564 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 3, 1903. 



ball. An argument of some weight is the fact that if a strange bee 

 enters a hive, and the bees are left to their own devices, the queen 

 will be found hours later still alive in the ball. If stinging is the 

 mode of execution, the bees could sting just as well first as last, and 

 why such delay? 



There is considerable to enforce the belief that death is caused by 

 starvation. In the case of a laying queen, the great burden of eggs 

 produced requires an immense amount of nourishment, and it is well 

 l<nown that such a queen is being constantly fed by the workers. 

 Being deprived of all food in the ball, small wonder that she should 

 succumb within a few hours. 



That suffocation cauises death does not seem very probable. It is 

 not likely that the bees can be so densely packed in a ball as to prevent 

 the entrance of all air. There will still be plenty of spaces to allow 

 its entrance. Moreover, if the queen should be suffocated, would not 

 the bees in immediate contact with her be also suffocated? 



Until some one finds a dead queen in the midst of a ball with a 

 sting in her body, the queen being already dead when the ball is first 

 meddled with by the bee-keeper, it seems that the advocates of the 

 starvation theory have the best of the argument. 



Artificial Cell-Cups.— A correspondent of the British Bee 

 •Journal having had difliculty in getting the bees to accept larvw in 

 artificial cell-cups, sent a sample of the same to the editor, trying to 

 find what the trouble was. The editor replies : 



We rather think the fault lies in yjur "cell-cups," judging by 

 samples sent. These are all right, and nicely made at the lower or 

 open end of the " cup," and also with regard to size and capacity of 

 same, but the base of the cup has a little pit or well — so to speak — 

 formed by the flat point of the stick or " dipper," which is altogether 

 unsuitable in shape for the proper development of the queen-larva, 

 and, as such, is probably rejected by the bees. Had the base of the cell 

 been simply concave in shape, so as to form a rounded base to the cell, it 

 would be far more likely to be accepted by the bees for queen-rearing. 



In this country cell-cups are used of both kinds, but those of the 

 " little pit or well " are specially intended to have transferred into 

 them the larva in a little cup of the cocoon of its own cell. The comb 

 containing the larv;e is shaved down till a shallow cup of the cocoon 

 can be picked out, and this little cup, larva and all, is pressed down 

 with a special instrument into the ''well "of the artificial cell-cup. 

 The bees accept this very readily, for the larva is left in its natural 

 condition surrounded by the same food the bees gave it. 



Whether these artificial cell-cups with the depression in the bot- 

 tom would work just as well with the larviv placed in ihem without 

 the cocoon has probably not been tried much. But should a cell-cup 

 with the little pit or well be altogether unsuitable in shape for the 

 proper development of the queen-larva? Thousands of good queens 

 have been developed in emergency-cells, and these have a pit of the 

 same diameter and a good deal deeper. 



Honey as a Health=Food is the name of a 16- 

 page leaflet (3>ix6 inches) which is designed to help in- 

 crease the demand and sale of honey. The first part is 

 devoted to a consideration of " Honey as Food," written 

 by Dr. C. C. Miller. The last part contains " Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes " and " Remedies Using Honey." It should be 

 widely circulated by every one who has honey for sale. It 

 is almost certain to make good customers for honey. We 

 know, for we are using it ourselves. 



Prices, prepaid — Sample copy free ; 10 for 20 cts.; 25 

 for 40 cts.; SO for 70 cts.; 100 for $1.25; 250 for $2.25; 500 

 for $4.00 ; 1000 for $7.50. Your business card printed free 

 at the bottom of the front page, on all orders for 100 or 

 more copies. Send all orders to the Bee Journal office. 



Amerikanische Bienenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer, is 

 a bee-keeper's handbook of 138 pages, which is just what 

 our German friends will want. It is fully illustrated, and 

 neatly bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.00 ; or with the 

 American Bee Journal one year — both for $1.75. Address 

 all orders to this office. 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth working 

 for. Look at them. 



[ Convention Proceedings ) 



PFOceeding-s of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Conven- 

 tion Held at the A. & M. Colleg-e, at College 

 Station, July 8 to 10, 1903. 



BY LOUIS H. SCHOLI,, SEC. 



(Continued from page 550.) 

 BOTTLING HONEY. 



It is a well-known fact that when honey is bottled at a 

 tetnperature of 160° Fahr., or thereabouts, and sealed while 

 still at that temperature, it will remain liquid indefinitely. 

 It seems likely that the temperature at which granulation 

 can be prevented will vary with honey from different 

 sources. At the same time, too high a temperature when 

 bottling will impair the flavor of the honey. To determine 

 at what temperatures honey of different kinds could be bot- 

 tled to best advantage, experiments were begun in Febru- 

 ary, 1903. Eysenhardtia honey, procured from Louis H. 

 Scholl, of Comal Co., Tex., was bottled and sealed at the fol- 

 lowing temperatures : 150, 155, 158, 160, 163, 165, 168, 170, 173, 

 175, and 180 degrees. Six bottles of each temperature were 

 corked and sealed with sealing wax, the intention being to 

 open one bottle (each temperature) six months after bottling, 

 one in a year, one in two years, one in two and a half years, 

 and one in three years after bottling, and make comparisons 

 of the flavor and keeping qualities. A bottle of the honey, 

 corked but not sealed and without being heated, was also 

 preserved. 



Within three months the unsealed honey was thoroughly 

 granulated. Up to June 1, none of the sealed honey had 

 granulated. On June 17, the first series of bottles were 

 opened and examined by Prof. Sanderson and Mr. Scholl, 

 and upon these Mr. Scholl reports : 



"The honey bottled at 150 degrees had retained its 

 flavor, while the higher temperatures of heating had im- 

 paired the flavor. This was noticeable with only 5 to 8 

 degrees difi'erence in heating, and that bottled at 180 de- 

 grees was very strong, and scratched the throat badly." 



In this lies the suggestion of future experiments with 

 honey of different kinds. Experiments could also be con- 

 ducted to ascertain the most economical methods and 

 mechanical arrangements for bottling, and the profit to be 

 derived from placing honey on the market in this form. 

 There is no doubt that honey in small, neat packages will 

 bring a higher price than in bulk. Whether or not the in- 

 creased price would be sufficient to make the increased work 

 profitable, remains to be clearly demonstrated. 



WAX EXPERIMENTS. 



A series of experiments were undertaken recently to 

 determine the proportion of wax in comb of different ages, 

 and the best methods of removing same. The intention 

 was to make the tests both accurate and extensive, but the 

 scheme was not entirely completed, and it is hoped that this 

 work will be continued to an exhaustive degree at the Ex- 

 perimental Apiary. The details of these experiments would 

 be somewhat cumbersome, and as they will be submitted for 

 publication elsewhere, only a summary of the results thus 

 far obtained will be given here. 



Old brood-comb, the age of which was undoubtedly five 

 years or more, was analyzed and found to contain 36.3 per- 

 cent of wax, 17.3 percent of soluble (in condensing steam) 

 matter other than wax, and 46.4 percent of solids (insoluble). 



Brood-comb two years old was found to contain 47.2 per- 

 cent of wax, 21.1 percent soluble matter, and 31.6 percent 

 solids. One-year-old brood-comb contained 57 8 percent 

 wax, 22.1 percent soluble matter, and 20 percent solids. 

 "Slum-gum" (refuse from solar wax-extractor) contained 

 24 percent wax, 40 percent soluble matter, and 36 percent 

 insoluble matter. New comb, built upon full sheets of thin 

 super foundation the present season, and which had never 

 contained brood, contained 88 percent wax, slightly over 11 

 percent solids, and less than 1 percent soluble matter. 



In a test of the Root-German steam wax-press, this 

 machine, under full head of steam and careful operation, 

 removed from the old brood-comb (five years or more) So 

 percent oj the wax contained. From two-year-old brood- 

 comb the machine removed 89.5 percent, and from new comb 



