1887 



GLEANINGS IN HEE CULTURE. 



(>.M 



any casfefrom any hive in his apiary, filled 

 or not filled, with his single hand, and 

 could do it without any ditliculty whatever. 

 If you omit the slatted honey-board this 

 would be absolutely impossible. 



APIFUGE AND ITS DERIVATION, 

 AGAIN. 



SOMETHING FROM OUR FOREIGN FRIEND, MR. 

 GRIMSHAW, THE ORIGINATOR OF IT. 



J^% EAK SIR:— I observe in July Gleanings that 

 aI oI you make some remarks on my discovery, 

 ^fhA apifuge; and as they are somewhat mislead- 

 "*^ ins' (through inadvertence, I douht not), per- 

 haps you, with true international courtesy, 

 will permit me to direct you and your readers into 

 the right path. 



The word " apifuge " is derived from apis (a bee) 

 and/ityeo (to avoid, retreat from, leave alone, etc.), 

 not from fugo, to scare or put to Hight. This I well 

 explained in the British Bee Journal. It therefore, is 

 not, as you saj', a bee-scarer, for its effects on them 

 are of quite a passive and pacific character. If bees 

 liked it they would cover the hands, etc., and be a 

 nuisance; on the other hand, if they disliked it they 

 would sting. As it is, "they who come to scoff re- 

 main to pray," for bees dart at the hand sometimes, 

 intending to sting; but in an indescribably short 

 time they^sample, so to speak, the surface before in- 

 serting the dart; and, finding this strange substance 

 on the skin, submit to its influence and tly away. 



1 must say, that I was in a measure disappointed 

 at your testimony being so mildly favorable, 

 considering your impartiality, and although you 

 yourself did not get stung whilst manipulating a 

 lot having Cyprian blood in them. 1 judged j ou se- 

 lected a Cypriote lot in order to fairly test " api- 

 fuge," and, finding it answer, I repeat T felt chiigrin- 

 ed that you did not tell us of its success. I should 

 like you to try it again on the very worst demons 

 you have, and judge whether or not bees will sting 

 the skin on which it is rubbed, so long as the per- 

 fume of apifuge remains. It is no small recom- 

 mendation, that it is not only a preventive against, 

 but a cure for, stings. Ratt. Grimshaw. 



Crag Hill, England, Aug. 1887. 



Most certainly, friend G., we are quite 

 willing to be directed in the right path. If 

 our readers will permit, I will take a little 

 space here to discuss some Latin deriva- 

 tions. The formation of the word " api- 

 fuge'' is such that it can be derived from 

 apis and fugo as well as from apis andfuyio. 

 ( The latter you write fugeo; do you not mean 

 fugiof) It seems to me that fugo wotdd be a 

 more natural verb from which to derive the 

 suffix. For instance, '' vermifuge," a sub- 

 stance for expelling or driving out worms, 

 takes its derivation, according to Webster, 

 from vermis, a worm, and fugare. to drive 

 away, to route, to scare, to put to flight. If 

 we translate " apifuge '' literally, as derived 

 from apis and fugio, our English equivalent 

 would De '" beeavoider ;" that is, the liquid 

 itself avoids bees. In other words, are you 

 not putting the cart before the horse? How- 

 ever, I do not know that it .makes any prac- 

 tical difference one way or the other ; but I 

 should prefer to have the suffix derived from 

 fugo, as is the suffix in the case of vermi- 



fuge. I am sorry if what I said was so 

 mildly favorable to apifuge as to detract 

 from its real merits. As I stated on page 

 ol7, I can not help thinking yet that the be- 

 havior and the control of the nerves has 

 more to do with tiie i)rev(Mition of stings on 

 the hands of the apiarist than any liquid that 

 can be compounded. Again. I can hardly 

 think that any prei)aration smeared over the 

 hands or on the face would prevent any bee, 

 that was fully intent on stinging, from ac- 

 complishing his purpose. Many times have 

 1 seen a Cyprian mark out his spot of attack 

 at long range, and, without the least shad- 

 ow of preliminary as to whether this or 

 that spot was softer or more desirable, he 

 would strike tail foremost. From my ex- 

 perience with the liquid I hardly think the 

 '■Cyp'' would have changed his mind. Lest 

 you may still think I am prejudiced, 1 take 

 the following from the pen of one of your 

 own countrymen, as found on page 348 for 

 Aug. 11, of the British Bee Journal: 



In' answer to " E. W. P." (1164), you think that api- 

 fuge would liave more effect than smoke or carbol- 

 ic fumes. Well, I for one should be inclined to 

 doubt it. Two > oars ago I got some bees of a neigh- 

 bor, who said they were so wicked he could not 

 manage them. I found smoke of little use; thej' 

 retreated beiore volumes f)f it, but always returned 

 to the charge whenever the smoker was laid down. 

 Then carbolic-acid fumes were tried, and had some 

 effect, but were not quite satisfactory, because 

 these bees would, under the influence of the fumes, 

 allow the hive to be opened and some of the frames 

 to be lifted quietly, then all of a sudden they would 

 attack in a cloud. " I still kept this breed of bees, be- 

 cause they were such good workers, though almost 

 unmanageable, and dangerous to passers-by on the 

 road near. 



When apifu>e came before the public, I hastened 

 to get a bottle, and, after donning a veil, rubbed 

 my hands and wrists with this invisible soap, and 

 proceeded boldly to the " wicked " hive. Gently I 

 turned back the quilt, spread out my hands to bless 

 them into peace and quietness, but I think there 

 was some mistake amongst those bees, because 

 they never stayed to feel the pleasant scent of api- 

 fuge. Straight they shot at face, hands, and body; 

 and sting! did they notV My hands were about cov- 

 ered with their lances, and they went at my clothes 

 in perfect madness. 1 didn't run, I am too well 

 hardened for that, but wince I did, till I got a 

 knife and cleared the back of my hands from poi- 

 son-t)ags. Not to be beaten, I again put some api- 

 fuge on my hands, and with no better results, so 

 closed that hive as soon as possible. That apifuge 

 is useful in some cases, I know; but, after repeated 

 trials, T think that it is utterly useless with these 

 particular bees. I disturb these bees as little as 

 possible now, and when I do, always using a cloth 

 saturated with carbolic acid. I ma.v say that these 

 bees are crossbreds, black, with just a touch of Li- 

 gurian, the <iue,:n being very black. 



George D. Clark. 



Kirklandhill, Dunbar, Eng., Aug. 1, 1887. 



AN ABC SCHOLAR'S EXPERIENCE. 



the superiority of ITALIANS DURING DROUGHT. 



T COMMENCED bee-keeping a year ago, at which 

 ^ time I bought 18 full stocks, ten of which were 

 ^t Italian. Again last February I purchased flf • 

 "*■ teen colonies of blacks. I allowed seven 

 of the Italian colonies to swarm this spring. 

 I now have forty colonies in all. On the 8th of 

 April two swarms came out, and I hived them suc- 

 cessfully; and after a day or two I discovered that 

 neither had queens. Canyon account for this? I 

 gave them queens, and they did well in building up 

 strong. I am now Italianizing all my blacks, giving 

 them first-class queens. 



