72 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Jan. 31, 1901 



importance, and to know to a degree just how hot the water 

 really is, is accomplisht by a thermometer on the outside 

 which registers the exact temperature of the surrounding 

 water in the tank. A glance at this will tell us just where 

 we are '• at " at all times, and there is no danger of over- 

 heating except thru carelessness. Any variation from the 

 desired temperature is easily controlled by the perfect sys- 

 tem of heating, and cold water supply. All this will be ap- 

 preciated the more when it is said this tank is located in the 

 store in full view of all customers and visitors, and its novel 

 appearance excites much curiosity. The honey when re- 

 liquefied is run into bottles, corkt, and hermetically sealed 

 while hot with a preparation which looks like beesvrax, and 

 something especially appropriate and pleasing when used 

 for this purpose. 



Is this tank a success ? Well, I believe I can safely say 

 it is. Two bottles of reliquefied honey which I saw had 

 been on ice constantly for three months, and after this long 

 time did not show the least trace of granulation. If bottled 

 honey will stand so severe a test as this there is no neces- 

 sity for educating the people to eat granulated honey. I 

 was told a tank like this does not cost over SlOO, and it cer- 

 tainly would be a good investment for many. To see it 

 one would think it cost a great deal more. 



Such are a few of the good things Mr. Weber has 

 thought out himself, and if he could be induced to describe 

 them with his own pen I am sure he would put a few 

 " wrinkles " into some of the most prolific writers. 



Before closing I would like to say that some parts of 

 this article may read like a big puff for Mr. Weber. To all 

 those who think it such, I would say that I write only hop- 

 ing to give something new and practical to the readers, 

 and if a person deserves credit for such a thing it is no 

 more than right that he should be mentioned in connection 

 ^I'l^ it- Hamilton Co., Ohio. 



The Conklin Apiary in Rliyme. 



BY MRS. .IAN. K. ( OXKI.IX. 



In the village of Moravia this apiary's found — 

 Just out behind the barn are the busy workers 'round ; 

 Bounded on the east by berries, and on the west by hens, 

 On the north by a vacant lot, a neighbor it defends. . 

 The owner that's at work there, was born in '53 ; 

 He stayed on the farm with father until he married me. 

 We went to farming right away, instead of a wedding trip, 

 But he hankered so for honey that one day he bought a ■• skip.'' 

 ■Jfou all know what the fever is that one swarm brings to men— 

 "Well, I guess the only remedy is to get some more of them. 

 Mistakes, experiments, and even death didn't break the fever up- 

 Still on it raged till cooled by drink from a successful cup. 

 ■VVe finally gave farming up, and to the village came. 

 But his appetite tor honey is very much the same. 

 Bee-keeping sirs— and also wives— those both short and tall, 

 When passing thru this place we'll be glad to have you call. ' 



—Cayuga Co., N. Y., Dee. 19, I'.IOO. 



Tlie " Bull-Dog Ant " of Florida in the Apiary. 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



I HAVE been much interested in a correspondence with 

 H. E. Hill, of Florida, regarding a large red ant of that 



State. Mr. Hill says he has not seen this species in Can- 

 ada, Cuba, or in any section of the United States except 

 Florida. These ants are very serious pests in the apiary, 

 and their destructive habits make it imperative that the bee- 

 keeper give them special attention. Mr. Hill states that he 

 has lost as many as 19 nuclei in a single week from these 

 predatory ants. This is true notwithstanding that the 

 nuclei were fastened on the trunks of palm-trees quite 

 a distance from the ground. A further precaution was also 

 taken of placing a girdle of cotton wadding saturated with 

 carbolic acid around the tree above and below each nucleus. 



Districts not cultivated are fairly alive with these ants. 

 They burrow deep in the roots of old" stumps, under logs or 

 other pieces of wood, in the grass, between the walls of 

 buildings, in wood-piles, in ventilated hive-covers, beneath 

 the bottom-board of hives, in the vacant space of a con- 

 tracted hive, between the shingles of old buildings, in rot- 



ten portions of tall trees — in short, may be found in any 

 place that affords them a harbor. 



Mr. Hill has never counted them but believes that a 

 colony may number two or three thousand ants. It is quite 

 common, however, for a detachment of a few hundred to 

 gather in any place affording a safe rendezvous. They 

 are very ready to occupy any convenient harbor near the 

 apiary. Hence the need of great vigilance on the part of 

 the bee-keeper. 



It is a curious fact that queenless colonies, or any colony 

 in the apiary weak in numbers, are quick to be discovered 

 by these marauders and are almost certain of attack and 

 extinction. They always make their onslaught in the 

 night-time ; and even populous colonies not infrequently 

 succumb to their attack. 



I have long believed that ants are to the Arthropoda 

 what man is among Vertebrates. Even the study of the 

 ant's brain would establish its position at the head of its 

 phylum. Its brain is not only large in proportion to its 

 body, but has a kind of corrugation which reminds us of the 

 convolutions of our own brains and those of the other 

 higher mammalia. We know that ants sow seeds, clear the 

 ground, gather and cure their grain, make slaves, and do 

 many other things that indicate very high intelligence. 

 We are not surprised, then, at what Mr. Hill writes of this 

 apicide of Florida. He states that in the early evening, 

 scouts are sent out in advance of the main army, which se- 

 lect the colony of bees to be destroyed and plundered. 

 These advance agents may be seen running over the hive 

 at the very dawn of the night. In such case, the colony of 

 bees is usually doomed unless removed beyond the reach of 

 the menacing host. Mr. Hill has frequently removed the 

 imperilled colony with the result that an adjacent colony 

 was attackt and destroyed. 



This method has been the most successful of any tried. 

 Mr. Hill reports that the bees show the utmost conster- 

 nation when attackt by these ants. The chitinous crust, 

 which in all ants is very hard, is specially so in the case of 

 this bee-destroyer of Florida. The ant has immense 

 strength, is very agile and alert, and, by use of its sharp, 

 scissors-like jaws, is sure of victory. The hum of distress, 

 and even of despair, made by the bees is so characteristic, 

 that it would be quickly recognized even by the inexperi- 

 enced. 



As before stated, these attacks are always made in the 

 night. During the time of the contest, thousands of ants 

 may be seen running over the ground and the hives near 

 by. The ants grasp the bees and the two may be seen 

 whirling, one over the other, until the bee is hurled from 

 the hive maimed or dead. This hand-to-hand conflict, if 

 we may so call it, goes on until all that remains of the bees 

 is, to quote Mr. Hill, " a crawling, wreathing mass of dis- 

 membered bodies drabbled in perspiration and honey." 

 The victory is sure to come to the ants but is not without 

 its fearful sacrifices. Hundreds of the ants arq disabled or 

 killed in the battle. These are mixt with the perishing 

 bees and reach high up from the bottom-board between the 

 combs. After the terrible carnage, the remaining ants 

 feast upon the honey which is left in the comb and in the 

 honey-sacs of the dead bees. 



The immense numbers of these destroying ants can be 

 easily imagined, as Mr. Hill states that he has burned 

 thousands of colonies during the past two years. They 

 seem to be proof against the use of bi-sulphide of carbon. 

 When this liquid is used, they pick up their eg'gs and move 

 to new quarters. The free use of gasoline and the torch 

 seems the only practicable waj' to destroy the destroyers. 

 Mr. Hill has invented a very ingenuous way to protect his 

 queen-rearing colonies from these ant banditti. He places 

 them on a stand, the legs of which are so turned that a lit- 

 tle basin encircles each leg. This little basin is made im- 

 pervious by coating it on the inner side with paraffine. By 

 keeping this full of kerosine or carbolic acid, the ants are 

 unable to pass up the legs and so can not reach the bees. 

 Of course the liquid has to be replaced as it evaporates. 



Like all ants, this " bull-dog of Florida " has a sort of 

 scale or hump on its narrow thorax. There are two sizes 

 of the ants, the ordinary small workers and the much larger 

 soldiers. The heads are very large, the eyes round and 

 small, and the jaws very strong and sharp. The entire 

 body has numerous hairs. Except the eyes and the abdo- 

 men of the soldiers, and the tip of the same in the smaller 

 workers, which are black, the entire ant is red. As Mr. 

 Hill has not sent me any specimens of the queens. I do not 

 know how they differ from the others except as very likely 

 they are larger and will show stubs of wings. The queens 

 of all ants, as also the males or drones, have wings and fly 



