THE AMERICAJM JiEiS JUURINAL. 



807 



tion, that the possibilities in bee- 

 keeping have not yet been reached. 



Need I say less of horticulture V In 

 the words of Mr. Eugene Secor, of 

 Forest City, Iowa, I would say : "The 

 true horticulturist, like the success- 

 ful bee-keeper, is an enthusiast. I 

 need not remind any one who plants 

 trees and grows fruits, of the genuine 

 pleasure that thrills the soul when 

 nature responds to his intelligence, 

 thought and careful direction 'f lie 

 lives in a world of his own. He needs 

 no other intoxicant to complete his 

 happiness. Horticulture is one of the 

 fine arts ; it requires the skill of a 

 master. It is just as impossible for 

 the thoughtless, brainless clod-hopper 

 to reach the highest round in the 

 ladder in propagating fruit, as it is 

 for him to appreciate it after it is 

 grown. But after all man's skill in 

 planting, after ransackmg the earth 

 for improved varieties, after propa- 

 gating, grafting and hybridizing, he 

 must rely mainly upon Nature's 

 methods of fructification. The favor- 

 ing 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 but 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 oppor- 

 tunity when the bursting buds are 

 sighing for the life-giving dust from 

 the neighboring flowers. 



" 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, or 

 working out the wise plans of Provi- 

 dence as relates to plants, and cater- 

 ing to man's pleasurable taste at the 

 same time. The drop of honey is 

 placed then in the flower not because 

 it is needed to perfect the flower or 

 fruit, but to tempt the bee to brush 

 its hairy legs against anthers, and 

 distribute the golden dust. So the 

 bee introduces itself at once to the 

 horticulturist as his friend. The latter 

 ought to meet it halt way and ac- 

 knowledge 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 ungathered 

 vanish like the morning dew, like the 

 manna which the Israelites ate of — 

 the ungathered portions melted 'when 

 the sun waxed hot.' 



" What, then, is there to hinder 

 these two vocations from going hand 

 in hand, since each is helpful to the 

 other ? They ought at least to be on 

 friendly terms. Each furnishes in- 

 ducements for the other to exist. 



" But, aside from these considera- 

 tions of the healthful diversions and 

 pleasing variety of mind, and return- 

 ing again to the utilitarian side of 

 the question, the horticulturist will 

 find it profitable to pursue the study 

 and practice of this delightful branch 

 of entomology. The habits and in- 

 stincts of this ' pattern of industry ' 

 are ever interesting, and the business 

 quite as remunerative as raising ten- 

 der fruits in an 'iron-clad climate.' 

 This pursuit, once entered upon, pos- 

 sesses charms of its own. No other 

 stimulus is needed to follow it than 

 the fascination of its own creations. 



" A great deal has been said about 

 bees injuring fruit— some fruit-grow- 

 ers having charged that they punc- 

 ture the ripe grapes, suck the juice 

 and destroy the crop. But from the 

 physical structure of the bee this is 

 said to be impossible by scientific 

 entomologists. It has no jaws like 

 the hornet ; it is made to suck, not to 

 bile ; and on close observation, and 

 after repeated experiments, it has 

 been found that where bees are dis- 

 covered helping themselves to ripe 

 f ruit.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 attor- 

 ney, shall claim to the jury that the 

 charge is not proven. 



"In dismissing this subject, which 

 to the lover of fruits, flowers and 

 bees is always a source of infinite 

 delight, I cannot refrain from quot- 

 ing a few lines from ' The Planting 

 of the Apple Tree,' by that venerable 

 sylvan poet, our own Bryant, who 

 saw so much of future hope and 

 promise as he sifted the soft mould 

 about its tiny rootlets : 



what plant we in this apple tree '/ 

 Sweets for a hundred flowery springs 

 To load the May-winds' restless wings ; 

 When from the orchard row he ppurs 

 Its fragrance at our open doors 



A world of blossom for the bee." 



Geo. E. Hilton. 



R. L. Taylor— Now this gives Prof. 

 Cook a chance to say a word that he 

 is bursting to say. 



Prof. Cook— In brief, I will say that 

 bees are needed all over the country 

 for the fertilization of blossoms ; that 

 the study of rural pursuits helps to 

 make home pleasant, and binds to- 

 gether the family, and finally it may 

 be made a source of profit. I may be 

 mistaken, but I thoroughly believe in 

 bee-keeping on the farm. 



Excessive SiTarming or Bees. 



Mrs. Wright had had considerable 

 trouble with excessive swarming, and 

 wished to know how to avoid it. 



Dr. L. C. Whiting— I have pre- 

 vented it by extracting 4 or .5 pounds 

 of honey from the brood-nest, thus 

 giving the queen room to lay. I do 

 this as often as necessary. 



R. L. Taylor— I do not think that 

 this plan will work generally. One 



year I produced extracted honey, and 

 the bees swarmed considerably. If 

 we are to have any swarms, we may 

 just as well have many as few. The 

 object in preventing swarming is, 

 that we may avoid having a man with 

 the bees all of the time ; and if part 

 of the colonies are to swarm, they 

 may as well all swarm. Another ob- 

 jection to the Doctor's plan is, that it 

 involves too much labor. It is this 

 kind of labor that makes cost in pro- 

 ducing honey. Another season I 

 shall try the following plan : Use a 

 drone-trap to catch the queen, and re- 

 turn the swarm without the queen. 

 Just before the young queens natch, 

 cut out all the cells but one. 



Dr. Whiting— Now I am going to 

 " pick a hole " in that. Your colony 

 is without a laying queen for nearly 

 three weeks, atid the loss is equal to 

 a swarm of bees. 



R. L. Taylor— Now " I am going to 

 pick a hole in thai." In the first place 

 there is not a loss equal to a swarm of 

 bees, and in the next place, such a 

 loss of bees woiild be an advantage. 

 For a few days before a colony 

 swarms, the queen reduces her egg- 

 producing capacity, takes a rest, and 

 becomes light so that she can fly. 

 After the bees swarm it is several 

 days before she resumes laying to any 

 great extent ; hence the loss in bees 

 is not so great as might be supposed ; 

 and, furthermore, all bees produced 

 that do not come upon the stage until 

 the harvest is over, are produced at 

 a loss. 



The following committees were now 

 appointed : 



On Resolutions— R. L. Taylor, A. 

 J. Cook, and W. Z. Hutchinson. 



On Exhibits— J. A, Pearce, A. I. 

 Root and J. H. Robertson. 



The following is a copy of a letter 

 read by President Hilton, being a re- 

 ply to a letter addressed by him to the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, in re- 

 gard to apicultural statistics, as sug- 

 gested at the recent Chicago conven- 

 tion. The letter is as follows ; 



U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C, Nov. 26, 1887. 



Geo. E. Hilton, Fremont. Mich., 

 President of Michigan Bee-Keepers' 

 Association. 



Sir :— Your letter of the 21st inst., 

 addressed to the Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, has been referred to me 

 for answer. Our monthly reports are 

 made up from information gathered 

 from a corps of crop correspondents 

 in each agricultural county in the 

 United States, and with such a wide 

 range it is only practicable for us to 

 report regularly upon the leading 

 farm products. We frequently make 

 outside investigations relative to the 

 condition and extent of special rural 

 industries, and realizing the impor- 

 tance of bee-keeping, would be glad 

 to give it the attention it deserves. 

 Our regular correspondents, however, 

 are ordinary farmers, and but few 

 would be able to give any information 

 relative to the present condition of 

 apiculture. It would be necessary to 

 send directly to those interested in 

 the industiy. Can you furnish me. 



