42 



THB BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



several months, and the youn,ej bees are 

 brought up in entire ignorance of hfe or 

 motion among their hives. My own 

 apiary was visited but once in seven 

 months; and that one visit was made by 

 a friend while I was 700 miles away. Up- 

 on my return the bees were evidently not 

 used to motion, for my every move was 

 watched, and a little too close approach to 

 a hive was resented by scores of bees at- 

 tacking my shins; and, eventually, my 

 head. I notice that after a few days with 

 them this pettishness on their part is not 

 so noticeable. Interviews from so many 

 bees is unpleasant; and I have a mind to 

 plant a dozen flags. I fear that tWe net- 

 tlesomeness of our bees is caused in a 

 great measure by skunks. To get rid of 

 these varmints is the stud)^ of quite a num- 

 ber of our bee men. 



I observe that there is not so much 

 mystery surrounding the management of 

 bees as there was a few years ago. 



Ouinbv thought there was enough mys- 

 tery within the walls of a hive to warrant 

 his naming his book "The Mysteries of 

 Bee-keeping." Later, the "Mystery" 

 was dropped and "Guide" substituted. 

 Though we think we know a great amount 

 about the bee, there are still several little 

 mysteries that trouble our thoughts as we 

 work in the apiary. 



Why is it that when you approach an 

 apiary, or pass through it (it makes no 

 difference how large or small the apiary 

 is) onlv two or three bees will take upon 

 themselves the duty of following you 

 around the apiary ? If you do not 

 fight them there will hardly be more than 

 the above number. Or a better test is to 

 get to work at hive making or some 

 light work some rods from the apiary. 

 One or two bees will pester you. If you 

 have a paddle and knock one down, and 

 there is no scent from it, or if you knock 

 all of them down, it will not take five 

 minutes for their places to be filled by 

 another two or three. When there might 

 as well be a thousand after you, it is a 

 mosterj- there is not. 



I have also observed while stretched at 

 full length upon my back in the apiary 

 on a Sunday afternoon, directly under 

 the grand highway of bees as they hurry 

 to and from the apiary, that the air is 

 full of dark lines showing their course of 

 transit. It is a mystery that there are no 

 colHsions. While I have not seen a fatal 

 head on collision, I believe there are 

 many such collisions. I have observed 

 two lines meet and then slightly diverge 

 in slightly altered directions. This 

 might happen in a wing collision. These 

 little jolts are more numerous when the 

 bees are coming in heavily laden. At 

 such times bee-keepers have seen quite a 

 number of bees crawling disabled on the 

 ground with no apparent organic or mus- 

 cular ailment. Now I suggest that these 

 bees have been disabled in collisions. 

 Then why are there no collisions when 

 the bees are swarming? I think they do 

 collide on the wing. All of the bees are 

 loaded to repletion, and they fly with 

 their abdomens hanging down more than 

 usual, and there is no chance for a head 

 on collision. 



I have been trying to secure a photo- 

 graph of bees in such a crowded state. I 

 have not succeeded yet, but I am going to 

 try again sometime. I point the camera 

 upward and get the focus; then, after the 

 photo is taken, enlarge it and see what I 

 can see. I judge there will develop an 

 occasional collision; if not, then the mat- 

 ter w'ill still continue a mystery. 



Shermanton, Calif., Jan. 8, 1S99. 



SELLING SECTIONS BV COUNT. 



A Careful Consideration of its Advantages. 



J. E. CRANK. 



OTHAT our fathers should have sold 

 T^ their honey by weight is not surpris- 

 ing when they secured their honey in 



