Mexico Missouri message., 1908-04-16
HORTICULTURE AND BEES.
Paper Read by F. E. Wentz Be-
fore the Audrain County n.
and B. A. Last Week.

uuutOr tue market. Tney deserve,
however, a much wider field of at.
tention, namely. that of their use
fulness in fertilizinR Of useful
plants aud flowers. In Australia
1t was found that clover seed could
not be produced until humble bees
were imported into that country.
In horticulture we find that the
bee is our co.worker, and without
the bee many Of our fruits would
be imperfect or absent.
The bee on It's journey to gather
honey or poleu never visits but one
variety of blossoms on its trip.
The pollen that is carried by the
bee from blossom to blossom is, In
many cases, the only means OF fer.
tiliZation Of the respective bios.
soms visited. Some flowers are
fertilized by insects other than the
bee, but such plants are usually Of
lesser value to the horticulturist,
and bloom in the night time.
| might also discribe the varied
forms and shapes OF flowers, their
dfOp OF honey, hidden 10 some re-
mote corner for the bee to get at +,
and how the bee is induced to rub
against the pollen, and how in visit
ing from blossom to blossom, the bee
performs its wonderful mission of
assisting plant life to reproduce
itself. In hot houses, some plants
are artifically fertilized by the gar
dener, for the reason that the bee
cannot get to them or it may be
out of season for the bee to work.
It is said, that during the Coal Per.
iod, flowers did not have the beau
tifUl color or fragrance as they
have at the present time. The
reason given for this imperfeetion
is that there were no insects 10
fertilize them.
When we consider the honeybee
from the view of producing honey.
we have a large field for investiga.
ton aud development. | will for
our present purpose take a swarm
Of bees and follow them through
some Of their habits, and how to
develope them for profit. / will
leave out the numerous varieties of
bees aud the historical development
OF apiculture, but will briefly con.
slider those in practical use in our
locality. The first step to take in
successful apiculture is ,, SECURE
an .to-date hive to live in.
Without a proper house for the
bees to live in, your efforts as an
apiculturist will be largely a fail.
ure. Some present may differ
with me as to ths kind OF hive to
prefer, aud many may still cling
to the cottage hive" ''the moth
prOof hive" aud many other p Itent
devices l might mention. Let ms
say and make this sweeping state
ment, that there Is no p8tent hive
30 good aud none batter than the
common 8 row. 10 framed box hive
with Hoffm1u frames or frames re.
sembliug tue sizs aud shape OF the
Hoffman frames. These frames
are abont IL inches long and 0 in
depth aud are hung into a box
about 20 inches long aud 9Is in.
ohes deep and from l2 to IL inches
wide. to accommodate either or
10 frames as the case may be.
These frames should be hung iuto
the box in such u way aud the box
made ia such manner that there
are no crevises that the bee eannOt
get at. The boz should be made
solid aud air tight. Before the
frames are hung into the bog or
hive. each frame should be filled
with a full sheet OF brood fOunda.
tiou. Let me say that Il is false
economy to use brood foundation
sparingly. After yaa have the
box hive complete. your flames in
place, your cover on, you are no W