308 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



colors, in sweeter flavors and perfumes 

 to regale the senses of man. 



In fructifying the various flowers^ bees 

 act as nature's marriage priests and pre- 

 sent us with a field of study as bound- 

 less as the gorgeous realm of nature's. 

 bloom. But for the oft-repeated visits 

 of the bees, many a beautiful flower 

 would in a short time cease to bloom — 

 aye, and also to live. Many plants 

 absolutely require the visit of bees or 

 other insects to remove the pollen mass 

 and thus to fertilize them. Hence, 

 Darwin wisely remarks when speaking 

 of clover and heart's-ease, "no bees, no 

 seed ; no seed, no increase of the flower." 

 The more visits from the bees the more 

 seed from the flowers ; the more flowers 

 from the seed. 



Darwin mentions the following exper- 

 iment: "Twenty heads of white clover' 

 visited by bees produced 2,990 seeds; 

 while 20 heads so protected that bees 

 could not visit them produced not one 

 seed." This is certainly conclusive evi- 

 dence, and ought to convince the most 

 skeptical. Then, once more allow me to 

 urge the necessity of keei«ng and intel- 

 ligently caring for the wants of our 

 friends — the horticulturist's best friends 

 — the bees. 



Poultry is also a very necessary adjunct 

 to successful horticulture. They des- 

 troy many insects that are very injuri- 

 ous to our fruit, fruit trees, shrubs and 

 plants, and at the same time enrich the 

 soil instead of impoverishing it. 



Get some fine breed of fowls instead of 

 mongrels, for they are far superior both 

 in egg production and for culinary pur- 

 poses (of course I would suggest the 

 Houdan as they are my favorites), and 

 let them have free access to the orchard. 

 They will more than pay for the care and 

 time thus bestowed on them in furnish- 

 ing our tables with nice fresh eggs and 

 delicious broilers, to say nothing of the 

 great advantage that they will be in des- 

 troying injurious insects, thus giving us 

 more and better fruit. 



I do not think that poultry is fully 

 appreciated. Many begrudge them what 

 they eat, never thinking of the wonder- 

 ful amount of good they do by destroy- 

 ing poisonous and otherwise injurious 

 insects. My husband and I saw a hen 

 catch, kill and eat a very large centipede 

 that was within a few feet of our only 

 little boy, who was just running around. 

 We were both horrified at the thought of 

 what the consequences might have been 

 had it not been for that hen. 



So I will enter a plea for poultry in 

 general, and for Houdans in particular. 

 They are so docile, so hardy and thrifty, 



such fine layers and the very best table 

 fowl it has been my good fortune to 

 sample. In conclusion, let me urge the 

 three pursuits combined as being espe- 

 cially adapted to* each other ; let the 

 verdict be that bee and poultry-raising 

 combined are necessary adjuncts to suc- 

 cessful horticulture, — Bead before the 

 Texas Horticultural Society. 

 Salado, Tex. 



Wkre to Keep Coib-Hoiiey, 



J. L, BOWERS. 



Do not, on any account, store honey 

 in a cellar. The dampness causes it to 

 sweat, and then the cappings will break 

 and you have a lot of ruined honey. 



Our honey room is in the second story 

 of our house, and will hold two tons. It 

 is 6x10 feet, and nine feet high, with 

 two doors — one on each side — one open- 

 ing from the hall ; the other opening 

 into a room over the porch. This room 

 has one window. Here we put our honey 

 first to let it harden, keeping this room 

 light. 



After exposing it to the light for about 

 two weeks, we place it in the honey room. 

 Never on any account, place more than 

 two boxes on top of one another, but 

 place shelves above each other on the 

 order of a library. 



If little red ants bother honey, place 

 the honey on a bench and put each leg 

 or foot in a pan of water, and my word 

 for it, if you keep water in the pans no 

 ants will bother the honey. Our honey 

 room is as dark as anything can be made 

 to be. — Maryland Fanner. 



^ • ^ 



ConTention l^'otices. 



iW" A meeting of the lUinois State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will be held at the fair grounds of the 

 Sangamon Fair Association, Springfield, Ills., on 

 Tuesday, Sept. 9, 1891, at 1 p.m., at the office of the 

 President of the Board. The object of the meeting, 

 among other things, will be to formulate a pro- 

 gramme for our regular meeting. It is of the utmost 

 importance that the programme prepared at this 

 meeting should embrace our best talent, as it will 

 furnish the material for the Report which the State 

 has made provision for publishing. 



By order of the Executive Committee. 

 James a. Stone, Sec, Bradfordton, Ills. 



22P"The Ionia Bee-Keepers' Association will hold 

 its next meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 1891, at Ionia, 

 Mich. Harmon Smith, Sec, Ionia, Mich. 



tW" The Central Michigan Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will hold their next meeting at Pioneer Rooms, 

 Capitol BuiMing, Lansing, Mich., Wednesday. Sept. 

 16. 1891, commencing at 9 a.m. A cordial invitation 

 is extended to all. 



W. A. Baknbs, Sec, Lansing, Mich. 



2^" '^he Southwestern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will hold its next meeting on Wednes- 

 day and Thursday, Oct. 14 and 15, l89i,atFennimore, 

 Grant Co., Wis. 



Bexj. E. Rice, Sec, Boscobel, Wis. 



