294 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 21, 1904. 



WIRING FRAMBS — CBHAR VENTILATION. 



Mr. Fixter gave the results of some experiments on 

 this subject. 



Mr. McEvoy recommended the larger embedder in pref- 

 erence to the star wheel. 



Mr. Hall — I kicked against wiring frames. But four 

 years ago I started and am still at it. A point in favor of 

 the little wheel— it crimps the wire and makes it tight, any- 

 way. You want the foundation to come right down to the 

 bottom-bar. Have a stiflF wire, much heavier than that used 

 for wiring, put upright in the middle of the frame. This 

 braces the bottom-bar, and keeps it from springing up in 

 the middle. I want a good, stiff top-bar, and the rest of the 

 frame real light. 



In reference to cellar ventilation, Mr. Byer told of two 

 cellars in which he wintered bees. The one was in a clay 

 soil, the other in a sandy soil. He made no provision for 

 ventilation, and in the sandy soil the bees wintered much 

 better than in the other. He also described his method of 

 making sugar syrup for fall feeding. With reference to 

 the second crop of sainfoin it might be like the second crop 

 of alsike— too weak to yield nectar of any account. 



REVISION OF BY-LAWS. 



The committee appointed to revise the By-Laws then 

 read their report. In short, it provided for a considerable 

 reduction in the size of the board of management. It was 

 to consist of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, 

 and five directors to be elected at large. Besides ordinary 

 duties the president was to direct the inspector for the sup- 

 pression of foul brood, also to file all letters pertaining to 

 this, and to keep copies of them and hand to his successor 

 in office. Sections 19 and 20, allowing delegates from 

 affiliated societies to exercise all the rights and privileges 

 of members of the Association were to be struck out. 



Mr. Lott, who introduced the report, pointed out that 

 the Association was not making the progress it should. The 

 membership does not increase ; we spend a great deal of 

 money paying the expenses of a large body of directors with 

 very little return for the investment. Nothing is being 

 done towards securing better markets for our honey. He 

 had no personal feelings in the matter, but wanted the best 

 men in the Association as directors, no matter what part of 

 the country they came from. 



After a prolonged discussion the report was given the 

 12 months hoist by a small majority. 



MOISTURE IN HONEY. 



Prof. F. T. Shutt, chemist of the Experimental Farm 

 at Ottawa, gave a short address on experiments to deter- 

 mine the moisture in honey. His work this year has been a 

 continuation of last year's work. They had learned by 

 careful experiment what experienced bee-men knew in a 

 general way, that honey was extremely hygroscopic, and 

 should be stored in a dry atmosphere. The experiments of 

 1902 showed that honey as extracted from capped combs con- 

 tained 15.88 percent of moisture. After exposure to a dry 

 atmosphere in a glass cylinder for one mouth, the moisture 

 percent was reduced to 14.24. That is, with a small surface 

 exposed it lost 1.64 percent of moisture, becoming that 

 much lighter and thicker. Exposed in the same way to a 

 moist atmosphere for one month, it was found to contain 

 31.46 percent of water, or nearly twice as much water. On 

 exposure in a flat dish for three weeks to a dry air it was 

 found to contain 13.84 percent, or about 2 percent less 

 water ; but when exposed in the same way to moist air the 

 percentage of water became 48.23. That is, it became nearly 

 half water by just three weeks' exposure in a damp atmos- 

 phere. We learn from this that when honey is left open in 

 dry air it will thicken, or '-ripen," a very little ; but ex- 

 posed in damp air it thins a very great deal. 



This year the Professor has conducted experiments 

 comparing the ability of comb honey and extracted honey 

 to absorb or give off moisture. The results show that comb 

 honey is affected by changes of humidity like extracted 

 honey, but in a lesser degree. 



MAKING HONEY-VINEGAR. 



Prof. Shutt also reported some experiments in making- 

 honey-vinegar, but he had not been able to control the con- 

 ditions sufficiently to obtain satisfactory results. Six iars 

 were filled with different solutions of honey and water No 

 1 contained 1 lb. per gallon ; No. 2, 2 lbs.; No. 3, 3 lbs.' No' 

 4, 4 lbs.; No. 5, 5 lbs.; No. 6, 6 lbs. 



Each was started with mother-vinegar plant. At the 

 end of a certain time the acidity of the contents of each jar 



was tested. In the first jar was found .6 acetic acid ; in the 

 2d, .979 ; 3d, .7 ; 4th, .58 ; 5th, .6 ; 6th, .295. 



The result was unsatisfactory, as the temperature 

 could not be kept above 60 to 70 degrees, Fahr., when it 

 should have been 80 degrees. It is proposed to work on this 

 during the hot weather next summer. When over 3 pounds 

 of honey per gallon is used the solution is too sweet. The 

 main point is exposure to the air to allow the plant to grow. 

 Allow the solution to trickle from one barrel to another over 

 shavings. 



HONKY-DEW. 



Prof. Shutt explained that this substance may originate 

 in plant-lice, or by exudation from the leaves. There are 

 conditions when the air is humid and the tree can not 

 transpire, then this sugary matter exudes from the leaves. 

 The samples that had been submitted were too small, but he 

 had ascertained that the water percent of this honey-dew 

 was 20.24 instead of 15.88, as in the case of honey. Twenty 

 percent is dangerously near the fermentation. 



ADULTERATED HONEY. 



The Inland Revenue department of Ottawa, said Prof. 

 Shutt, made a collection recently of samples of honey from 

 various parts of the Province. Of these only 13 percent 

 were found adulterated, and 5 percent doubtful. The other 

 82 percent were undoubtedly pure. They reported some 

 samples of adulterated foundation. 



(Concluded next weekj 



( 



Contributed Articles 





Bees Packing Pollen in the Cells. 



BY ADRIAN GETAZ. 



IN the book, "ABC of Bee-Culture," the statement is 

 made that the bees use their heads as a "battering 

 ram " to pack the pollen stored in the cells. A corres- 

 pondent asked, some time ago, how the bees could use their 

 heads as " battering rams " to pack the pollen in the cells, 

 when such delicate and tender organs as the eyes and anten- 

 nae constitute the forepart of the bee's head. 



That correspondent is widely mistaken in speaking of 

 the eyes and antennae of the bees as " delicate and tender 

 organs." Bees and other insects are not built on that plan. 

 In the human body, and all the higher animals, we find 

 a bony skeleton. Around this are attached different organs, 

 and the whole is covered by the skin. But the insects are 

 constructed in an entirely different way. The bones, so to 

 speak, outside. The body consists of a series of boxes made 

 of very hard and resistant substance of a horny nature, 

 called " chitine." The interior organs of the insect are in- 

 side those boxes, and communicate with the outside world 

 through suitable openings. 



ANTENN.5. 



The antennje are built on the same principles. They 

 consist of a succession of chitinous rings, articulated to- 

 gether. Figures 1 and 2 are taken from Cheshire (Vol. 1, 

 page 104). I have represented (Fig. l)ouly the outer cover- 

 ing, and left out the interior organs. No. 2 shows how the 

 different pieces are articulated together. 



Inside this outer covering are found the organs of hear- 

 ing and smelling, receiving the impressions from outside 

 through very minute holes. The antenn^t- are also provided 

 with hairs which are the organs of touch (Fig. 3). Each 

 hair passes through an elastic ring fi.xed in an opening in 

 the chitinous outside. When anything touches the hair and 

 passes it, the ring permits the hair to yield and transmit 

 the pressure to the interior nerve. 



The eyes are also constructed on the same principle. 

 We speak of them as a collection of single eyes, each corres- 

 ponding to one of the facets. That is true concerning the 

 internal parts. But the facets themselves form practically 

 a single plate, very resistant, and comparatively thick, of 

 perfectly transparent chitine. Fig. 4 is from a series of 

 articles by Cowan, published in the Revue Internationale, in 

 1899. The interior details are in part omitted. 



