1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



168 



CO-OPERATIVE EXPERIMENTS. 



The Ontario Agricultural and Experiment- 

 al Union, which consists of students, ex- 

 students, and the staff, past and present, of 

 the Ontario Agri ultural College, Guelph, 

 Onr,., was inaugurated during the student 

 years of the writer, 1880. The most impor- 

 tant work is co-operative experiments in 

 agriculture, and it has steadily grown until, 

 during the past year, it had 5700 experi- 

 menters. Of it. Prof. W. M. Hays, Assistant 

 Secretary of Agriculture for the United 

 States, said in his address (for he honored 

 the convention Dec. 11 and 13 with his 

 presence), the expei'imental union was rec- 

 ognized, in the great work which it was 

 achieving, by all prominent agriculturists 

 and stock-raisers throughout the States. 

 Th • experimental union was one of the very 

 brightest stars in the whole realm of agricul- 

 tui'al organization thx'oughout the world. 



APICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS PAST AND FU- 

 TURE. 



It was this union which, under the direc- 

 tion of the writer, carried on, so far as I 

 know, the first systematic experiments to 

 determine to what extent, if any, and under 

 varying conditions, the bees thinned out the 

 septum of comb foundation. The object in 

 part was to draw attention to the neeil of 

 thinner section foundation than many used. 



The wiiter brought in a resolution which 

 was indorsed by the members, that, during 

 the coming year, a series of co-operative 

 tests be conducted to ' determine various 

 matters as to the percentage of formic acid 

 in honey; to see if the percentage varies in 

 the honey put up I)y variet ies of bees, and 

 also if the pei'centage varies in individual 

 stocks of the same variety, particularly if 

 the temperament varies as to gentleness and 

 irritability; again, to what extent it varies 

 in honey from various sources, such as clo- 

 ver, linden, and buckwheat; and if it shows 

 a gradual increase in percentage of formic 

 acid as ihe season advances; also to deter- 

 mine at what stage of storing and ripening 

 the formic acid is put into the honey. 



QUALIFICATION FOR WORK. 



We want 25 to 35 careful bee-keepers to 

 co-operate in this work, and we should be 

 pleased to have a dozen or so from the 

 Northern States, those haviug pure Italian, 

 Carniolan, and, if possible, Ijlack bees, and, 

 if possible, varying temperaments will be 

 welcomed. The test is to be with clover, 

 basswood, raspberry, and buckwheat honey- 

 any or all of them — the more the better. 



Four-ounce samples will be required. Ex- 

 perimenters will not be advertised for; but 

 any seeing this article can signify their will- 

 ingness to co-operate by writing me at Brant- 

 ford, Canada. This work should result in 

 valuable light being thrown upon the above 

 question. 



SHADE FOR BEES. 



On page 1498, W. F. Card states, "We 

 have been unable to see any marked differ- 

 ence between those that are in a position 

 where the sun strikes them early in the 

 morning and those that are in heavy shade. 

 Both dig out at about the same time." This 

 is my experience: Bees on a cloudy day do 

 not I'emain in the hive. It is a matter of 

 nectar in the blossoms, dew or little or no 

 dew on the blossoms upon which they have 

 to work, and temperature of the atmosphere. 

 <& 



PARTHENOGENESIS IN PLANTS. 



On page 877 G. M. Doolittle, in the course 

 of one of those excellent conversations, has 

 the following; "There is no pollen produced 

 by the basswood or linden, as you know." ' 



"Yes, I know there is not; but the bees 

 gather it from the wild grape and other 

 sources. ' ' 



J. E. Crane, page 1355, says "wild grape 

 blossoms early in June." This is true of 

 Ontario. More surely the man who can 

 prove that plants reproduce themselves gen- 

 eration after generation by the principle of 

 parthenogenesis* should have a monument 

 erected to his memory. Do the bees not 

 gather less pollen wheh there is an abun- 

 dance of nectar in the blossoms? Again, 

 buckwheat and other pollen keep over 

 winter with us in Canada, and surely the at- 

 mosphere of New York State can not be more 

 corrupting than our own. There is a pretty 

 good lot of bee-keepers in York State — in 

 fact, I would almost take them for Cana- 

 dians knowing some good things we have 

 not heard of in Canada. 



J0^ 



IR.ASCIBILITY. 



Under the above caption D. M. M., in 

 British Bee Journal, page 37 1 , writes: ' ' The 

 season of the year, the nature of the flow, 

 the amount of interference they are subjected 

 to, as well as climatic conditions, all go to 

 explain the uncertain temper of bees at 

 times. Race also counts considerably, and 

 the blending of certain races almost invari- 

 ably produces "cross" bees; for, although 

 we must very frequently indeed seek the 

 prime cause for ill temper in the actions and 

 conduct of their owners, yet I am confident 

 that the introduction of certain new strains, 

 with the object of securing the -energy and 

 vitality which some preachers tell us are 

 lacking in our natives, has produced an 

 amount of temper in my own bees I have 



* The word parthenogenesis is hardly applicable 

 here. Many plants are self-fertilizintr. The sugar 

 cane, banana, and life-plant (Bryophyllum) are ex- 

 cellent examples of plants which are not reproduced 

 from seed, except occasionally.— Ed. 



