280 



fHE BEE-KEEPEkS' REVJJeW, 



see it unless I happen to go to the hive and 

 look at it, and I shall be very apt to let the 

 time go by without doing it ; while if I put 

 it down in the register, my attention will be 

 called to it at the proper time. 



It was my intention to give you a des- 

 cription of the register which I use, and 

 which I think comes about as near as pos- 

 sible to combining the least amount of 

 trouble with the greatest efficiency ; but I 

 see that this article is already long enough; 

 if you wish it I will give it at another time. 



Ransomville, N. Y. Oct. 2. 1895. 



Notes from Foreign Journals. 



La Revue Inteknationle. Pastor Langel 

 found mice covered with stings in his hives 

 at his spring visit, which did not appear to 

 suffer on that account. 



Alfred Dufey, of Chili, does his extracting 

 at night, to avoid flies and robbers, and be- 

 cause his new combs are not then so liable 

 to break down. 



One of his colonies gnawed away and in- 

 corporated the fibres of an old red woolen 

 shawl into its brood combs, especially brood 

 cappings, which had been given it for a quilt. 



Pastor Stale, in four cases, sprinkled with 

 flour the bees of swarms which grouped 

 themselves abnormally after being hived, as 

 if demoralized or intending to abscond. 

 One of these was already agitated and be- 

 ginning to swarm again. In each case the 

 bees went immediately to work or formed a 

 normal cluster, and did not abscond. 



A druggsst, Armand Gaille, gives his test 

 for wax, which he calls the most simple of 

 the exact methods. The first step is to test 

 its specific gravity with a mixture of alcohol 

 and water. This is not conclusive, for two 

 adulterants might have been used, onelight- 

 and one heavier than pure wax. ISext a 

 piece of the size of a small hazel-nut is put 

 in a test-tube with two or three inches depth 

 of essence of turpentine and moderately 

 heated over an alcohol flame. If the solu- 

 tion is incomplete, much obscured, or if it 

 leaves a deposit, the wax is impure, as 

 turpentine completely dissolves pure wax. 

 Finally a very small weight of the suspected 

 wax is boiled several minutes in a test-tube 

 with % oz. of alcohol, or enough to half fill 

 the test -tube, over an alcohol flame. The 

 solution is left to cool half an hour or less, 



then filtered, and to it is added an equal 

 volume of water and a small square of " sun- 

 flower paper " (whatever that is — papier de 

 tournesol — litmus?) which has been given a 

 blue tint by dipping in ammonia, then half 

 dried by strongly pressing several times be- 

 tween two sheets of clean blotting paper; 

 and the whole is shaken. If after fifteen 

 minutes the liquid is nearly clear, and the 

 sunflower paper has not regained its orginal 

 red color, the wax is pure, that is, supposing 

 it has already stood the first two tests ; if 

 otherwise, it is adultered. A slight change in 

 the color of the paper, however, and an 

 iridescence of the liquid, are not to be taken 

 into account. 



Bone-dust made by burning bones and 

 pounding them in a morlar will immediately 

 remove ants if scattered around the hives, 

 says D. Jousserandot, who has been uni- 

 formly successful in its use. 



M. Dumoulin has successfully cured his 

 apiary of foul brood by placing on the top- 

 bars of each hive a rag of the size of the hand, 

 soaked in a solution of camphor in brandy, 

 renewed three times a week until a cure is 

 effected, which is generally in three weeks ; 

 after which the rag is renewed once a week 

 for some time. 



The editor mentions a radical cure of an 

 apiary which had been affected with foul 

 brood for several years, with formic acid. 

 In this case a certain quantity of alcohol was 

 added to the solution of acid to hasten its 

 evaporation. It was put in little troughs, 

 which were placed in the hives. 



EJmondBochatey considers the swallows 

 formidable enemy of the bee-keeper, as he 

 has seen swallows feeding their young with 

 nothing but bees. But the editor quotes 

 from another source a communication of a 

 farmer who on killing and dissecting several 

 swallows found that their crops contained 

 only drones, and on concealing himself near 

 a nest containing six young ones, saw 30 

 drones distributed to them in 20 minutes. 



L'Apioulteub. M. Castillard has had 

 ventilating holes covered with wire cloth for 

 six years in his hives, summer and winter, 

 without one being propolized. Three years 

 ago, when the winter was very severe, he 

 closed the ventilators of half the hives, but 

 the other half wintered better. 



Ph. Baldensperger does not like the 

 Italians because they do not flourish when 

 divided into small nuclei, as the Palestines 

 or Algerians do, do not defend themselves 



