Bees and Grapes. —Mr. W. H. Stout, in the Lancaster, Pa., Farmer, gives the following as his experience:
By close investigation I have satisfied myself that bees do not destroy sound grapes. I had, during the past season, 22 colonies of Italian and common black bees; all the hives were in close proximity to the grapes, while a number had the vines trained over them for shade during the heat of summer. The grapes are of the Concord variety, of which I had an abundance of fine fruit, some clusters of which grew within 18 inches of the entrance to the hives. Bunches of the grapes remained on the vines until the frost had killed the foliage, which fell off and left the grapes exposed, affording every temptation to the bees; and this, too, through a season when the honey yield from natural sources was so small that the bees consumed stores they had gathered earlier in the season. But the bees do work on grapes, and also on other fruits under certain conditions. If the skin of grapes, peaches, pears, etc., is ruptured from any cause, the bees, wasps, ants, etc., are very quick in discovering it, and soon leave only the dried shells. During the hot weather of August, especially when there are frequent showers, the skin of ripening fruit cracks, for reasons which I will leave to some philosophical friend to explain. My conclusions are not hasty; nor were my observations superficial; but they were prolonged from the time the first grapes ripened until the close of the season. I found some clusters of grapes literally covered with bees scrambling and fighting for the little sweets contained in the cracked grapes, which are the only ones on which they work, as I found out by driving the bees away and removing from the clusters all the bursted grapes, when the bees, as soon as they found only sound fruit remained, went away and left the grapes uninjured. We also laid some bunches of grapes on top of the hives and others close to the entrances, also left clusters hanging on the vines close to the hives, where they remained uninjured by the bees as long as the fruit was sound. I know very well that bees can gnaw through heavy muslin, or shave off wood and straw. To cover the bees we have quilts made of heavy muslin, which they sometimes bite through, and we have wood and straw hives on which they have enlarged the entrances; but, nevertheless, I am fully satisfied they do no injury whatever to sound fruit.
Feeding Rye-Meal. —In the Indiana Farmer Mr. F. L. Dougherty says:
“Bees will not raise brood without pollen in some shape. We frequently find colonies with but very little, and at times none at all. In crowding them on a few frames, quite frequently those left in the hive contain but little, if any. So it becomes necessary to furnish it to them, until they can gather it from natural sources. Unbolted rye-meal is probably the best substitute, although they will use wheat-flour, corn-meal, oat-meal, or in lieu of any of these, will even carry saw-dust. To get the bees started, place a piece of comb on the meal, and if the weather be pleasant and no pollen to be had they will soon appropriate it. They will leave the meal when natural pollen makes its appearance.”
☞ That excellent Monthly, published in Nyon, Switzerland, by Mons. E. Bertrand,—the “Bulletin D’Apiculteur pour la Suisse”—gives the Weekly Bee Journal the following kind notice:
“We have received the first 2 numbers of the American Bee Journal, which has been transferred from a Monthly to a Weekly, by its Editor, Mr. T. G. Newman. Only one apiarian publication is issued every 2 weeks, the Bienen-Zeitung of Eickstadt. That of Mr. Newman’s is, therefore, ‘the only one in the entire world which is published weekly.’ It is also, without doubt, the most universal. Its principal contributors are among the most distinguished bee-keepers of America, together with scientists, entomologists, chemists and farmers; and the number of those who send it communications can be called legion. It is, with an understanding of the full extent of the services which it renders, through the abundance of the observations and of the information which it brings before its readers, that we offer to our colleague and friend our warmest felicitations on the occasion of the new development of his publication.”
This very kind notice is the more valuable as Mons. E. Bertrand is a man of intelligence and wealth, whose sole interest is his love of the pursuit of bee-keeping.