The Apiary

MICHIGAN BEE-KEEPERS.

The Michigan Bee-Keepers' Association held their annual convention at
Lansing, Mich., on Wednesday and
Thursday, March 14 and 15.
The attendance was quite large and
the interest manifested by the meeting
proved that the apiarists are a growing
power in the country,

Want of space prevents a complete report of the convention being given, but
in justice to the magnitude and importance of the subject treated, the following papers are presented :

The Reciprocal Benefits of Bees and
Plants.

The following full abstract was prepared by the author, Professor W. J.
Beal of the Agricultural College:

The mutual benefits of insects and plants
are wonderful, varied, and manifold. With
some plants, like Indian corn, pines, and
spruces, the wind is the prominent agent in
distributing the pollen. To atone for this
imperfect method and the great waste likely
to follow, nature secretes a profusion of the
fertilizing dust. In the case of the trumpet-
creeper and many tropical plants, the humming bird often transfers pollen from flower
to flower. In some instances snails do a similar work ; in others, water, as in the case of
our eel-grass. In many cases flies, butterflies, moths, beetles and bugs are very efficient in the same good work. Hornets, wasps,
bumble-bees, and especially honey-bees, are
also frequent visitors to the flowers of plants
for the purpose of collecting the pollen and
nectar for themselves and for their young.
Of all insects, the hive bees and their allies
show the most intelligence in their behavior
toward plants. The flowers of all our willows and poplars are of two kinds-male and
female. The flowers are on distinct trees
which are often separated by considerable
distances. In some cases the pollen may be
transferred by the wind, but in most cases it
is undoubtedly carried by the bees which are
very active while the flowers are fresh in
early spring. The flowers of all our melons,
pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, gourds and
the like are of two kinds on different portions
of the same plant. The flowers are each furnished with a long or rather deep corolla in
many cases, and the plants often lie flat on
the ground where the leaves cover the flowers
from the action of the wind. Bees and other
insects are the necessary agents in crossing
the flowers, and to them we are indebted as
one of the links in the chain which affords
all our gourd-like fruits. In nature there are
many other examples of plants in which the
two kinds of flowers are separate, as in oak,
chestnut, beech, hazel, walnut, hickory, and
many more. But how is it with most of our
flowers which are perfect, i. e., those having
both stamens and pistils? I should have
mentioned that notwithstanding the stamens
and pistils are near each other on trees of the
chestnut, and the pistils are evidently abundantly dusted with pollen, yet no fruit sets
unless two trees are somewhere near each
other, that the pollen of one tree may get
upon the pistils of the other. In such cases
the flowers of the two trees fertilize each other.
The same is said to be true with one stalk of
corn in a distant field. I intend to try this
more fully the coming season, and in a similar manner test many other plants singly to
see if they will produce seed, and whether
the quantity and quality are good. Most of
our cultivated strawberries have perfect
flowers, and may be self-fertilized, at least to
a great extent; but the Hovey, green prolific,
and some others, have poor or abortive stamens. That they may be fruitful, it is the
practice to mix the plants with the Wilson or
some other plants bearing perfect flowers.
The bees carry the pollen and take the honey. But how is it with the majority of perfect flowers which have good stamens and
good pistils in the same flower? In many of
these the pollen is applied to the stigma by
insects, and such flowers are rendered more
fruitful by these insects than they would be
if the flowers were left to themselves. This
has been proven by experiment to be the
case in many instances, though some flowers
are no more likely to seed with the help of
insects than without. Very many of our
perfect flowers present or ripen the anthers
a day or so before the stamens are ready.
Such are the lobelias, campanulas, -most all
the compositae which includes about one-
ninth of all the flowering plants of this part
of the country. The last order includes the
sunflower, aster, golden-rod, dandelion, etc.
Flowers of spilobrium or willow herb and
clerodendron, thrust the stamens out straight
when ripe, while the miniature stigma is
curled back and unopened. On the following
day, after the pollen is gone, the stigma
straightens out and opens. In the case of
clerodendron, the stamens curl back when
the style straightens. The stigmas are the
brides too late for the marriage of nearest
relatives, for the pollen or bridegrooms have
been carried off by the insect priests, and
may be wedded to others not related or not
very nearly related. All plants producing
the ripe anthers before the stigmas are protandrous. Many others are protogenous.
They present or ripen the stigmas before the




anthers shed pollen. Of such we have the rib
grass or plantago, forget-me-not, scropularia.
[Full explanations are useless without illustrations. The Professor showed many of these
by figures on the blackboard and on charts.]

We may almost say that flowers which are
protandrous or protogenous are the rule
and not the exception. Honey bees are the
most prominent, but not generally the only
insects which transfer the pollen. In the
primrose of our greenhouses, Houstonia
and partridge-berry and others, all the styles
of the flowers on one plant, and those propagated from this by cuttings are of a certain
length. They are long on some plants and
short on others. On plants with long styles
showing the stigma at the throat of the corolla, the stamens are inserted on the corolla
below, near, or towards the base of the flower,
while flowers with short styles have stamens
at the throat of the corolla. Some experiments show that the plants are most productive of good seeds when stigmas of the long
styles are fertilized by anthers occupying a
similar position on flowers of other plants.

And so of the short stigmas. The above
plants are often called dimorphous lytherum
solicaria, loose strips, and others perhaps
are trimorphous, i. e., there are stamens of
three different lengths, and styles -of three
different lengths, long, medium and short. If
a flower has a medium style it has long and
short stamens; if it has a short style, it has
medium and long stamens. What does this
mean? Why, that bees (I have seen them at
work thus) carry the pollen to the styles of
different lengths by different parts of their
bodies which have touched the anthers on
stamens of a corresponding length which
were on other flowers of other plants. There
is an endless number of special contrivances
differing in plan and details in each flower or
genus of flowers. Those interested are referred to Gray's "How Plants Behave," for
details and illustrations of kalmia, milkweeds,
orchids, iris, etc. Prof. Riley observed a
small moth especially adapted to fertilizing a
yucca. She layed an egg and then sipped
honey, and so repeated the operation. The
plant reared her young insects. She took the
honey and transferred the pollen enabling
the plant to set seeds. Insect and plant were
useless each without the other. This is somewhat true of the striped cucumber-beetle.
She eats the young plants, and, later, the pollen and honey, but she helps the plants to seed.

The flowers of martynia trumpet creeper,
mimulus catalpa, bladderwort, and others
have broad flat stigmas which curl apart.
When touched by a bee's head in passing in,
the stigmas close in a few seconds, and cover
the surface which is sensitive to pollen.
While taking the honey, the bees are dusted
with pollen which is just in the right place to
be left on the stigma when entering the next
flower. In these flowers, self-fertilization is
impossible unless in rare and exceptional
cases. For particulars see American Journal of Science for October 1876, in article on
the subject by the author of this lecture.
Flowers of Dutchman's-pipe, some arums,
and lady's-slippers entrap and hold as prisoners different kinds of small insects which
enter them. They are no prisons like Libby
or Andersonville in miniature, for they treat
their prisoners well, with good shelter and an
abundance of food and drink of the best that
nature affords. The flowers of our common
flax are absolutely sterile when close fertilized
by the pollen which is ready in abundance,
and often falls upon the stigma of the same
flower. Bees cause the flowers to get seeds
by crossing with the proper pollen. Our crop
of flax seed, then, is benefitted in yield, and
in some cases entirely dependent on the aid of
the little busy bee. Our common garden beans
are self-fertilizing to a certain extent, but the
crop is more than doubled by the aid of the
bees.

Most or all plants are better for a cross.
This is not always so apparent at first, as it
is after several generations of plants raised
from self-fertilized flowers. In such cases, a
cross adds increased vigor and fruitfulness.
Many, very many flowers you see are as
plainly intended for cross fertilization as the
beak and talons of the eagle are intended for
catching, holding and tearing prey. Not honey
bees, but little insects nearly akin, produce
the galls on oak. The oak kindly receives
the egg, swells up a soft succulent house and
gives the young worm an abundance of food.
An insect lays an egg in the stem of a golden
rod, or in the tip of a young stem of willow.
A brush in one case, a cone in the other is
produced to nourish the young worm and
feed it and shelter it to maturity. Whether
these insects repay these plants for their kind
reception I have not been able to find out.
Paid or not paid, they have food enough and
to spare for these interesting little creatures.
With small bladders, the bladderwort is busy
catching microscopic animals, and retaining
them till dead, and then slowly transferring
the nourishing juices to the rest of the plant.
Here is cruelty even among humble plants.

The queer common pitcher plant of our
swamps is supplied on the inside with spines
pointing downwards. This is the case with numerous others on the continent. Some of them
prepare a honeyed secretion which grows
more abundant until the lid or open mouth
of the pitcher is reached. Insects are enticed, lured on, like a tippler in the dram shop
to the open mouth of destruction. Curiously
constructed lids make the mouth dark, and
help to keep the insect from escaping. Most
of them cannot walk up the inside of the
pitcher. They are drowned by the liquid below, and devoured by the carnivorous plant.
A few insects, among them a moth, is provid-
ed with sharp stiff spines on her legs which
act like stilts to enable her to walk up and
down among the stiff spines in the pitcher.
When a boy, we used to make a box trap for
squirrels and rats. To deceive them and make
them waste their strength, in busily gnawing
where it would not injure the trap, we bored
small holes through the sides, and nailed over
a piece of tin with a hole through it to let in
the light. In the pitcher plant of the southern swamps are thin translucent spots towards which the insects are attracted instead
of the open mouth above which is shaded by
the overshowing lid. This is one of nature's
cunning traps. The martynia plant and
others catch and suck to death with their
sticky glands innumerable small insects.
The venus fly trap of Carolina, every one
knows about, and very likely they have heard
of the several kinds of sun-dews which catch
little flies with their glands.

Honey is secreted in different parts, or by
different organs of the flower. Sepals, petals, stamens, pistils, and disk, each in different flowers is found to secrete nectar. By this I mean, that one kind of flower secretes
honey with its petals, another kind by sepals
and so on. Petals attract bees. Saunders, of
Canada, cut off the petals of raspberries and
by so doing made it difficult or impossible

for the bees to find the honey. Individual
bees have been observed to behave different-
ly about flowers, in some respects, from a
majority of bees. Some are excentric. They
have their own peculiarities. Nageli put ar-
tificial flowers to branches, and used essen-
tial oil on some, and on others he used no oil.
The odor attracted them to the flowers con-
taining it. Aristotle, 2000 years ago saw that
hive bees worked continuously on flowers of
the same species, They even do so when the
flowers are not all colored alike, as in some
plants in our flower gardens. By this means
they economize time. They get the hang of
it. They learn how better to make more
rapid motions, and to make every motion
count. The same as is true of people who
become expert in certain parts of any trade
after much practice in often repeating the
same operation. In some cases, large num-
bers of honey bees soon learn to glean after
bumble bees, where the latter have made
holes into the nectar. I have seen orioles
pinching the tube of the Missouri currant or
yellow currant, to get the little honey from
each flower. This left a small hole which the
honey bees were not slow to find, and to fre-
quently use as long as the flower remained
fresh. We have thus seen some of the di-
verse contrivances by which plants are made
to secure cross fertilization. The list might
be almost indefinitely extended, and yet find
something different in nearly all of them.
Flowers shut up, go to sleep, bend over in all
manner of ways to prevent themselves from
wind and weather, to retain the essential
parts in a fresh condition until the time
when the proper insects are likely to be
about. If they are intended for the visits of
moths, they open when the moths are likely
to fly, and do not waste their sweetness in
daylight. If, like the dandelion, they are de-
pendent to any degree upon bees and other
day insects, there is no need of their remain-
ing wide awake all night. They had better
close up as they do, and keep fresh for the
best part of several days. So you see, the
honey is placed in the flowers as wages to

honey is placed in the flowers as wages to
pay the bees for serving the plants. The
colors and odors are advertisements to call
the attention of insects to the rich supplies
of food in store for them. It may be said
that the honey is there for the bees, but pri-
marily it is there for the good of the plant,
secondarily for the good of the insect. As
has been said, "The flowers surpass in an
incomparable degree, the contrivances and
adaptations which the most fertile imagina-
tion of the most imaginative man could sug-
gest with unlimited time at his disposal."
You who like the honey bee so well, and have
become so familiar with its habits and great
worth, will think no less of her on account
of my showing her value to the plants which
are visited. Had good old Dr. Watts lived in
our day, and become famillar with those
parts of science, he would very likely have
written the familiar stanza in this way.
How doth the little busy bee,
Improve each shining hour,
By carrying pollen day by day
To fertilize each flower.
CAN WOMEN KEEP BEES WITH PROFIT.
Upon this topic we take the following from
a communication by Mrs. M. A. Bills, of
Hillsdale Co. To the inquiry Imight simply
answer yes, decidedly, and append my sig-
nature. But I presume you wanted more-a
little experience. Not having kept a journal,
I cannot be very definite. After three years of
Joss and mishaps as amateur and beginner,
in which the profit and loss about balanced, I
began in 1875 with ten stocks, in the old
American hive, none of them full. All were
hybrid bees. I had some natural swarms, but
generally prevented such. I lost three swarms
which went to the woods, and closed the sea-
son with four strong stocks, with plenty of
winter stores and something over 2,200 pounds
of honey, all of which, except what the family
used, was sold at 16 to 25 cents per pound,
most of it at 20 cents. All the bees went to
March in fine condition. All were heavy and
breeding finely. It being cold and windy,
they were replaced in the cel lar from which
they had been removed ; very warm spring

they had been removed ; very warm spring
weather followed. lilness prevented proper
attention, and all but sixteen young swarms
fretted to death. Sickness and death in the
family prevented much attention to bees, but
in autumn 1 had forty stocks again, but only
about 1,300 pounds of honey. Honey sold for
16 to 25 cents and two stocks for $20. At
present all the stocks are doing well. I now
use the double American hive, with some of
my own family improvements. I have given
them very imperfect care, yet for every dol-
lar I have spent the bees have returned me
at least five. I feel sure I can do much better.
It is a healthful, and interesting, and profit-
able pursuit. The lack of a suitable market
is the only risky feature of bee keeping.
DESIRABLE COMBS-HOW SECURED.
Of this paper, by James Heddor, Dowagiac,
we abstract the following: "My views are
formed from an experience of nine years.
For desirable combs for brooding purposes, I
know of none so good as bee honey comb. I
know of no better way to get them built than
to put honey bees into a cavity and empty
box in times of a year of nectar. Is this
idea old ?. If novices go on in their wild ca-
reer of artificial bee keeping, the above
method will soon be patentable. We can
take two hives, and, by assorting them, get
all the drone comb in one, while in the other
we shall have the worker comb ; but later
some of these cells will be changed to drone
cells. We cannot change their nature, but
we can hedge it about sometimes, to our ad-
vantage. Colonies act differently in this re-
spect. I can bring all hives up so near to the
maximum point of working comb by the
proper construction of the hive that further
time spent would be useless. I doubt if it
would be wise to keep a single colony devoid
of drone comb. Stocks containing a fair
amount of drone comb seem to be most profit-
able. If bees are guided by the right kind of
wooden guides, properly spaced, we shall find
mostly cheap, choice store comb, full of honey
and free from brood and bee bread. Allow

and free from brood and bee bread. Allow
me a few words on other subjects. Three
subjects on the programme seem to outweigh
all the rest. I cannot but look upon the
vending of patent hives as decidedly wrong.
Let our association discuss this point, and
post up bee owners in this regard. I have
given away hours of time, dollars of stamps,
and more or less of wood and nails, and am
willing to continue doing so. I intend to put
an article on this subject into our county
paper, and hope you will do likewise."
HOW MAY WE IMPROVE OUR BEES.
From the paper read by Charles Dad-
ant, of Hamilton, Ill., we abstract the
following :
The law of variation in the way of improve-
ment is as eternal as matter itself, aud as in-
destructable. It is a living force which all
beings obey. The natural changes continue


even under our eyes. The paper notices some
of the changes which have taken place among
large domestic animals. The same may be
done for bees. Man can increase in them
what he thinks desirable, and diminish the
peculiarities considered noxious. [Is there
much prospect of doing away with the sting
or in reducing its sharpness or poison. Re-
porter.] To aid in improving bees take any
advantage of a spot or variation in color. We
have the black, the grey, the Italian, the Caro-
lina, the Egyptian, the Cyprian, and the Albino
bees. They vary in other respects. If we find
a kind having some desirable qualities, we
can take advantage of it. In my opinion, the
most desirable qualities to be striven for are
activity, fertility, endurance, peacefulness,
and beauty. By activity, I mean active to
work in gathering honey; by fertility, a
queen that can fill the combs with brood early
in the spring. Both of these qualities would
be useless unless our bees could endure our
hard winters. Of the kinds mentioned, sup-
pose we had twenty pure colonies. We select
two of them, one to raise drones, one to raise
the queens. We take care to replace all the
drone combs by worker combs ; and we take
the advantage of a warm temperature in
March to slip drone combs between two work-
er combs, in the colony intended to raise
drones. As soon as a few drones are hatched
we begin to raise queens. To this end we
deprive one of our colonies of its queen, and
change all its brood combs with a similar
number of our selected colonly, taking care
to brush every bee from the comb before in-
troducing them into the hives. Ten days
after, we can introduce in other colonies,
rendered queenless on the preceding day, the
queen cells obtained ; or make swarms as we
like. During the season we watch to see
which colony possesses the desired qualities
in the highest degree. The best queens are
raised in good season, in strong colonies hav-
ing a quantity of fresh pollen and unsealed
honey, while queens raised in the cold sea-
son in small swarms are generally poor.
Twenty years ago a French writer advised

Twenty years ago a French writer advised
changing colonies with others some distance
away to avoid too close in-and-in breeding
and thus get more active bees and more fer-
tile queens. My experience has confirmed
this view. The lazyest bees I ever saw were
all in one neighborhood where all the swarms
came from one hive. Many have noticed how
much superior the bees became after intro-
ducing Italians. I cannot close my essay
without saying a word about the ne plus ultra
of the present, past, and future, the Cyprian
bee. I had five colonies sent me, but all the
queens were smashed. The peasants do not
know how to put them up and the changes.
and delays are many.