pRoroLis. 



346 



PROPOLIS. 



light cotton gloves which he slips on when 

 handling his waxy frames, and his hands 

 are left clean whenever he is obliged to stop 

 work. For removing it from glass, etc., 

 alcohol is perhaps best. When we have 

 much glass soiled, it can often be cleaned 

 most expeditiously by boiling it in a kettle 

 of water with a quantity of wood ashes, or, 

 better, lye. Right here we can not do better 

 than to reprint an article by Miss Wilson, 

 Dr. Miller's assistant, from Gleanings in Bee 

 Vulture. 



WlR'ii I cleaned the T tins with concentrated lye, 

 I felt pretty svire that hives, supers, separators, 

 etc., could be cleaned in the same way, but was so 

 busy I could not take time just then to experi- 

 ment, hence concluded to say nothing about it till I 

 could find time to test the matter. This morning. 

 May 5th, being the first opportunity I have had, I 

 concluded to experiment a little. 



I put on my wash-boiler witli water and lye, then 

 went to the shop and selected the most badly pro" 

 polized supers and separators that I could find as 

 fit subjects on which to experiment. I dropped a 

 few separators into the boiler while the water was 

 yet cold, to see what effect it would have on them. 

 I couldn't see that it affected them in the least 

 until the water almost reached the boiling-point, 

 when tlie propolis disappeared. 



What I was most afraid of was that the sepa- 

 rators while wet would cling so closely together 

 that the lye would not reach every part, and hence 

 they would not all be perfectly clean. I was glad to 

 find these few did not bother at all, but came out 

 perfectly clean. I stirred them with the poker 

 while boiling, although I don't know that it was 

 necessary, as I tried another lot without stirring, 

 and they came out just as clean. I next tied up a 

 bundle of 59 separators, that being the number I 

 had handy. Of course, they were tied loosely. 

 I dropped them in, having a strong cord tied 

 around the middle of the bundle to lift them out 

 by. I let them boil two or three minutes, and took 

 them out; 33 of them were perfectly clean. The 

 rest, the center of the bundle, still had some pro- 

 polis left on, and were treated to a second dose. 



Taking a very large quantity of the separators 

 atone time, there might be more trouble than 1 

 think, about getting them clean, but I don't be- 

 lieve there would be if the water were kept hot 

 enough, and enough of the lye used. I don't think 

 any harm would come from having it unnecessari- 

 ly strong. 



I ne.\t tried dipping the T supers. My boiler was 

 large enough to clean only half a super at a time, 

 so I liad to dip in one half, reverse it, and dip tlie 

 other half. Had I been able to dip one all at once, 

 I think I could have cleaned one a minute. And 

 they are beautifully cleaned. I don't know of any 

 other way they could be cleaned so nicely— quite 

 as clean, I think, as when new. We scraped all 

 our supers before the lye was thought of; and 

 while they :ire much improved by the scraping, 

 they are not nearly as nice as when cleaned with 

 lye, while the scraping is harder work. 



I did not have anything large enough to dip a 

 hive into, but of course a hive would clean as read- 

 ily as a super. With convenient apparatus to work 

 with, a large number of such articles as separat- 

 ors could be cleaned at a time with no very great 

 amount of labor. It is sucli a comfort to have ev- 

 ery thing clean! Wood separators are so cheap 

 that we have always thought it did not pay to 

 clean them. I rather think we sluiU <;onclude that 

 it does pay, after this, providing we can get them 

 satisfactorily di'ied in good shape. 



DO THE BEES NEED PROPOLIS? 



Much discussion has arisen in regard to 

 the habit bees have of making all openings 

 tight with propolis. Theory says, if allowed 

 to follow their bent, or instinct, they will 

 smother themselves to death. Practice says 

 they do, at least at times, so prevent the es- 

 cape of moisture that their home gets damp 

 and wet, filled with icicles, etc., so that they 

 suffer; or, at least, such is the case in the 

 hives we have provided for them. Who 

 is right — the bees or the enlightened bee- 

 keeper? The greater part of the fault lies 

 in the hive we have given them. The 

 enameled cloth which we formerly used 

 for covering bees is as impervious to air 

 and moisture as the propolis they collect 

 with so much pains and trouble. If the 

 outside of this is allowed to get frosty, it 

 will, most assuredly, condense the breath of 

 the bees on the inside; and if the outside is 

 but thinly protected from the weather, ici- 

 cles will certainly form on the inside, and 

 freeze the bees all fast in a lump. Now we 

 would have no fear at all in having the bees 

 wax up every thing as tight as they wished, 

 if we could have their winter apartment 

 made so small that they completely filled it — 

 filled it so full, indeed, as to be crowded out 

 at the entrance, unless in very cold weather — 

 and have the entire outside protected with 

 some non-conductor that would enable the 

 bees to keep the inner walls warm at all 

 times. W e think then we should have no 

 dampness. With chaff packing and chaff 

 cushions, we have succeeded so well that we 

 are perfectly willing the little fellows shall 

 fix up just as snug for winter as their in- 

 stinct prompts them to do. 



VALUE OF PROPOLIS. 



The gum has been used to some extent in 

 medicine ; also in the preparation of certain 

 leather polishes. It is claimed that propolis 

 for this purpose possesses a property that 

 renders it superior to any of the pitches or 

 resins. 



