1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



181 



just as the familiar thump, thump, thump 

 of the family batter-paddle was doing its 

 work in making such cakes, rendering the 

 song very appropriate. It is good all 

 through, and all who have music in the 

 house should have a copy. 



REVUE INTERNATIONALE. 

 In speaking of the difficulties of bee- 

 keeping in Tunis, Africa, Mr. Bourgeois 

 paints a picture that throws Arizona in the 

 shade. He says the work is very hard and 

 long. One has to construct a cabin, or 

 barrack, make foundation, hives, fill them 

 with bees, etc. If he has bread to eat he 

 has to go 12 miles for it; wine, 16 miles ; 

 fresh vegetables, 38 ; fresh water can be 

 had only by going several miles for it. He 

 intends to install 1000 hives during a peri- 

 od of three years, the estimated expense of 

 which will be about 14640. He has rented 

 about 1900 acres for this purpose. The 

 principal sources of honey will be heather 

 and a plant called in French romarin, the 

 latter of which is spoken of in another par- 

 agraph. 



Concerning a new treatment for foul 

 brood, Mr. Edmond Bochatey says: 



"Having noticed last summer in Tunis, 

 where I was managing an apiary of over 

 500 hives, that, during the blooming of ro- 

 marin, an abundant and very mellilluous 

 plant, the condition of several foul-broody 

 hives was noticeably improved, I conceived 

 the idea of treating the disease with the 

 essence of romarin, well known for its val- 

 uable antiseptic qualities. The results ob- 

 tained in Tunis by this new process were 

 excellent ; and to convince myself of its ef- 

 ficacy, after my return to Valais I applied 

 the treatment to three foul-broody hives. 

 At the end of three weeks, although the dis- 

 ease had gained a strong foothold, it was 

 not possible to find a single diseased larva 

 in those hives. The cheapness of the es- 

 sence of romarin, which one can find at 

 any drugstore, and the easfe of applying 

 the remedj' (you have only to pour 15 or 20 

 drops of the essence every 3 or 4 days in 

 the corner of a hive to effect a complete 

 cure) will admit of every bee-keeper frying 

 this plan." 



This plant is known in English as rose- 

 mary. It belongs to the mint familj', and 

 is certainly a powerful disinfectant. 



I guess nobody in Europe will feel hurt 

 if it is said that Mr. Ed. Bertrand's jour- 

 nal is the greatest representative of the bee 

 industry in Europe. Among those in the 

 same rank I would mention 7,^ Rucher 

 Beige and the late C. J. H. Gravenhorst's 

 /litis. Bienenzeituna- Regrets having been 

 sent in relative to Mr. Bertrand's ill health 

 and probable retirement from work, he says, 

 in his January issue: "Several have ex- 

 pressed regret at seeing the journal no 

 longer in my hands. They are wrong in 



supposing I have less to do with it than be- 

 fore. . . I remain at the head more than 

 ever; and my health being better, thanks to 

 God, I am still permitted to be the director 

 of my editors. With this in view I have 

 the pleasure of announcing that the son of 

 Mr. Charles Dadant, who for a long time 

 has participated in the work of his father 

 and that of the bee-keepers of France and 

 Switzerland, and who was a delegate from 

 the United States to the Congress of Bee- 

 keepers in Paris, in 1900, will henceforth 

 take a part in the regular editorial work of 

 the Rcviie. The bonds that have already 

 united the Revue to the name of Dadant are 

 well known. This new and intimate collab- 

 oration, which will be aided by the counsels 

 of the senior Dadant, will permit us, among 

 other advantages, to follow closely the bee- 

 keeping movement in the United States." 



In reviewing Mr. Reidenbach's celebrat- 

 ed treatise on foul brood, Mr. Ulrich Gu- 

 bler says: 



"This work is the result of numerous ex- 

 periments, and shows a very profound 

 study of antiseptics. Without knowing any 

 thing about the labors of his predecessors, 

 he arrives at verj' nearly the same conclu- 

 sions; but he introduces, nevertheless, a 

 new element in this important question. 

 In the salivary glands of the bees and in 

 the larval food there will be found a sub- 

 stance of which no author has yet spoken; 

 and that is, tartaric acid — an antiseptic of 

 the highest order. According to him, the 

 royal jelly contains from 3 to 4 per cent of 

 it. This acid is transformed in the cells 

 into formic acid. Bees fed on honey pro- 

 duce of it, according to the author, much 

 more than those fed on sugar syrup. For 

 this reason the former are much more able 

 to resist the ravages of foul brood than the 

 latter, which are easily aftected. Mr. Rei- 

 denbach says the bacillus of foul brood has 

 not yet been determined, and do one has as 

 yet undertaken its culture. This is an er- 

 ror. Mr. Harrison has made a culture of 

 Bacillus alvci in jelly, in gelatine, and dif- 

 ferent kinds of broth, and he has determin- 

 ed its size ver3' accurately." 



This has been done many times in this 

 country. 



IS PURITY THE CHIEF ESSENTIAL WITH THE 

 HONEY-BEE ? 



The evening mail brought a letter from a 

 man in the northeast corner of the United 

 States (Maine), he desiring a little chat 

 with me on the purity of bees, he beginning 

 the conversation with me something after 

 this fashion: 



