384 



THE BEB-KEEPFW REVIEW 



cay begins in small spots near the surface, 

 but, once began, is very rapid in its action. 

 Within a single da}' after the decayed 

 spots begin to show, the fruit may be- 

 come worthless. The bees discover these 

 incipient spots of decay and immediately 

 begin working upon them, eating their 

 way into the fruit. Two baskets of this 

 fruit placed side by side, one covered with 

 netting to keep away the bees, will be 

 equally valueless at the end of the day — 

 one eaten out by the bees, the other a 

 mass of decay. This fault of the early 

 clingstone peaches has caused man}- 

 fruit growers to abandon their cultivation. 



»"it»«^iL»ii^^» 



Measuring Bees' Tongues was de- 

 scribed by E. R. Root at the Ontario con- 

 vention. A cage of bees, a bottle of chlo- 

 roform, a magnifying glass, a large needle 

 and a micrometer that can be bought at 

 a hardware for 20 cts. are all the needful 

 articles. Put a few drops of chloroform 

 upon a handerchief, place it over a cage 

 of bees, and lay a book over it to confine 

 the chloroform. In a few moments the 

 bees will be senseless. For some reason 

 the effect of the chloroform is that of 

 compelling the bees to thrust out their 

 tongues. A bee is taken from the cage, 

 its head cut off and laid upon the microm- 

 eter with the tongue projecting along 

 the scale. The needle is pressed upon 

 the head, which causes the tongue to pro- 

 trude its whole length. By looking 

 through the magnifying glass the length 

 of the tongue can be counted ofif in looths 

 of an inch. 



W>fc»liF^»»^^i^ 



IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMB 

 AND BEESWAX? 



Dr. Miller and Bro. Root do not agree 

 with my views regarding the difference 

 between comb and wax. Bro. Root says 

 that he can see no difference in wax, 

 whether it is in comb or in the cake. 

 I have never made any scientific tests in 

 the matter, and I don't know as any one 

 has. My conclusions have been arrived 

 at simply from my observations as a bee- 



keeper and a consumer of honey; and, 

 if I have been deluding myself, I wish to 

 be set right. 



As I understand the matter, naturally 

 built comb is composed of little pellets, 

 or flakes, of wax patted and pressed to- 

 gether by the bees, thus leaving the 

 structure of a comparatively loose, fria- 

 ble nature that is easily broken up into 

 particles or flakes when chewed up with 

 bread and biscuit. Naturally built, new 

 comb might be compared to snow; bees- 

 wax to ice. This illustration is too strong, 

 but shovvs something what I mean The 

 melting of the comb puts the particles of 

 wax into closer connection, uniting them 

 into one solid, homogeneous mass. Mr. 

 Bingham has said that "butter is butter, 

 but melted butter is x^/'^-a.?!?." The melt- 

 ing destroys the granular charcacter of 

 butter. If any one thinks that butter 

 tastes anAfeels the same in the mouth 

 after it has been melted and cooled, let 

 him try melting some butter, and allowing 

 it to cool, and then spread it upon some 

 bread and try eating it. 



Ur. Miller savs that newly built comb 

 isn't biittle. It isn't, when warm, if com- 

 pared with .^/a'.w. This matter of brittle- 

 ness is one of comparison. Glass is brit- 

 tle as compared with cast iron, cast iron 

 is brittle as compared with pine wood, 

 pine is Virilile as conpared with hickory, 

 etc. Don't confuse hardness with brit- 

 tleness, Wronglit iron is nmch harder 

 thnn a 'intmiv: y^-t I'ie latter is broken 

 with a slight bend, while the former may 

 be bent double without breaking. 



When we put a piece of naturally built 

 comb into our mouth, and chew it up with 

 a piece of biscuit, the comb breaks up in- 

 to small particles or flakes, and mixes 

 with the biscuit, as I have before mention- 

 ed; not so with comb foundation. It 

 forms into a "gob" f beg pardon ) it is 

 tough and leathery, and refuses to break 

 up into small flakes or particles. Bro. 

 Root thinks that a man blindfolded, and 

 fed pieces of comb honey taken promiscu- 

 ously from sections that had been filled 

 with thin foundation, and from naturally 



