IRE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



in 



but once in a while there is a dishonest one 

 who will not pay. I believe there are a num- 

 ber of this class who make a practice of 

 sending for goods to ditterent dealers, and 

 to bee-keepers for honey, and they will as 

 long as they can do so, and it would be a 

 kindness to them, as well as to those who 

 suffer l)y them, to put a stop to their busi- 

 ness. 



An organization of bee-keepers, aggres- 

 sive and defensive, upon a practical basis 

 for the best interest of all. and to enable us 

 to " keep up with the procession," it seems 

 to me is badly needed, but this article is get- 

 ting too long so I will stop. 



Port Orange, Fla. July 25, 189;-.. 



Notes From Foreign Journals. 



F. Li, THOMPSON. 



kEiPziGER BiENENZEiTTTNG.— Pastor Llei- 

 schuiann, the " traveling uncle " or for- 

 eign itemizer for the Leipziger Bienenzei- 

 tung, apropos of Query !).^>7 in the American 

 Bee .Journal, says that in the past year a dis- 

 pute arose between the native and migratory 

 bee-keepers on the Rhine, on account of 

 alleged overstocking. The local authorities 

 sided with the stationary bee-keepers ; but 

 after many negotiations, an agreement was 

 reached, under the management of the 

 State authorities, whereby on every hektare 

 of land a certain number of colonies belong- 

 ing to migratory bee-keepers was allowed 

 to be placed, in order to test the matter. 

 What this number was he does not say. We 

 would be interested in knowing. 



I take this opportunity of saying to for- 

 eign readers of these notes, who write for 

 the journals herein quoted from, that any 

 information relative to overstocking would 

 be appreciated. The careful statistics of 

 apiculture in foreign countries would seem 

 to indicate that it is possible for them to ar- 

 rive at conclusions a little more definite than 

 the varying answers to (^uery O.W in the A. 

 B. J. show to prevail here. 



La Revue Internationale. — The te-st for 

 adulteration of wax, quoted from the Re- 

 vue last month, was found to be completely 

 wrong by a correspondent who tried it. The 

 correct form is doubtless that (juoted below 

 from L'Apiculteur. 



Chas. Dadant relies on the specific gravity 

 test with alcohol and water as given in 

 Gleanings, and on the test by mastication. 

 In the latter, the temperature of the mouth 



in chewing reduces mineral wax to a paste, 

 while beeswax merely crumbles. This test 

 is not certain when the quantity of mineral 

 wax is small. He takes the opportunity to 

 deliver a sideshotat the chewing gum mania 

 in America. 



The juice of the white poppy is said to in- 

 stantly stop the pain and prevent swelling 

 from bee stings. L'Agriculteur Lorrain. 



Foul brood has reappeared in several of 

 the apiaries cured last year with formic acid. 

 One correspondent thinks this remedy only 

 eificacious during the heat of summer, as it 

 does not evaporate in spring. The editor 

 calls attention to the fact that foul brood re- 

 appears under other treatment as well ; but, 

 as it is always milder the second time, it 

 only needs perseverance in the method em- 

 ployed to secure a complete cure tlie second 

 year. 



L'Apiculteur. — Test for ceresin in wax, 

 given by Abbe Butet : Melt a very small 

 piece of suspected wax in one vessel, and 

 dissolve some soda in another in a little hot 

 water, which pour boiling on the wax ; if 

 pure, the wax will be completely saponified 

 after cooling, and will all run into soap on 

 being pressed between the thumb and fin- 

 ger. It it contains ceresin, the wax alone 

 will be saponified, and the ceresin will re- 

 main in the form of a much firmer paste. 

 Wax of known purity should be treated first, 

 to make the test conclusive. This will not 

 show the presence of vegetable wax, as thbt 

 siponifies. 



M. Hommell gave a simple metiiod for 

 finding whether wax was adulterated, which 

 however does not indicate the adulterant, as 

 follows : Make cylinders of paper by wrap- 

 ping around a pencil. Pour the melted wax 

 in these, thus obtaining it in the form of 

 little sticks. Place these sticks in a glae^s 

 tube filled with benzine. If pure, the wax 

 dissolves entirely, and with some rapidity; 

 if not, it dissolves incompletely, leaving de- 

 posits of foreign material. 



" Artificial swarming has given excellent 

 results, which have made it almost univer- 

 sal. Actually none but those who work by 

 routine, or else amateurs in poetic emotions, 

 wait, patiently or impatiently, for the issue 

 of natural swarms." "A natural swarm al- 

 ways works with more vigor than an arti- 

 ficial one. This is a simple fact which can- 

 not prejudice us against artificial swarming, 

 for of two advantages, the more certain and 

 considerable must be chosen." A. Maigsan. 



