CUCUMBER 335 
haustive to the insects. They naturally resent confine- 
ment and such abnormal conditions. The cucumber, too, 
though it supplies pollen which the bees gather, produces 
practically no nectar. Unless unusual care is exercised, 
the colonies soon become very weak and unfit for the 
performance of their important work in the forcing of 
cucumbers. Most of our commercial growers are not 
apiarists, and they have no interest in bees except as they 
are essential in the forcing of cucumbers. Such men do 
not devote more time to the bees than is absolutely 
necessary. They often prefer to buy new colonies every 
year, and then simply sacrifice them for the crop of cu- 
cumbers. In some sections, as around Boston, some 
apiarists make a business of producing bees mainly or 
perhaps especially for cucumber growers, and a good 
price is generally charged for the colonies. Pure Italian 
bees are considered the best workers, and they are also 
more docile and not so ill-tempered as common bees and 
crosses between the blacks and Italians. 
The hives of bees should be placed in the houses during 
the night and the entrances opened the next morning. 
The bees will be very impatient for a few hours or per- 
haps a day or two, and some of them are always lost in 
their repeated attempts to escape by flying against the 
glass. If the ventilators are kept closed, or nearly so, for 
a couple of days, or until the bees have adjusted them- 
selves to the new conditions, comparatively few will 
escape. It is unnecessary to screen the ventilator open- 
ings, for a large percentage of the bees that venture out- 
side will find their way back to the hives. Placing the 
hives just outside the houses is a great advantage from 
this standpoint. An excellent plan when the weather is 
warm is to remove a pane or two of glass in the corners 
of the houses so that the bees can get out when they 
worry themselves by bumping against-the glass. They 
will find their way back through the ventilator openings 
