1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



288 



colony — will cost something to get up, but once completed, 

 they, too, will be there, for a lifetime. 



In wintering outside I used to pack them two, three or 

 four together in dry-goods boxes, with but few of them isolated. 

 I do not, however, like that method, and prefer each colony to 

 have its own case and packing. When they are packed sep- 

 arately the proper temperature of the colony can the more 

 readily be secured, as it is much more difficult when a lot are 

 packed together to get the packing so adjusted in quantity 

 and otherwise as to secure a uniform temperature for all, 

 When each one is by itself these necessary conditions may be 

 compassed with a reasonable degree of accuracy and certainty. 

 This is an important point in outside wintering — of sufiicient 

 importance to warrant the extra expense and trouble of sep- 

 arate cases and packing. 



The case ought to be large enough to admit of 3 to -t 

 inches of packing on all sides and in the bottom, with room on 

 top for 6 to 8 inches; and should be so constructed as to 

 exclude all rain and snow and keep the contents dry. The 

 roof or cover should, of course, slant to shed water, and if it 

 fits snugly it ought not to be painted all over. The middle 

 portion of it, say a space 12 by 18 inches, may be left bare on 

 both sides, while the other portions of the cover may be 

 painted. This will facilitate the escape or evaporation of the 

 moisture from within, which will be constantly rising through 

 the dry sawdust. 



The entrance of the hive, say one by eight inches, more or 

 less, ought to be left wide open ; but the skeleton entrance, 

 while of the same size, ought to be adjustable. Mine, (zinc) 

 may be adapted from a single bee-space to the full hive- 

 entrance. This outside entrance may be adjusted from time 

 to time as may be necessary, while the hive-entrance is left 

 alone — wide open. The outside entrance must be kept clear 

 of ice. The snow alone will not smother, as the air passes 

 freely through it, but sometimes ice will form in the entrance, 

 completely blocking it. This must be looked after. The ice 

 has, however, given no trouble at all this winter so far with 

 me. They appear to be dry and nice and in good form. Those 

 in the cellar are also doing well. 



The prospects for the coming season are good. The clover 

 was in good condition in the fall, and the great body of snow 

 now covering it will likely protect it till well along in the 

 spring. — Practical Bee-Keeper. Selby, Ont., Feb. 23. 



CONDUCTED BY- 



Re\'. Emerson T. ^Ibbott, St. .Joseph, JUo. 



Bees and Slra-wberries.— "I want the facts 

 rather than the theories."" — Secor. 



Friend Secor and I will agree fully in this statement, and 

 I may say that I wrote the former note, not because I wanted 

 to provoke a discussion with Friend S., but to call out the 

 "facts." As a student of Nature, especially of that part of 

 Nature known as the vegetable kingdom, I have learned that 

 one fact is worth a great many theories. Yet theories cannot 

 be ignored, for in their way they play as important a part in 

 the final understanding of the economy of the material world 

 as do what are commonly called facts. 1 wish to state, before 

 this discussion goes any further, that I do not desire to be 

 understood as claiming that no berries can be produced with- 

 out bees. Friend Secor is no doubt correct when he says that 

 the wild strawberry vines bore fruit before the bees came, but 

 it is a question in my mind whether they did not receive some 

 aid from other insects. However, the mere production of fruit 

 is not the question, but the quality and niumlity of the fruit. 



Friend S. speaks of the practice of strawberry-growers of 

 planting every second or third row with "staminate, or per- 

 fect-flowering kinds " to secure a crop. Let me say parenthet- 

 ically that "perfect-flowering " is not correct when applied to 

 those which bear stamens only. I know that many horticul- 

 tural writers so use it, but a " perfect flower " is one which 

 produces both of the " essential organs," stamen and pistil. 

 Those which bear only one of these are imperfect, let the 

 missing one be either stainen or pistil. 



But to return to the point I was about to make. The 

 rows of vines producing stamens only bear no fruit, of course, 

 and are of no value only as feriilizers. Suppose, where there 

 are no bees, every second row must be given up to the process 

 of fertilization, would it not be some gain, it by the introduc- 

 tion of bees, one row in six would answer the purpose ? There 



would be two more rows to bear fruit. Surely this would be 

 some gain. Then again, if the fruit was more perfectly devel- 

 oped and of finer flavor, this too would be of some gain, would 

 it not ? 



I remember being at a Farmers' Institute in the straw- 

 berry district of southern Missouri, where the people were 

 very loth to hear me talk bees, because, as they said, they 

 were fruit-growers and had no interest in bees. I may be per- 

 mitted to say, without any risk of exposing myself to the 

 charge of egotism, that before I got through not a few of them 

 were convinced that they had a deal of interest in bees, and 

 they wanted me to go on talking after the time had come to 

 close the meeting, and Friend T. B. Terry and I had to take a 

 train to reach the next appointment. Mr. Terry said in his 

 talk that every second or third row should be given up to the 

 work of pollination, but when I put the question to him as to 

 how this would be if there were plenty of bees in close prox- 

 imity, the response came promptly that there need not be so 

 many of the staminate variety ; that perhaps every five or six 

 rows would do. T. B. Terry ought to be very good authority 

 as to the practical facts, for while he has made his great rep- 

 utation as a potato-grower, he has no doubt grown as many 

 and as fine strawberries to the square foot as any man in 

 America. 



However, let this be as it may, I am confident that all the 

 drift of scientific investigation points to the fact that bees are 

 a material benefit to the grower of strawberries; but in dis- 

 cussing my statements please do not interpret me as claiming 

 that no berries of any kind can be produced without bees. 



Did Xhey Freeze?— "They did not starve, but 

 froze to death." — J. A. Bearden, on page 191. 



Now, I do not wish to argue the case, but I will have to 

 have further proof than is given in Mr. B.'s letter before I 

 will believe that those bees froze before they starved. I would 

 like to ask one or two questions about them, and I hope Mr. 

 B. will be kind enough to answer them. I am after facts and 

 not arguments to prove a theory, and it makes but little differ- 

 ence to me to-day what I said yesterday — if I find it to be 

 false, I shall let go of it at once. I make it a point to write 

 and speak my best thought to-day with the light I have, even 

 though it may contradict what I said or wrote yesterday. 



Was that a strong, healthy colony of bees ? Was there 

 plenty of honey in the combs on wliiclt the cluster had formed ' 

 Was this honey directly above tlic cluster f Did you examine 

 the bees to see if their honey-sacs were full or empty ? If Mr. 

 B. will briefly answer these questions, he may throw some 

 light on a question of vital importance to all bee-keepers. 



Sbould be Investigated. — "At one place I no- 

 ticed quite a number of bees, pollen-laden at a creek taking 

 water. They much resembled Carniolans, but were fully one- 

 third larger, and much more hairy." — Thomas B. Blow, in 

 British Bee Journal. 



This is an extract from an account of a trip taken by Mr' 

 Blow up the Essequibo River to the mines in the northern part 

 of South America, and in speaking of the bees mentioned, he 

 says, " I am sorry time did not allow me to trace them to their 

 nest." I am sorry, too, for it seems to me here is a very im- 

 portant find. If those bees are a third larger than the Carnio- 

 lans, and possess any of their good qualities, the bee-keepers 

 of this Continent, if not of the world, are greatly interested in 

 them. I might think there was some mistake about this, did I 

 not know that Mr. Blow has the reputation of being a bee- 

 keeper of no mean scientific attainments, and one whose judg- 

 ment can be trusted. 



Are there not some readers of the American Bee Journal 

 who are in a position to investigate this matter fully ? If so, 

 let them speak out at once, as I think we all would be glad to 

 learn more about those bees. If they should prove to be what 

 one might expect from Mr. Blow's remarks, they are of more 

 importance than the much talked of Apis dorsata. 



Honey as B'oo*! aiKl Me«lioine.— A new and revised 

 edition of this 32-page pamphlet is now issued. It has .5 blank 

 pages on which to write or paste recipes taken from other sources. 

 It is just what its name indicates, and should be liberally dis- 

 tributed among the people everywhere to create a demand for 

 honey. It contains a number of "recipes on the use of honey as 

 food and as medicine, besides much other interesting and valuable 

 information. Prices, postpaid, are: Single copy, 5 cts. ; 10 copies 

 35cts. ; 5Ufor$l..'J0; lOOfor J3.50. Better give them a trial. Send 

 all orders to the Bee Journal office. 



