THE AMERICAJN BEE JUURNAL. 



848 



good, contributing to the happiness 

 of mankind, and to those courses that 

 will " ring in " the millenium. 



Horticulture is one of the flne arts. 

 It requires the skill of a master. It 

 is just as impossible for the thought- 

 less, brainless clod-hopper to reach 

 the highest round in the ladder in 

 propagating tine fruit, as it is for him 

 to appreciate it after it is grown. But 

 after all man's skill in planting ; after 

 ransacking the earth for improved 

 varieties ; after propagating, grafting 

 and hybridizing, he must rely mainly 

 on nature's methods of fructihcatlon. 

 The favoring winds and industrious 

 bees are needed to fertilize the bloom, 

 to insure a harvest of fruit. As a 

 means of accomplishing this end, there 

 is no question that the bee is of great 

 service to the grower of fruits. No 

 other insect is multiplied in such vast 

 numbers so early in the spring, when 

 their agency is so much needed to 

 fertilize the orchards and small fruits. 



If the winds were the only means of 

 carrying the pollen from flower to 

 flower, how often would perfect ferti- 

 lization fail, from too much or too 

 little wind during the brief opportune 

 period when the bursting buds are 

 sighing for the life-giving dust from 

 the neighboring flowers. Nature does 

 not stake all her chances on a single 

 peradventure. If the wind fails to do 

 its work, and the bees are not present 

 to assist, there is still another chance, 

 and that is. most plants are provided 

 with both the male and female organs 

 in the same flower, but such is her 

 abhorrence to in-and-in breeding, that 

 every pistil will receive the fertilizing 

 pollen from a neighboring plant much 

 more gratefully than that from the 

 same flower. To the delightful task 

 of fructifying the fruit blossoms and 

 rendering cross-fertilization more cer- 

 tain, nature has assigned the insect 

 creation, and in a large degree it falls 

 to the lot of bees to accomplish it. 



Not only is honey provided in the 

 delicate chalices to entice them, but 

 the pollen, so essential to the plant 

 (and just as essential to the bee in 

 furnishing the proper food for its 

 young) is placed in close proximity to 

 the nectar, so that in getting either 

 the bee is unwittingly carrying the 

 dust from flower to flower, working 

 out the wise plans of Providence as 

 relates to the plants, and catering to 

 man's pleasurable tastes at the same 

 time. The drop of honey is placed in 

 the flower, not because it is needed 

 there to perfect the flower or the 

 fruit, but to tempt the bee to brush 

 its hairy legs against the anthers, and 

 distribute the golden dust. 



In the Divine economy honey-bees 

 were apparently created for the sole 

 purpose of fertilizing the blossoms of 

 those plants, flowers and trees that, 

 without their aid, would be barren. 

 The honey which the bees gathered 

 was for their own use, making it pos- 

 sible for them to live through the 

 winter and continue the species. 

 Originally they were found only in 

 hollow trees, in caves, in clefts of 

 rocks, etc. Man learned that honey 

 was good, and having observed that 

 the bees would store up more than 

 they needed for their own use, after a 



time domesticated them. From this 

 fact has come the honey of commerce, 

 and the further important fact that 

 bees are novr kept hundreds of miles 

 from their native habitat of timber 

 and rocks, and are thereby made to do 

 service to the horticulturist, the gard- 

 ener and the farmer, over wide areas 

 devoid of timber as well as in some of 

 the older States that are fast being 

 denuded of their primeval forests. 

 Hence to the bee-keeper credit is due 

 for increasing the usefulness of the 

 bee far beyond nature's limited "pro- 

 visions. 



So the bee introduces itself at once 

 to the horticulturist as his friend. 

 The latter ought to meet it half way, 

 and acknowledge its two-fold service. 

 It does him a service while on its daily 

 rounds in search of food for itself and 

 young, and again by storing up for his 

 benefit the liquid sweets which it 

 does not need itself, and which, un- 

 gathered, vanish as the morning dew. 

 Like the manna which the Israelites 

 ate of, the ungathered portion melted 

 " when the sun waxed hot." 



What, then, is there to hinder these 

 two vocations going hand in hand, 

 since each is helpful to the other ? 

 They ought, at least, to be on friendly 

 terms. Each furnishes inducements 

 for the other to exist. 



Another reason why horticulture 

 and bee-keeping may profitably go 

 together : The horticulturist is a 

 student not only of nature, but of 

 methods; such must the bee-keeper 

 be to succeed. The very habits of 

 thought, study and observation which 

 are necessary to success in the one, 

 will prove of great advantage, nay, 

 more, are indispensable in the other. 

 It may be said in opposition to this 

 theory of uniting these two branches 

 of rural economy, that the world is 

 drifting more and more into speciali- 

 ties — that life is too short, and com- 

 petition too severe for a man to mas- 

 ter more than one thing. 



While this is true to some extent, 

 and while I believe that every man 

 ought to master some one thing so 

 that he is authority on that subject, 

 this need not preclude him from in- 

 vestigating other subjects, and at 

 times. pursuing other lines of thought. 

 Indeed, I believe it to be the duty of 

 every person to get out of the ruts of 

 one-ideaism, and to invite that wider 

 culture which a familiarity with a 

 variety of topics brings. Our capaci- 

 ties for enjoyment are not conflned to 

 one sense. Our pleasures are height- 

 ened by an extended range of thought 

 and observation. The successful 

 farmer may be a lover of blooded 

 cattle or horses, or both, without de- 

 tracting from his ability to raise good 

 crops. 



But aside from these considerations 

 of healthful diversions and pleasing 

 variety for the mind, and returning 

 again to the utilitarian side of the 

 (juestiou. the horticulturist will find 

 it profitable to pursue the study and 

 practice of this delightful branch of 

 entomology. Tlie habits and instincts 

 of this " pattern of industry " are 

 ever interesting, and the business 

 quite as remunerative as raising ten- 

 I der fruits in an " iron-clad climate." 



This pursuit once entered upon, 

 possesses charms of its own. No other 

 stimulus is needed to follow it than 

 the fascination of its own creation. 



A great deal has been said about 

 bees injuring fruit. Some fruit-grow- 

 ers have charged that they puncture 

 the ripe grapes, suck the juice and 

 damage the crop. But from the physi- 

 cal structure of the bee, this is said to 

 be impossible by scientific entomol- 

 ogists. It has no jaws like the hornet. 

 It is made to suck, not to bite ; and 

 on close observation, and after re- 

 peated experiments, it has been found 

 that where bees are discovered help- 

 ing themselves to ripe fruit, that the 

 skins had been ruptured by the 

 weather, or from over-ripeness, or 

 that hornets, or wasps, or birds had 

 first been the depredators. After the 

 skin has been broken from any cause, 

 if there is a scarcity of honey, the 

 bees, always anxious to be doing 

 something, will endeavor to get a 

 share of the plunder. Therefore, as 

 to bees injuring fruit, I, as their 

 attorney, shall claim to the jury that 

 the charge is not proven. 



In dismissing this interesting sub- 

 ject, which, to the lover of fruits, 

 flowers and bees, is always a source 

 of infinite delight, I cannot refrain 

 from quoting a few lines f rom " The 

 Planting of the Apple-Tree," by that 

 venerable sylvan poet, our own Bry- 

 ant, who saw so much of future hope 

 and promise as he sifted the soft mold 

 about its tiny rootlets : 



What plant we in this apple-tree ? 

 Sweets f<)r a hundred flowery springs. 

 To load the May-wind's restless wings. 

 When from the orchard row he pours 

 Its fragrance through our open doors— 

 A world of blossf-ims for the bee. 



Forest City. 6 Iowa. 



For tne Aniencaii Bee JoumaL 



Tlie Solar fax-Extractor. 



G. W. DEMAKEE. 



My plan of making it is as follows : 

 Make a plain box 19J4 inches wide, 14 

 inches deep, and So^i inches long, 

 inside measurement. Nail on a bot- 

 tom and have it bee-tight. Now nail 

 on some legs at the ends, and the box 

 is ready for the wax-pan, etc. To 

 make the wax or draining pan, cut a 

 piece of sheet- iron (I prefer sheet-iron 

 to anything else) 24 inches wide and 

 28 inches long. To get the concave 

 shape of the pan, get out a board 

 from half-inch stuff, .5 inches wide, 

 and 193^ inches long, and cut one of 

 its edges to a true circle. Now bend 

 the sheet of metal around the circular 

 board and nail it closely. This gives 

 a concave pan 'i9}4 inches wide by 28 

 inches long, with one end closed and 

 the other end opened. 



To adjust the pan in the box or 

 frame-work, get out a board 7 or 8 

 inches wide, 19>^ inches long, and 

 hollow out one of its edges to corres- 

 pond with the circular shape of the 

 pan, and nail it crosswise in the box, 

 so that when the open end of the pan 

 rests on it, the pan will project about 

 2 Inches over the board, and be about 

 6 inches above the bottom of the box. 



