210 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



begins to ferment as soon as it is exposed 

 to the air : as soon as fermentation 

 begins the bees begin to eat the ferment- 

 ing juice and keep at it only when and 

 where there is fermentation. 



Now, how can a grape be ruined after 

 the skin is broken and it has begun to 

 sour and ferment ? But, says Mr. Every- 

 body, the bees bite a hole in the skin of 

 the grape and that makes it begin to 

 decay. To this I would answer, please 

 examine a bee with a microscope, when 

 she is feeding, and you will never accuse 

 her of biting anything again, for, as I 

 <aid before, she has no biter. 



You answer, if the bees do not bite a 

 hole in the fruit and do not work on 

 grapes until the skin is broken, how is 

 it that they eat nearly every grape on a 

 tray? Certainly they do, because the 

 grapes have been wet and it does not 

 take long for the skin of the grape to be 

 wet to rot a hole in it. To prove this you 

 never see bees working on grapes that 

 have been kept dry after they were ripe, 

 and only after heavy dews or rain do the 

 bees work on grapes. 



In drying other fruits — peaches, apri- 

 cots, etc. — we never see bees working on 

 them when drying, except they tind a 

 piece that is overripe and has begun to 

 decay. As fermented grape juice makes 

 only a dark syrup, it injures the sale of 

 any honey it is mixed with, and when 

 bees work on it the apiarist is damaged 

 by it. I have kept bees in connection 

 with fruit raising for the last 10 years, 

 and consider the work they do in fertil- 

 izing the fruit trees, when in bloom, to 

 be worth nearly as much as the honey 

 they gather, and I do not hesitate to say 

 that if the bees w^ere made to move from 

 this vicinity the loss to fruit-raisers 

 would be far greater than all the fruit 

 pests ever have been to this country. — 

 Rivral Calif ornian. 



Los Angeles, Calif. 



ArliflcialHeatto Proinote Brooi-Bearii, 



SAMUEL CUSHMAN. 



This is a continuation of the Report of 

 Apiculture at the New Jersey Experi- 

 mental Station, contained in Bulletin 

 No. 7: 



An experiment was begun May 14, 

 1890, with two colonies (Nos. -land 14) 

 which had been wintered in the cellar of 

 the station farmhouse, and were in about 

 the same condition. Thermometers were 

 so placed that " each hive had one in the 

 cluster and another in the most remote 



part of the hive body, outside of the 

 cluster, and both of these could be read 

 without disturbing or exciting the bees.'" 



When the experiment was begun four 

 thick stone bottles, each holding a half 

 pint, were filled with boiling water and 

 placed back of the division-board in hive 

 No. 4. This was renewed each morning 

 and evening until June 20, while a 

 record was kept of the thermometer 

 readings for the remainder of the month. 

 The next morning before the water was 

 renewed the common thermometer out- 

 side the brood-nest in No. 4 stood at 68^-, 

 while in No. 14 it was at 66° The 

 artificial heat had apparently increased 

 the temperature of the empty corner of 

 the brood-chamber, leaving it at the end 

 of 12 hours 2 or o degrees higher than 

 the same space in the other hive. 



The thermometer among the bees of 

 No. 4 showed a temperature of 86°, both 

 in the morning and at night, while in 

 No. 14 it stood .at 84- and 970 The 

 records for the rest of the month showed 

 that where the heat was used the average 

 temperature of the cluster at night and 

 in the morning was no higher, and that 

 when there was any difference between 

 the two the temperature of the cluster 

 where the heat had been given was the 

 lower. * * * 



The records also show that the temper- 

 ature of the hive outside of the cluster, 

 12 hours after the hot water was 

 renewed, was many degrees higher than 

 where none had been given. * * * 



The weather much of the time was 

 very cold and changeable. The artificial 

 heat w^as of the greatest value during the 

 night and on chilly or sunless days, and 

 better enabled the bees t© cover the 

 additional nttmber of eggs and larvse 

 that they had started to rear during 

 warm, sunny days. * * * 



On May 31, at 11 o'clock, and just 

 before the thermometers were removed 

 for the season, the one in the cluster in 

 No. 4 indicated 94^, and out of the 

 cluster 73K^. The bees then covered 

 seven combs, one of which contained 

 honey while six were full of brood. 

 Those in No. 14 registered, in the 

 cluster, 940 ; out of the cluster, 71^. 

 Of the seven combs, one was empty, 

 another was full of honey, and five were 

 quite well filled with brood, and six of 

 these were covered with bees. 



No. 4 steadily gained in bees and brood 

 up to June 20, when the artificial heat 

 was discontinued. No. 4 overflowed the 

 brood-nest long before No. 14 had used 

 all the combs, and by July 1 occupied 

 two brood-chambers and was about twice 

 as strong. 



