408 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



June 



deeply interested in your account of your 

 lighting the battle in putting down self; 

 but I confess that I felt somewhat disap- 

 pointed that you did not make some allu- 

 sion to Ilim who lived a human life, and 

 " pleased not himself." How can you help 

 thinking of those words, "Whoso will be 

 chief among you, let him be your servant"? 



FKOM THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. 



FRIEND BAIjDENSPERGER INFRINGES UPON MER- 

 RYBANKS' WOODEN-PAIL, BEE-HIVE. 



The " haj " Mustapha, as the title " haj " is called, 

 was a devout man, and had performed his pilgrim- 

 age to Mecca, on return from which the pilgrim 

 (that is the literal translation of the word) receives 

 the name of "pilgrim," or "haj," and is then ex- 

 pected to perform his five prayers daily. An omit- 

 ted prayer may be recalled by saying two prayers 

 next day at the time missed. The five prayers are 

 to be said at daybreak, midday, four o'clock, sun- 

 set, and about 9 p. m., always facing Mecca while 

 saying the prayers. My host declined saying his 

 prayers that day; as he thought it would keep me 

 too long, he would do it next day. 



He then went on describing the way he makes his 

 hives. I should certainly note down every thing, 

 as this is a very important question in apiculture. 

 The wooden model is five spans long (46 inches), be- 

 ing 8 inches in diameter. The mud is brought, 

 mixed with one-third of fresh horse manure. Aft- 

 er being well worked it is left to leaven for a few 

 days. A very pliable but strOng mat made of splic- 

 ed reed is put down on the floor, on which dry and 

 finely pounded manure is strewn. The above-nam- 

 ed composition is now fully besmeared on this 

 stout reed mat, and again dry manure is strewn on. 

 The round model is now laid down on the composi- 

 tion, and by means of the mat, or outer inclosure, 

 the mud is put round the model, and put upright, 

 when the inner model is taken out. With an emp- 

 ty jug having just the same diameter as the inside 

 of the hive, he rubs the inside up and down till it is 

 smooth. The mat is now carefully taken away, and 

 the finished but delicate hive is put away to dry in 

 the sun. When wanted for bees, two round covers, 

 always in readiness, are taken; and after having 

 put in the five above-named combs, the swarm is 

 put in, and is pretty sure to thrive, as swarms are 

 admitted only in the flowery season. The hives are 

 now laid side by side; and before a second layer is 

 put on, the hollow space formed by the two hives is 

 filled with sand and fine manure. When the second 

 layer of hives is put on, the holes formed below the 

 hives are stuffed with hemp, and all the surface is 

 besmeared, making it mouse and moth proof. 



In cutting out the honey he is very careful not to 

 cut into the comb lest the hive get soiled inside; 

 besides, the refuse pieces must, together with the 

 honey, raise the wax-moth. He always leaves five 

 combs in each hive, thus enabling the bees to store 

 away, besides what is left, food for the flowerless 

 season; for of a winter, hardly a mention can be 

 made. He operates on his hundreds of hives with- 

 out using any protection for his hands. He does 

 not know that people ia Europe and America dread 

 the very name of Egyptian bees, neither does he 

 know that any have been tried in those countries, 

 and probably does not know that there is any dif- 



ference in temperament or in color. In the middle 

 of August, at the overflowing of the Nile, the hor- 

 nets appear, in very small numbers; but by and by 

 they increase to thousands. He bolls 3 lbs. of hon- 

 ey and 1 lb. of arsenic; and when well mixed he 

 takes a number of feathers, besmeared with this 

 mixture, and sticks them in the hornets' nests. 

 He does the same thing round about all the villages 

 where he has any business transaction, putting also 

 some in plates in front of the apiaries, thus killing 

 numbers. 



By this time dinner was ready. My host and my- 

 self were seated on an elevated place in the court. 

 It being a cloudy day we were in the open air. On 

 a copper tray were presented, on different dishes- 

 eggs, olives, dates, and omelet bread. We used our 

 hands, as is the custom, while a man kept driving 

 away the flies from ourselves and food. Before 

 eating we had to say, " In the name of God the 

 merciful;" after food, "Thanks to God." After 

 having thanked my bee-friend in the most court- 

 eous manner, I rode home toward Cairo on donkey- 

 back, as I came here, very glad to have seen Egypt 

 still flourishing. Ph. J. Baldensperger. 



Jaffa, Syria, April 3. 



Why, friend B., I just held my breath when 

 you spoke about those cylindrical hives 

 made of clay ; and I confess I felt greatly 

 disappointed because you did not tell us 

 more particularly how he cuts those round 

 combs out of the cylinders, and how he puts 

 them back again, or doesn't he ever put 

 them back? and is the surplus honey stored 

 in round cakes so it can be cut into pieces 

 like pie, as pictured in our little book. Mer- 

 rybanks and his Neighbor? I have always 

 felt a little hurt to think my brilliant idea 

 of using water-pails for bee-hives has met 

 with so little favor, not only in our own 

 country, but even in foreign lands. Now, 

 if I ever go to Egypt I shall greatly enjoy 

 their custom of asking a blessing before 

 they partake of food, and giving thanks 

 afterward. 



AMONG THE MANGROVE ISLANDS. 



EXPERIENCE IN MOVING BEES ON THE WATER. 



Two or three years ago my friend O. O. Popple- 

 ton suggested to me the idea of moving our bees to 

 the coast, twenty-five miles from home, to get the 

 benefit of the mangrove honey which comes after 

 the honey season is over in the interior. With 

 many doubts in regard to the prospective profits of 

 the venture, we finally decided to make the trial 

 during the past season. In the first place we had 

 to build new hives, as the old ones were not safe to 

 move bees In. The common pine lumber of Florida 

 is very heavy, so we went to the extra expense of 

 getting cypress lumber, which makes very light 

 hives— quite an important consideration where 

 they are moved so far. The mangrove generally 

 blossoms from the last half of June to the fore part 

 of August. But the season last summer was late, 

 so that we did not move the bees till about the first 

 of July, and that proved to be early. When we 

 finished extracting the last of May, we left a pretty 

 good supply of honey. This being palmetto honey 

 it was of very good quality; and when we were 

 ready to move the bees we took about 600 lbs. from 

 35 colonies, the number moved. Two frames of 



