DECEMBER 1, 1915 



995 



liad died from starvation — not a drop of 

 honey being present in the combs of the 

 three cohmies. In the other case tlie dead 

 bees sent to the Department for analysis 

 consisted of drones (without a worker bee 

 among them), which had evidently been ex- 

 l)elled from the hives owing to a dearth of 

 nectar. 



BEE PARALYSIS. 



During my work as inspector I am 

 frequently asked what paralj'sis is. The 

 answer I give is: It is a name given to 

 certain symptoms of distress. Major Shal- 

 lard's article in Gleanings, Dec. 15, and 

 your reply, Jan. 15, page 46, show that we 

 liave got no further than that yet. Wliat I 

 would call paralysis is the condition de- 

 scribed by the editor in his reply to Mr. 

 Shallard ; but like symptoms are ascribed to 

 the Isle of Wight disease, otherwise Micro- 

 sporidiosis or Noseina apis. But you can 

 find hundreds of colonies with the nosema 

 parasite, and no symptoms; and any num-«i 

 ber of others with all the symx:)toms of 

 parah'sis but no nosema parasite in the 

 bees. Then there is the petering-out of colo- 



nies through a cessation of brood-rearing in 

 summer or autumn, or through shortlived- 

 ness caused by a deficiency of the nitroge- 

 nous food of the larva?. This is called the 

 disappearing disease, because as a rule you 

 see few or no dead bees. They die normal- 

 ly. In the one instance the long break in 

 the generations is the cause of extinction; 

 in the other, the failure to live the alloted 

 span of life; and" quite often there is a 

 combination of both. 



Quite apart from the above there may be 

 colonies in the same apiary that do have 

 paralysis symptoms so the beekeeper calls 

 the whole loss paralysis. If it happens in 

 spring, and the bees show dysentery as a 

 result of bad winter stores, that is also 

 paralysis; and if losses occur without any 

 sjaiiptoms it is still i3aralysis, only the 

 symptoms have changed. It is a convenient 

 name to cover a multitude of shox'teomings 

 of nature, and, occasionally, of man. All 

 the same, rabbits and poison are not in it, 

 for it occurs when there is no rabbit-poison- 

 ing, and often does not occur where there is. 



Tooberac, Australia, May 31. 



SOME FAMOUS HONEYS OF THE OLD WORLD 



BY N. TOURNEUR 



Tliat delicious, fragrant, and nutritive 

 matter — honey — is estimated according to 

 the flowers from which the bees extract the 

 sugar existing in the nectaries of the flow- 

 ers. As certain flowers are more prevalent 

 in particular countries the honey is desig- 

 nated by the name of the country in which 

 it is produced. 



The honey from the southern parts of 

 France has held its reputation for genera- 

 tions. That from Narbonne is the most es- 

 teemed. It is produced from the flowers of 

 the order of plants termed Labiatae, such 

 as rosemary, sage, clary, lavender, mint, 

 liennyroyal, basil, savory, thyme, marjoram, 

 dittany, germander, and many others. All 

 the labiate herbs are very aromatic, which 

 accounts for the peculiar fragrance and 

 flavor of Narbonne honey; and they are 

 free from the principle which imparts to 

 many other honeys an acrid and slightly 

 pungent character. So particular are the 

 Xarbonne beekeepers in their choice of the 

 flowers from which their bees collect the 

 rich juices that not only have they the 

 custom of growing choice plants, such as 

 jessamine and mignonnette, around the 

 hives, but at particular seasons the bees are 

 carried in search of the labiate blossoms, 

 the hives being transported by easy jour- 



nej'S from one part of the department to 

 another, and made to rest several days, 

 sometimes weeks, at the bases best calculat- 

 ed to improve the fragrance and quality of 

 the honey. 



Narbonne honey is celebrated over all 

 Europe, and the French government gives 

 every facility to foster bee culture through- 

 out the department. Those who have once 

 tasted Narbonne " virgin " honey, the real 

 product, not that which unscrupulous trad- 

 ers sell as such, can never mistake it for 

 any other. There is nothing to be found 

 with the same peculiar fragrance. It is the 

 sublimation of sweet odors and winey sun- 

 shine. Perfectly colorless when in its purest 

 state, in warm weather it is like a clear 

 syrup, limpid as the crystal stream. It is 

 quite free from wax, and the common honey 

 expressed from the comb contains very 

 little. 



The honey of Spain and Minorca is fine 

 and fragrant, but inferior to that of Nar- 

 bonne. In Italy there are several fine hon- 

 eys, but they are not plentiful, though of 

 the coarser kinds there is great abundance. 

 One kind that is gathered by the Milanese, 

 and in Switzerland and throughout the 

 Apennines, is made great use of by Italians. 

 It is produced from the fir, the pine, birch, 



