THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



355 



For the Amertcnn Bee Journal 



A Word of Explanation. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



By No. 26, of Bee Journal, which 

 is just at hand, 1 see that the editor 

 thinks I got things a little mixed 

 when I wrote on the " Langstroth 

 frame." I plead guilty to being a 

 poor penman, and, perhaps, was 

 rather unhappy in my expressions, 

 which, together witli some errors of 

 the typo, does make the article found 

 on page 318, read somewhat curiously. 

 However, 1 think the careful reader 

 will see by the last paragraph, taken 

 in connection willi the explanation 

 regarding frames in the forepart of 

 the article, what was meant. Per- 

 haps I sliould have said a frame 11,14- 

 xliy every time when 1 used the 

 words "Gallup frame," and a frame 

 Mf'gX'Jii when I spoke of what A. 1. 

 Boot calls the " standard Langstroth 

 frame," but I feared using so many 

 figures would tend to confuse, and so 

 fell into a worse blunder, perhaps, by 

 using the vernacular of nearly all 

 who write on the subject. In short, I 

 wished to say just this : That nearly 

 all the frames in use in America to- 

 day were Langstroth frames, and that 

 I wished to express my gratitude to 

 L. L. Ijangstroth for giving us a 

 practical frame ; that from the pres- 

 ent outlook I did not believe it possi- 

 ble to make any one frame a standard, 

 no matter how desirable, and that 

 nearly all the frames now before the 

 public were practically good enough ; 

 that it was particularly noticeable that 

 those desiring a standard frame were 

 using a frame 17^^x91^, while those 

 using frames of other dimensions 

 were satislied to let others use what- 

 ever frame they desired. Again, 

 that because Doolittle, using a frame 

 11.14x11,1.4, had been surpassed as to 

 yields of honey by "lots" using the 

 175^x91.^ frame, wliile L. C. Root, 

 using a frame lyijixll, had surpassed 

 the "lots," did not help Mr. Porter 

 any in concluding that a frame ITfgX- 

 91^8 was the best of any, and that it 

 should be adopted by "all ; that be- 

 cause Doolittle, using a frame 11, 14X- 

 11,14, winters bees poorly, while a 

 certain man, using a frame igi-jxll, 

 winters his bees every time, does not 

 help Mr. Pond's assertion that a frame 

 ]75gx9i.g is the best for wintering. 

 Lastly, that the pushing of a frame 

 17?^x9U by A. I. Root, in Oleaninas, 

 and the preference shown by tne 

 editor of the Bee Journal for said 

 size of frame, was what had caused it 

 to be used more largely than all others 

 (if such was the case), rather than 

 that it was more meritorious than 

 other forms of the Langstroth frames; 

 that had Prof. Cook edited Gleanings, 

 and L. C. Root the Bee Journal, 

 and been as strenuous for their re- 

 spective size of frames as had A. I. 

 Root for what he terms the Langs- 



troth (17%x9i/8), we should have seen 

 a different state of affairs. 



In conclusion, that I was "willing 

 that eren/ one (not " any one," as the 

 typo has'it) should use a frame t7^x- 

 9ie if they so desire, but I would like 

 the advocates of such a frame to 

 let the people know the whole truth 

 regarding what caused the .state of 

 affairs which now exist. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



[Of course, we well knew what Mr. 

 D. meant, but in a friendly way called 

 attention to his unfortunate manner 

 of expressing it. Now it is quite 

 explicit.— Ed.] 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Southwestern Iowa Convention. 



The Southwestern Iowa Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, met at McPherin 

 Bros, law office, Olarinda, Iowa, June 

 21. 1S83. A number of members were 

 present. Prof. J. L. Strong was in 

 the chair. 



Mr. E. Kretchmer gave a short ad- 

 dress, and exhibited the following im- 

 plements : Simplicity hive honey 

 knife and smoker. 



Mr. Strong exhibited comb founda- 

 tion and Bingham smoker. 



Many questions were then pro- 

 pounded and answered, after which 

 an election for officers was held, which 

 resulted as follows : President, J. L. 

 Strong ; Secretary, R. C. Aiken ; and 

 8 new members were enrolled. 



It was voted to hold the next meet- 

 ing at Red Oak, Iowa, on May 29, on 

 the fair grounds— that being the sec- 

 ond day of the fair. 



Each member was requested to take 

 such apiarian implements as he may 

 have, and place them on exhibition at 

 the fair. R. C. Aiken, Sec. 



J. L. Strong, Pres. 



American Apiculturist. 



Honey Bees and Horticulture. 



PROF. A. J. COOK. 



" If some of our fruit-growers were 

 to write upon this subject, they would 

 place as the title — Bees versus Horti- 

 culture. Some of our ablest entomo- 

 logists are persuaded that bees do not 

 always play the role of friends to the 

 pomologist. 



What I am to say of bees would 

 apply equally well, in some cases, to 

 many other sweet-loving insects, as 

 the wild bees, the wasps, and many of 

 the dipterous, or two-winged flies ; 

 only as early in the season other in- 

 sects are rare, while the honey bees, 

 though less numerous than they are 

 later in the season, are comparatively 

 abundant, even early in the spring 

 months. 



My first proposition is, that plants 

 only secrete nectar that they may 

 attract insects. And why this need 

 of insect visits V It is that they may 

 serve as "marriage priests" in the 

 work of fertilizing the plants. As is 

 well known, many plants, like the 

 willows and the chestnuts, are dice- 

 eious. The male element, the pollen. 



and the female element, the ovules, 

 are on different plants, and so the 

 plants are absolutely dependent upon 

 insects for fertilization. The pollen 

 attracts the insects to the staminate 

 flowers, while the nectar entices them 

 to visit the pistillate bloom. Some 

 varieties of the strawberries are so 

 nearly dicecious that this luscious 

 fruit, of which good old Isaac Walton 

 wrote, " Doubtless God might have 

 made a better fruit than the straw- 

 berry, but doubtless God never did," 

 would in case of some varieties be 

 barren except for the kindly minis- 

 trations of insects. Other plants are 

 monoecious — that is, stamens and 

 pistils are on the same flower, but the 

 structural peculiarities are such that 

 unless insects were wooed by the 

 coveted nectar, fertilization would be 

 impossible. Many of the plants with 

 irregular flowers, like the Orchids, as 

 Darwin has so admirably shown, are 

 thus entirely dependent upon insects 

 to effect fructification. In many of 

 these plants the structural modifica- 

 tions, which insure fertilization con- 

 sequent upon the visits of insects, are 

 wonderfully interesting. These have 

 been dwelt upon at length by Darwin, 

 Gray, Beal and others, and I will for- 

 bear to discuss them further. 



But many of our flowers, which are 

 so arranged that the pollen falls easily 

 upon the Sigma, like the clovers, 

 squashes, and fruit blossoms, fail of 

 full fruitage unless, forsooth, some 

 insect bear the pollen of one (lower to 

 the pistil of another. As has been 

 repeatedly demo)istrated. if our fruit 

 bloom or that of any of our cucurbi- 

 taceoua plants be screened from in- 

 sects the yield of seed and fruit will 

 be but very partial. Prof. Beal and 

 our students have tried some very 

 interesting experiments of this kind 

 with the red clover. All of the plants 

 under observation were covered with 

 gauze that the conditions might be 

 uniform. Bumble bees were placed 

 under the screens of half of these 

 plants. The insects commenced at 

 once to visit and sip nectar from the 

 clover blossoms. In the fall the seeds 

 of all tlie plants were counted, and 

 those from the plants visited by the 

 bumble bees were to those gathered 

 from the plants which were shielded 

 from all insect visits, as 236 : 5. Thus 

 we see why the first crop of red clover 

 is barren of seed, while the second 

 crop, which comes of bloom visited 

 freely by bumble bees, whose long 

 tongues can reach down to the nectar 

 at the bottom of the long flower 

 tubes, is prolific of seed. This fact 

 led to the importation of bumble bees 

 from England to New Zealand and 

 Australia two years since. There 

 were no bumble bees in Australia 

 and adjacent islands, and the red 

 clover was found impotent to produce 

 seed. When we have introduced 

 Apis-dorsata into our American api- 

 aries, or when we have developed 

 Apis-Americana, with a tongue like 

 that of Bombus, seven-sixteenths of 

 an inch long, then we shall be able to 

 raise seed from the first crop of red 

 clover, as the honey bees, unlike the 

 bumble bees, will be numerous 

 enough early in the season to perform 



