1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



991 



GLEANINGS FROM OUR 

 FOREIGN EXCHANGES 



By W. K. Morrison 



Some one in the British Bee Journal recommends 

 the logan berry as a splendid plant for bees. 

 California is the homeland of this berry, yet we 

 have had no reports of any great results, though 

 large areas are planted with it near Santa Cruz 

 and Watsonville, California. Will somebody 

 living there let us know its intrinsic value as a 

 honev-plant.? 



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The bee-keepers of the two Charentes held in 

 July an international exhibition, lasting three 

 days, of bees, bee-appliances, and honey, at 

 Saintes, a town in France of about 20,000 inhab- 

 itants. This gives us a fair idea of the enter- 

 prising spirit which characterizes many of the 

 European bee-keepers' societies. It takes a con- 

 siderable amount of money and a great deal of 

 work to conduct such a meeting; but it is worth 

 it in the enthusiasm it creates. 



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THE LENGTH OF BEES' TONGUES. 



Professor Kulyagin, of Russia, claims to have 

 found a very accurate method of determining the 

 length of a bee's tongue; and after many measure- 

 ments he gives the following averages expressed 

 in millimeters: Russian, 6.21; American, 6.22; 

 Italian, 6.25; Cyprian, 6.50. 



A DISTINGUISHED BEE-KEEPER. 



Mr. E. Beuve, president of the Society of Api- 

 culture for Aube, in France, has received from 

 the president of the republic the Order of Merit 

 (Agricultural) on account of his long and useful 

 services to apiculture. He is teacher of apicul- 

 ture in the normal school at Troyes. He com- 

 menced in 1858, and has kept for years 700 to 

 800 colonies, which is a very large number in a 

 country like France. 



TRANSVAAL BEE-KEEPERS" ASSOCIATION. 



Johannesberg now has a full-fledged bee-keep- 

 ers' association with the above name. Those at 

 the top are the Earl and Countess of Selbourne; 

 the Minister of Land, the Minister of Agricul- 

 ture, and General Louis Botha. It is intended 

 to have branch associations in the principal cen- 

 ters, and one is in course of organization at Pre- 

 toria. The conditions are suitable in South Afri- 

 ca, and in time the land of Angora goats and os- 

 triches, diamonds, and gold will probably figure 

 largely in the bee-keeping world. I note the 

 colonists show a decided preference for American 

 bee-supplies, in which they follow the example 

 of other British colonies. 

 * 



THE DEATH OF ZOUBAREFF. 



The British Bee Journal recently announced the 

 death of a famous Russian bee-keeper, M. A. F. 

 Zoubareff, at the ripe old age of 87 years. He 

 went to school with Pobedonostseflr, Procurator 

 of the Holy Synod of Russia, who died last year. 

 Readers of the newspapers will remember it was 

 Pobedonostseflf who inspired the Czar to resist all 



reforms. On account of his health Zoubareff 

 went to Switzerland in 1883, and there became 

 acquainted with Mr. Ed. Bertrand, who convert- 

 ed him to the Langstroth hive and system. Hith- 

 erto he had advocated the Dzierzon-Berlepsch 

 system. He was largely instrumental in induc- 

 ing the Russian bee-keepers to adopt the Lang- 

 stroth hive. He wrote a book with this end in 

 view, chiefly to instruct schoolteachers in our 

 system. He also translated Mr. T. W. Cowan's 

 Bee-keepers' Guide Book from French into Russian, 

 and otherwise worked faithfully to help Russian 

 bee-keepers find the most profitable system of bee- 

 keeping. He lived close by Lake Ladoga, not 

 far from St. Petersburg. 



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THE FRENCH SOCIETY OF APICULTURE. 



There was a general assembly of the French 

 bee-keepers' societies held at 61 Lafayette Street, 

 Paris, March 31. The congress was presided 

 over by Mr. Dumont, the vice-president. Din- 

 ner was served, the principal items of which were 

 hydromel, honey ginger-bread, and pure honey. 

 Probably the most important topic discussed was 

 what the tariff on foreign honey should be. It 

 is evident the French are afraid of foreign honey, 

 and they intend appealing to the Chamber of 

 Deputies for a higher tariff. They decided 30 

 per cent would be sufficiently protective on table 

 honey; but for all others, particularly that used 

 in bakeries, 50 per cent would not be too much. 

 The matter of duties will come before the Cham- 

 ber of Deputies during the political year of 1909, 

 and it is expected they will be guided by what 

 the bee-keepers have recommended. 

 * 



PRICES OF HONEY AND WAX IN HAMBURG. 



, According to Mr. Richard Bruckner, in L' Api- 

 culture Nowuelle, the prices of honey and wax in 

 Hamburg are as follows: California honey, 9 

 cents; Chile, 4>^ to 5; Cuba, 5 to 5}^; San Do- 

 mingo, 5 to Sj^; Havana, 5; Mexico, 5. Bees- 

 wax from Benguella, 30 cents; Brazil, 30; Chile, 

 30; Cuba, 32; Madagascar, 29; Morocco, 30; 

 Japan (vegetable wax), 10; Carnauba (palm wax), 

 31; and gray Carnauba, 22. 



One might conclude from this that the Germans 

 are getting some cheap honey; but the duty is 

 high; and this, together with commissions and 

 other charges, probably doubles the price before 

 the consumer is reached. This is rather a pity, 

 as the Germans are fond of honey, using it in 

 many ways. There is no prospect that the duty 

 will be lowered; on the contrary, the tendency 

 is toward a high tariff, and the same is true of 

 France. They do not believe in the doctrine, 

 " Peace on earth and trade with all mankind." 



BEES AND FRUIT. 



The Daily Mirror, of London, has entered on a 

 novel experiment to test the value of bees as pol- 

 lenators of fruit flowers. It has installed on the 

 roof of the M//ror office two hives of bees with 

 the expressed intention of finding out the value 

 of bees to flowers. It has also arranged to send 

 experts around to observe the effects of the flow- 

 ers. The secretary of the Royal Botanic Gar- 

 dens said that the fruit-trees in gardens gave little 

 or no fruit, though every possible attention was 



