1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



635 



gummiest, mussiest jobs that a man often gets into. Let the 

 inventive genius find a better way to make wax-sheets, and 

 the answers may, in time, be different. 



One advantage of owning a mill is, that you learn to care 

 for all scraps of wax, which soon makes a large show. 

 Another is, you will be apt to use more foundation when you 

 have it plenty, and know that you can replace it with cost of 

 wax And some labor. 



What I have said about sheeting the wax does not apply 

 to narrow foundation for supers, as it can be dipped very well 

 in a gallon tin bucket set in a six-quart bucket with hot water 

 between. I tried that way once when I did' not want to make 

 enough to use a tank, and it was the easiest way I ever made 

 foundation. It is not necessary to have two sizes of mills, as 

 some would have you think ; that is, if you have such a mill 

 as the Pelham, fhat leaves the walls of the cells soft, no mat- 

 ter how close you make the rolls. I have made foundation so 

 thin, on my 10-inch mill, that it cannot be fastened into sec- 

 tions well, which shows that one mill is enough, as it will 

 make from the thickest to the thinnest. 



It looks odd to me to read of men now making the discov- 

 ery that foundation with thick, soft side-walls can be made on 

 rolls, and that it is best, after having used that very kind of 

 foundation for years. 



The Life op Father Langstroth. — Our bee-literature 

 will remain incomplete as long as we are without a fair-sized 

 volume giving the life and times of L. L. Langstroth. The 

 biography of that noble man would be read with avidity by 

 the bee-keeping fraternity. His reminiscences published in 

 Gleanings, proved to be rich mental food for his admirers. It 

 is with pleasure that bee-keepers receive the announcement 

 that he will again resume his literary labor. Would it not be 

 a good idea for some of our scribes to secure from him, while 

 he is yet with us, such data as will be needed to complete his 

 biography ? If he should live to complete his reminiscences, 

 so much the better ; if not, it could be completed afterwards. 



Glenville, Ky. Hugh L. Lynn. 



[Referring to Mr. Lynn's last paragraph, I may say that I 

 talked with B'ather Langstroth, at Toronto, on that very sub- 

 ject. He promised to prepare such a work as rapidly as pos- 

 sible, and I believe he is writing upon it now. 



As mentioned on the editorial page of this number. Father 

 L. is now resuming his reminiscent articles in Gleanings, and, 

 by a mutual arrangement, they will also be printed in these 

 columns. All may look forward to something fine, as Father 

 Langstroth is just eager to do his best. He told me he was 

 never better able to use his mind and pen than now.— Editor.] 



Fertilization of Strawberries. 



While this topic is up for discussion, it 

 may not be amiss to quote what Chesh- 

 ire says on the subject in his book on 

 "Bees and Bee-Kecping," Vol. I, page 

 326: 



"If we look at a strawberry, which is 

 of a similar type to the foregoing (rasp- 

 berry), we find a vast number of (popu- 

 larly) seeds (really ac?ic)wn) studding its 

 surface. Every one of these possessed a 

 style and stigma, and has had pollen 

 conveyed to it by the action of insects, 

 bees mainly. When the bee settles, she, 

 in her circular walk, rubs from her body 

 on to the stigmas, polltn brought from 

 another flower, as in the raspberry, for 

 the stigmas are receptive before the an- 

 thers have begun to dehisce. The fer- 

 tilization, as before, determines nutri- 

 tion to the part, and. the flower-stalk, 

 which forms the strawberry, becomes a 

 luscious parenchyma. But if any stigma 

 remains unpollinated, no development 

 occurs at that spot, and here the straw- 

 berry continues hard, shrunlien and 

 green, even when the fertilized portion 

 is fully ripe. We must all again and 

 again have seen illustrations of this, 

 from which we learn that every straw- 

 berry requires from 100 to 200, or even 

 300, distinct fertilizations for its per- 

 fect production." 



Poetry on the Italian Bee. 



I clip from The Outlook for Aug. 17, a 

 choice poetic effusion on the Italian bee, 

 addressing it " O orange-banded bee !" 

 which, if the author's name had not 

 been appended, I should have been in- 

 clined to attribute to Hon. Eugene Secor. 

 It is worthy of a place in the American 

 Bee Journal, and in that collection of 

 bee-poems which somebody will surely 

 give us in the near future. License of 

 poetry must be allowed here and there, 

 especially in the allusion to the "trem- 

 bling spider," which doesn't tremble 

 worth a cent, but rather chuckles at the 

 hope that the bee's wing may get en- 

 tangled in his "gauzy tunnel," so that 



he may make a meal of it ! Here is the 

 poem ; 



APIS MATIXA. 



O orange-banded bee. 



Impetuously humming, 

 You bring sweet news to me 

 Of summer coming ! 



Here in my garden-house, 



Beside a lilac border, 

 I, like some prisoned mouse, 

 In sick disorder, 



Bewail the darkened skies. 



Pray that the flowers smell sweeter, 

 Wish all things otberwise. 

 Slower or fleeter ! 



You enter with a hum 



Of warlike trumpets blowing, 

 You lead the mouths that come 

 And chase them going; 



The trembling spider stares 

 Deep in hid secret funnel. 

 Glad if your rude wing spares 

 His gauzy tunnel. 



Softly, more softly, friend ! 



Why such a furious pother ? 

 Let speed and leisure blend, 

 Not slay each other ! 



So swift your clear wing beats, 

 With hum melodious noising, 

 A floating aureole fleets 



Around you poising ! 



And where you hang in air, 



The dust, the small things under, 

 Whisk swiftly here and there 

 In your soft thunder. 



O furred and banded bee. 



So busy, so decorous. 

 Would that my melody 

 Were as sonorous ! 



Would that my days were spent 



In making sweet provision ! 

 Would that I came and went 

 With like decision ! 



Old minstrel, ere you go, 



To cheer the cheerless weather, 

 Come, let us softly blow 

 One stave together ! 

 -From Arthur C?iristopher Benson's ^'Lyrirs 



Notes on Bee-Forase. 



Mr. B. Taylor, on page 540, says that 

 he and "many others in different States" 

 were mistaken in supposing that the 

 hard freezing, late last spring, had de- 

 stroyed the basswood bloom. Many 

 trees on the hills bloomed, and some in 



low places, where freezing was hardest. 

 I have not seen a basswood bloom the 

 present season, and believe it was all 

 killed along the parallel of 433 jq the 

 Province of Ontario. If there were any 

 favored spots where basswood bloom was 

 found along the parallel named, and 

 north of it, bee-keepers would do well to 

 report the pleasing fact. White clover 

 and Alsike had very small heads which 

 seemed devoid of nectar. Scarcely a bee 

 appeared to be working on them. The 

 Canada thistle, improperly so-called, 

 yielded its usual quota of fragrant nec- 

 tar. It seems to be unaffected by any 

 kind of weather, hot or cold, wet or dry. 

 If it were not such a pesky weed, it 

 would be worth growing as a honey- 

 plant. But as Henry Ward Beecher well 

 observed years ago, whenever we find 

 good use for it and begin to cultivate it, 

 insect foes will attack it, blight or mil- 

 dew will strike it, and it will lose its per- 

 sistent vitality. 



I cannot tell, for the life of me, what 

 the bees have found to live on in my field 

 the present season. They must have 

 "struck lie" in some unwonted quar- 

 ters. My bees have all "stocked up" 

 sufijciently for winter, except one col- 

 ony which will need feeding. It was 

 weak in early spring and had to be "cod- 

 dled " with sugar syrup. Having a fine 

 queen, it was worth nursing. It is now 

 strong in bees, though short of stores. A 

 few colonies only have given any surplus. 



Viper's bugloss, referred to in this 

 department on page 459, has picked up 

 wonderfully since the drought was 

 broken, and is taking another fit of 

 blooming. At the date of this writing 

 (Aug. 28) the bees are very busy on it. 



I sowed a trial patch of Japanese 

 buckwheat this season, which is now 

 getting off bloom, but I have not seen a 

 solitary bee at work on it. The flowers 

 emit no fragrance. What is the matter ? 

 Was my seed spurious ? Or are there 

 different species of the Japanese variety? 

 While the bees avoid my patch, they are 

 busy on an acre of common buckwheat 

 near by. 



This matter of bee-forage will bear 

 more discussion, and it is to be hoped 

 there may be a more general comparison 

 of notes about it. It is especially desir- 

 able that we should get full reports 

 about crimson clover from localities in 

 which spring sowing of it has been tried. 



