836 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 31, 1903. 



such conditions. I have no doubt that in the end it would increaes 

 the demand for honey, and thereby increase the ease with which honey 

 may be sold. 



It may reasonably be supposed that Mr. Taylor refers to the 

 Washington rules, which appear as standing matter in each number 

 of the journal in which his article appears. Some doubt is thrown 

 upon this by his speaking of " the prescribed amount " of stain on 

 'grade No. 1, as if more stain were allowed on No. 1 than on fancy 

 honey, whereas, in the rules, there is no distinction, both fancy and 

 No. 1 having " both wood and comb unsoiled by travel-stain or other- 

 wise." 



That, however, is not material, for Mr. Taylor's main contention 

 is for quality, and that is left unmentioned in other rules for grading, 

 as well as in the Washington rules. It is undoubtedly true that the 

 man who is best informed will put quality as the first consideration in 

 purchasing honey. Now, let Mr. Taylor frame a set of rules involv- 

 ing quality that shall prove acceptable to the fraternity in general, 

 and a debt of gratitude will be due him. 



Why Drones are Driven Out- 



That interesting writer, Dr. A. W. Smyth, says in the Irish Bee 

 Journal: 



The workers, in the fall, keep marching and driving out the 

 «3rones, so as to have them die on the outside of the hive and away 

 from the colony. A dead drone in the hive in winter is very objec- 

 tionable to the workers. A whole colony of workers frequently die 

 in the hive, but I never detected any unpleasant odor from dead 

 worker-bees, while a dozen or two of dead drones will give off a very 

 disagreeable odor of putrefaction. The poison in the worker-bee be- 

 comes disseminated through the body after death, and arrests decom- 

 position. 



However it may be in Ireland, a pile of dead bees in this country 

 is by no means always, if ever, devoid of odor. But the idea that the 

 workers drive out the drones so that they may die outside the hive is a 

 new and interesting suggestion. When you come to think of it, what 

 other object could they have? If the drones die because the workers 

 no longer feed them, they would die without any driving, but it is a 

 good deal easier to drive out the living drones than to drag out their 

 carcasses after death. ^^___^^^^__ 



Number Fifty-Three. 



Did you notice that this copy of the American Bee Journal is 

 "No. 531" This year has 53 Thursdays in it, and so there are .53 

 issues of the Bee Journal. Really, only 52 are expected of us, but we 

 put this one in for "good measure." We know it will be appreciated 

 by many, as it contains the large and valuable index. So far as we 

 know, no other bee-paper in this country ever issues an extra number. 

 We know that some others print an extra number of pages, but we 

 never knew any of them to issue 13 or 25 in any one year ; it is either 

 12 or 24. But we reach 53 this year ! And no extra charge. 848 pages 

 of bee-literature for $1.00 1 We ought to have 25,000 subscribers right 

 now. 





Miscellaneous Items 





Mr. Will. McEvoy, the popular and efficient inspector of api- 

 aries for the Province of Ontario, wrote us as follows Dec. 14 ; 



" I am well pleased with the American Bee Journal, and hope to 

 continue it to the end of my days." 



S^viss Honey is being offered to Americans, it seems from the 

 following which was recently mailed to R. A. Burnett & Co., by Ul, 

 Tuchschmid. who does business in a large city of Switzerland. We 

 print the circular as nearly like the original as possible, both as to 

 language, punctuation, etc. Here it is: 



I beg to ofl'er you Swiss Honey neatest selection from llower 

 harvest, yellow like gold, in oases of 50 glasses, 1 pound each, at SO 

 frs. a case, comprising packing, free Basle, payable at receipt with 

 Cheque on Switzerland net. 



Carriage Basle-New-York frs. 8.20 per 100 Kilogr. (1 case=-3r 

 Kilogr. gross) . Insurance by land and sea from here to New-York 

 against loss, average, breakage G percent which, on your demand, I 

 shall effect here for your account. 



This Honey is undoubtedly the finest article of Fancy Grocery ; it 

 it is not only a highly exquisite delicacy, but also a remedy for many 



an outward and inward infirmity, an antiseptic preservative remedy 

 (cleaning wounds, blisters from burning) ; therefore it is warmly 

 commended by physicians, especially for children. It is for the 

 wealthy as well as for the poor, benefiting them all likewise. 



Our quality is in no way to be put upon the same level with the 

 common article of foreign countries; leaving even aside its being a 

 produce of the Alpine flora, its strongly flavoured, incomparable nec- 

 tar, it is not to be forgotten that with us teachers and parsons in the 

 country are the chief apiarists, who do the business more from sheer 

 passtime and witli t/ie utmost rleatilmexs. All our honey gets slung 

 (worked out carefully), no such u.se as in foreign countries where 

 often comb-honey, together with maggats, nay even rotten brood is 

 pounded, boiled and expressed. Such an article is not only nauseous, 

 disgusting, but at the same time hurtful to health. 



In order to serve my customers to the utmost nicety, I have 

 chosen glasses, the nicely printed zink lids of which close hermetically, 

 so there will never be any leakage, however fluid the honey, in what- 

 ever position the glass may be; no clammy hands and — last but not 

 least — Swiss Honey may be preserved for a whole generation without 

 undergoing any change. 



The patent cases to be shut and opened without any tool, contain 

 compartments so that each glass stands separately. During ten years 

 I have furnished honey to a house in New- York, never a glass has 

 been broken, and yet honey is by P.. heavier than water or wine. 

 Cases as well as glasses by themselves are of good use. 



Incomparable quality, sure packing and its lasting unchanged 

 and palative for years and years, there are the titles to commend our 

 article. 



At first sight the price of the article may seem somewhat high, 

 but he who has got acquainted with its superiority, does not mind 

 that little more; Swiss Honey becomes indispensable for him. On 

 the other hand, I could not possibly make any allowance, the produce 

 of the article being limited and prices pretty high at home. 



Inviting you to have a fair trial, I remain, Sir, 



yours truly Ul. Tuchschmid. 



Of course, honey that " gets slung" may be better than honey 

 that contains •' maggats, nay even rotten brood," " pounded, boiled 

 and expressed." We don't know just to what " foreign country " he 

 refers, where honey is taken in that way, but it must be in Europe 

 somewhere, for surely we don't have that kind here. 



At any rate, Mr. Tuchschmid is quite enterprising, and has a 

 famous honey, if all his circular letter is to be believed. 



( 



Contributed Articles 





Oil of Eucalyptus for Bee-Diseases— Clean- 

 ing Extracting-Combs. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



Mr. Dadant : — I was very much interested in the article on foul 

 brood, on page 690. I was afraid my bees have foul brood, but since 

 reading everything I can find on that subject, I have concluded it is 

 not foul brood. The bees die in the cells and nearly all of them are 

 white, with black heads, and they are full of water. The cappings are 

 not sunken, but are elevated, with a small hole in the center. I want 

 to try your remedy — the oil of eucalyptus. If it isn't too much trouble 

 please answer the following questions: 



1. Would it be best to use the oil now, or wait until the queen 

 begins to lay, which will be about the first of February? 



2. How much oil will it take to treat 20 colonies five weeks ? 



BCLI.ITT Co., Kt. 



I should not think of sending- my answer to the above 

 letter for publication, were it not that the same error has 

 been made hundreds of times, to my knowledge. If the 

 description given of the so-called diseased brood is exact 

 there is no disease at all in this case. It often happens that 

 the bees, from some cause or other which has not yet been 

 made very plain, leave patches of larva? uncovered at the 

 time of their transformation. That is, they narrow up the 

 cell but fail to seal it, and leave a small opening through 

 which the transforming of an insect may be seen. Some- 

 times a patch of brood several square inches in diameter will 

 be treated in this way. It has been suggested that the lack 

 of sufficient space between the combs for a full capping is 

 responsible for their action, but I doubt this, as the cell is 

 slightly raised in narrowing it, and, to my mind, this par- 

 tial covering occupies as much space as the ordinary flat 

 capping. Be this as it may, the fact remains that often the 

 bees will thus leave patches of brood only partly sealed. 

 When the insect goes through its last transforming stage, 

 its eyes become dark first, they have a bluish-black appear- 

 ance while the remainder of the body is yet white and im- 



