876 



(iLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



ideas from the Fatherland, but they do not. 

 The Latin nations have already adopted the 

 Langstroth system. 



The Re-x'iic Eclectique d' Apiculture in its April 

 and May issues has a long poem relating to the 

 work of the bee-keeper. The authoress is Adele 

 Vaillant, who evidently wields a facile pen as 

 well as a smoker. This reminds me that we are 

 far behind other nations when it comes to bee 

 poetry. France, England, and Germany are 

 well provided with bee poetry while we have but 

 very little. The English have three classics on 

 the subject by Virgil (translation); Murphy (tr.), 

 and Evans. They also have "Buz a Buz," a 

 translation from the German. The Rc-uiie Eclec- 

 tique not long ago published a long bee poem go- 

 ing through a number of issues; and, besides, 

 France is otherwise well provided. 

 * 



The Algerian bee journal Nahhla (the Arabic 

 word for bee) has been restarted. It is published 

 by the Algerian Bee-keepers' Society, which is 

 quite a lively affair. Professor Trabut, M. D., 

 in the School of Medicine at Algiers, is honora- 

 ry president, and other prominent public offi- 

 cials hold the various positions in the society. It 

 gets a grant of money from the government, and 

 in other ways has its co-operation. The chief 

 object is to substitute the modern system of bee- 

 keeping for that pursued by the Arabs and Ka- 

 byles. Algeria is naturally a fine bee country, 

 resembling California, or, rather, Arizona. Bee- 

 keeping there is more reliable than it is in Cali- 

 fornia, however, as the apiarists seem to do pret- 

 ty well every year. 



* 



European bee-keepers set much store by the 

 locust-tree for bees. They term it acacia, which 

 is a better name, but it is the same old black or 

 yellow locust of the Northern States. Though 

 strictly an American tree it is more highly val- 

 ued in European countries than in its own land. 

 The tree-planters of the old countries have plant- 

 ed great quantities of it until it is much more 

 common there than it is in Ohio. A recent 

 writer in Le Rucher Belize compares basswood and 

 locust to the advantage of the latter, and it seems 

 to me he is right. Most people would prefer 

 locust to basswood honey, and it is a more reli- 

 able yielder; but in most localities there is not 

 enough of 'it to count as an asset. In Berlin, 

 acacia honey is a leader. Perhaps the day will 

 come when locust honey will become as common 

 in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Chicago. 



M. Alin Caillas, a prominent authority in 

 France on the subject of honey analysis, has dis- 

 covered that honey shows radio-activity. Some 

 kinds of honey show the presence of radium 

 more than others — notably so, honey from the 

 department of Tarn and from Tunis. In I.'Api- 

 culteur he indicates by an illustration its effect on 

 the photographic plate, showing a white striation 

 not unlike the Milky Way on the sky. He 

 says this is extraordinary, as honev is a vegetable 

 production, and radium has been supposed to be 

 purely mineral in its origin. At present it is ex- 

 tracted from pitchblende. He thinks this may 

 account in part for the extraordinary value of 



honey as a food and medicine. He attributes 

 high values to various constituents of honey usu- 

 ally present in small amounts, but enough for 

 the purpose. In this list are included potassium, 

 formic acid, chlorides, azotates, and carbonates. 

 * 

 A congress of bee-keepers was held June 25, in 

 connection with the Franco-British exhibition 

 now being held in London. The meeting was 

 presided over by Lord Avebury (Sir John Lub- 

 bock), who delivered the address of welcome. 

 Here is the program : " The Development of 

 Bee-keeping as an Industry," by T. W. Cowan, 

 author of " The Honey-bee " and other works — 

 also editor of The British Bee Journal; "The In- 

 fluence of more than one Queen in a Hive," by 

 a French Bee-keeper ; " On the Choice of a 

 Hive," by Walter F. Reid, Esq., F. I. C, F. C. 

 S. ; "Does the Size of the Hive Influence the 

 Yield of Honey t " by a French bee-keeper ; 

 "The Cure of Foul Brood," by M. E. Sevalle, 

 Secretary of the French Society of Apiculturists, 

 and editor of L'Apiculteur, of Paris. That is a 

 very fine program. It could hardly be better. 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



By R. F. HOLTERMANN 

 INSPECTORS FOR ONTARIO. 



The following foul-brood Inspectors have been 

 appointed for the Province of Ontario: 



I. Essex, Kent, Lambton — W. A. Chrysler, 

 Chatham, Ont. 



II. Elgin, Middlesex, Perth, Huron — Jacob 

 Alpaugh, Eden, Ont. 



III. North Norfolk, South Norfolk, North 

 Oxford, South Oxford, \\'aterloo. South Wel- 

 lington, North Wellington — James Armstrong, 

 Cheapside, Ont. 



IV. Haldemand, Brant, Halton, Welland, 

 Lincoln, Wentworth— Wm. McEvoy, Wood- 

 burn, Ont. 



V. Peel, Dufferin, North Grey, South Grey, 

 Simcoe, North Bruce, South Bruce — H. G. Sib- 

 bald, Claude, Ont. 



VI. North York, East York, Ontario, Dur- 

 ham, Victoria — J. L. Byer. Mt. Joy, Ont. 



In the remaining districts, owing to the diffi- 

 culty of getting a thoroughly experienced man 

 on the ground, an expert will be sent to inspect 

 the district and find out what conditions are as 

 to foul brood. Conflicting reports as to foul 

 brood have appeared. 



* 



THE SEASON. 



In Canada, particularly Ontario and Quebec, 

 quite a number of colonies have perished during 

 the past winter and spring. The spring was, 

 for bees, not as bad as a year previous, but the 

 weather has been any thing hut iileal. Colonies 

 in shape are in many sections reaping a rich 

 harvest at this date, June 26; basswood in this 

 section promises well: conditions are favorable, 

 but, as we all know, somet/ii/ii^ f/tay happen. 

 The price of honey should not be low, but can 

 not be as high as last year, as our imports of 

 honey have, during the past ten years, increased 

 thirty fold. 



