APRIL 15, 1915 



i'rum the reports ol pat^l years that in a 

 locality where the bees can fly frequently, 

 the aster honey does no great harm. Per- 

 haps tlie bees in these flights bring in the 

 amount of water necessary. However, bee 



tlyseiiUMV is never very bad where frequent 

 flights are possible, and take it all in all, 

 any bad condition brought about by poor 

 stores would be relieved bv frequent flights. 



—En.] 



NOTES FROM GERMANY; WAX-RENDERING; BOILED HONEY 



BY J. A. HEBERLE, B. S. 



Highly interesting is what Editor Root 

 says, page 921, 1914, about the wax-render- 

 ing station in Massachusetts. State Bee 

 Inspector Hofmann-^Inenchen has publish- 

 ed in the Muenchner Bztij. an excellent ar- 

 ticle about wax-rendering in which he says 

 that, years ago, oil was pressed from seed.s 

 with a loss of some ten per cent of oil. 



For some time this method has been su- 

 perseded by extracting with a solvent. The 

 fluid solvent is condensed, and used again 

 and again. This method needs very little 

 care, and is, consequently, very economical. 

 A gentleman interested in wax-rendering 

 called the attention of Mr. Hofmann to the 

 fact that wax could be extracted the same 

 way as oil from seed, and more efficiently 

 than by heat and pressure. Among the 

 various solvents tried, benzine seems to be 

 the most convenient. 



An expert chemist has reported that wax 

 extracted with benzine is chemically unal- 

 tered, but does lose its odor. This is con- 

 sidered of no importance, since by the 

 process of bleaching the odor disappears 

 also. [For foundation-making, wax with 

 its natural odor will be preferred. — H.] " 



It has been suggested that wax be render- 

 ed as heretofore by heat and pressure, or 

 by the solar extractor, and that only the 

 residues from these methods be extracted 

 by means of a solvent. 



The process of extracting with a solvent 

 is verj' efficient, all but about one-half of 

 one per cent being recovered. This small 

 remainder could be recovered, but it is not 

 economical to do so. 



A NEW BOOK ON BEES. 



Notwithstanding Europe is under the 

 reign of Mars, and " grim-visiaged war 

 shakes its gory head," there appeared the 

 first month of this year a new scientific 

 work about beas. The title is " Leben und 

 Wesen der Bienen " — Life and Nature of 

 the Bees, by Prof. Dr. H. v. Buttel-Reepen, 

 published by Vieweg & Sohn, Braun- 

 schweig, Germany, price $2.00. The author 

 is well known to the readers of Gleanings. 



This book differs from the many good 

 text-books we have. It is designed to sup- 

 plement tliem. It is strictly scientific and 

 impartial. Anybody who wants to study 

 tlie bees — who is interested in knowing what 

 amount of research and study the bees have 

 been the subject of on the part of men of 

 science, should get this book. Some 23 

 pages are needed to enumerate the titles of 

 books and journals referred to in this book. 

 In a short notice I cannot give the reader 

 a fair idea of the contents. Especially in- 

 teresting to me is the tenth chapter, " The 

 senses of the honeybee." It is subdivided 

 into five divisions. I. The sense of loca- 

 tion; II. The sense of color and form; III. 

 The sense of sight; IV. The sense of smell ; 

 V. The sense of hearing and communica- 

 tion. 



About the sense of hearing, I have seen 

 less in current literature than about the 

 other senses; so I give a few items from it. 

 Considerable study and investigation by 

 eminent men on the subject, " Can bees 

 hear? " has not entirely solved the question. 

 Some say the bee has no sense of hearing. 

 It perceives only vibrations. Others say 

 the bee does hear. Among these is the 

 author of the book, but he gives dissenting 

 opinions and references. He gives a very 

 convincing argument when he says that it 

 seems logical to suppose that creatures 

 which can produce a variety of sounds 

 Avhich unfailingly express certain condi- 

 tions, that such creatures also have the 

 ability to hear these sounds. The beekeep- 

 ers know of various tones the bees can 

 make — for instance, when a swarm is in the 

 air; when a colony first notices the loss of 

 its queen ; when the bees have a good honey- 

 flow; the gay hum when a swarm enters its 

 new home ; the war cry of the excited angry 

 bee when attacking. The call of the queen 

 first hatched, and the answer of one or more 

 in the cells, etc. It certainly does seem 

 reasonable to suppose that the bees hear 

 these sounds — or feel them. 



The scientist Lubbock has played the 



