June, 1913. 



191 



American Hee Journal 



of surplus honey per colony each year. 

 In addition to his sales of honey, Mr. 

 Strong rears thousands of fine Italian 

 queens which are sent out to bee-keep- 

 ers in every direction. 



There is room for many such api- 

 aries in Iowa. The young man who 

 can see no other avenue open to him, 

 may. if he is adapted to the work, soon 

 have a business and a home of his own 

 by beginning bee-keeping in a small 

 way in connection with his present 

 employment. A few bees can be kept 

 almost anywhere, and can be increased 

 as fast as the owner's ability or oppor- 

 tunity will permit. — Greater Jowa. 



Attacked by Bees. — Very formidable 

 is the concerted power of bees by the 

 million. This is shown in the e.xperi- 

 ence of a British expedition in Africa, 

 for the party was attacked and routed, 

 several of the pack donkeys being 

 killed by bees. 



The swarming foes were first en- 

 countered on a precipitous mountain, 

 where they had doubtless dwelt and 

 multiplied undisturbed for years, since 

 the place was sacred to an evil spirit 

 so dreaded by the tribesmen that they 

 never ventured to visit it. 



While resting in a shady spot the 

 commanding officer and his party 

 looked up to see a swarm of bees 

 streaming in and out of a large crevice 

 in the cliff. As the hole was close to 

 one of the worst portions of the as- 



cending ledge, strict silence was en- 

 joined on all the men. 



The Europeans in the party removed 

 their boots in order to get a secure 

 foothold, and the whole party crept 

 quietly along the face of the precipice. 

 But cautious though they were, there 

 was sufficient noise to attract the at- 

 tention of the suspicious bees. Soon 

 an angry cloud swarmed out. A false 

 step on the part of the men would 

 have been fatal, but there was no time 

 to think of their footing with the furi- 

 ous swarm at their heels. 



Fortunately no one slipped, and the 

 van of the e.xpedition, scrambling fran- 

 tically upward from their little ene- 

 mies, safely reached the summit of the 

 mountain, while those in the rear 

 bolted downward in the opposite direc- 

 tion and awaited them below. But 

 those on the moiintain top had next to 

 think of their return. Luckily for 

 them, the domestic habits of bees are 

 as orderly as their methods of harvest- 

 ing and architecture, and the men had 

 only to wait until after sunset, which is 

 the bed hour of all bees, to slip quietly 

 past unmolested, although, the task to 

 which such a delay reluctantly forced 

 them, of descending dangerous crags 

 and pathless slopes in the dark, was 

 more perilous than pleasant. 



Far more tragic was an attack in a 

 less dangerous spot, for in the sudden 

 scattering of the caravan before the 

 stinging hosts a sick man failed to 

 make his escape, and was left behind. 



He was missed, and the commanding 

 officer, with two natives, went back to 

 search for him beneath the hollow 

 tree wliere the bees had issued. 



The party set to work quartering the 

 ground near the tree. The bees 

 swarmed down upon them, and it was 

 impossible to avoid being stung. All 

 the men could do was to keep the in- 

 sects from their eyes. After a short 

 time it became too hot for the rescue 

 party, and they left. It was becoming 

 too hot for the officer also, when he 

 stumbled upon the native for whom 

 they were searching, and picking him 

 up he ran. 



The unhappy man, who wore only a 

 loin cloth, was frightfully stung. His 

 body, owing to the innumerable stings 

 left in it, instead of presenting a 

 smooth surface of clear black skin, ap- 

 peared to be covered with a close 

 brown fur. He died in about .5 hours. 



•A new use of propolis is 

 Francois " in the Rucher 



Propolis 



given by 

 Beige : 



To fasten gold leaf in the decoration 

 of walls, ceilings, mouldings, etc., they 

 generally use a solution of gum-lac or 

 fatty essence. This mixture has the in- 

 convenience of not permitting the ap- 

 plying of the gold leaf until 24 hours 

 after the mixture has been used. This 

 inconvenience is great in the case of 

 high ceilings, such as those of the Pal- 



Remakkable Portrait of Eggs in the Bottoms of CELLS.-lPhotographed by Edward F. Bigelow.) 



