs hatch, the young be- 

 gin to eat of the mass of food which 

 surrounds them, thus enlarging their 

 cavity gradually until thay reach 

 their full growth as larvse, when they 

 spin a silken wall around themselves, 

 lining the cavity which they have ex- 

 cavated in the pollen mass. The old 

 bees close up these cells with a thin 

 layer of wax, and the young trans- 



form into pupae, and in due time 

 change into the perfect stage and cut 

 their way out, wlien they are ready to 

 assume their duties as workers, small 

 females, males, or queens, according 

 to their individual formation. 



In the spring and early summer, 

 only the large females are to be seen 

 abroad on the wing, but the first 

 brood consisting of workers only, as 

 soon as they emerge, at once take 

 upon themselves the work of the 

 nests and the collecting of poUen and 

 honey, while the queens remain in tlie 

 nests. After this time, only small 

 bees are to be seen visiting the flowers, 

 and these are the workers. 



As the queen continues prolific, 

 mote workers are added, and the nest 

 is rapidly enlarged. About midsum- 

 mer, eggs are laid which produce both 

 small females and males. It is sup- 

 posed that they pair near the end of 

 the season, and as a result, these 

 small females lay eggs from which 

 the queens are developed. It has been 

 proved that all the eggs laid after the 

 first of September, produce the hirge 

 females or queens, and as the males 

 are still in the nest, the queens are 

 impregnated in the air after the man- 

 ner of the honey bee. On the ap- 

 proach of cold weather all the Hum- 

 ble-bees die except the queens, of 

 which there are now several in each 

 nest. These queens hibernate during 

 the winter, and in spring they revive 

 to repeat another cycle as described. 



Twelve different species of Hum- 

 ble bees belonging to the genus Bom- 

 bus, are known to inhabit New Eng- 

 land, and of these I have taken five 

 in Orono. 



I am not aware that these insects 

 are in any way injurious, but from 

 the above showing they are of im- 

 mense value in cross fertilizing plants, 

 and should be protected. Mowing 

 machines and horse rakes destroy 

 their nests when run through them, 

 but this should be avoided when pos- 

 sible. 



It is true that they sting upon 

 severe provocation, as when one at- 

 tempts to destroy their nests, but who 

 wouldn't fight for their own homes 

 and firesides '? 



Jiauieless.— It is surprising that any 

 one should be so careless as to forget 

 to give their name when sending 

 money in a letter. We have a bundle 

 of such letters in this office (each one 

 containsmoney for books or Journals), 

 and, as they have no name signed, it 

 is impossible to fill the orders or com- 

 municate with the writers. When we 

 have some clue, either by post mark 

 or post ofiice address given, we usually 

 find out by writing there either to 

 some subscriber, or to the post master 

 —but with these in this bundle we 

 have no clue, and must wait until the 

 writers shall give us their names and 

 addresses. To all we would say— be 

 careful to sign your names, and give 

 your Post-Office, County and State. 



