October, 1914. 



347 



American ^gc Jonrnal J 



In order to determine the source of 

 albumen in honey, Prof. Langer in- 

 jected in a rabbit a solution of albumen 

 from honey. The honey-albumen serum 

 gave a precipitate not only with a solu- 

 tion of albumen from honey, but also 

 with watery extracts of bee heads, the 

 larvie and the food (chime? chile?) 

 with which the bees feed the young 

 brood. The same results were ob- 

 tained when, instead of a solution of 

 honey albumen, the watery extracts 

 from bee heads were used for the in- 

 jection. Not fully satisfied with this, 

 Prof. Langer made watery extracts 

 from flowers and seeds of plants from 

 which the bees gather pollen and nec- 

 tar. With these extracts he could in 

 no instance obtain a precipitate with 

 serum of honey albumen or bee-heads 

 extract. Finally he used water ex- 

 tracts of triturated pollen for injection ; 

 the serum obtained gave a precipitate 

 with pollen extracts, but not with 

 honey albumen, etc. Thus it was proven 

 that honey contains albumen which is 

 secret d by the bees, and while trans- 

 forming nectar into honey is incor- 

 porated or mixed with it. 



It was found that the proportion of 

 albumen in honey \aries comparatively 

 little, and, further, that the " precipi- 

 tate reaction," when the right amount 

 and the right concentration are used, 

 gives results that may quantitatively 

 be useful. 



The honey albumen serums are not 

 all equal ; therefore, in each analysis a 

 genuine honey has to be tested with 

 the other samples, as a check. 



To obtain the serum, the use of 

 queen-cell contents has been found the 

 most convenient. 



In making the test, honey solutions 

 are prepared of 10 percent, 2 per- 

 cent, and 1 percent strength; 1 c. c. of 

 each is used. For the 10 percent solu- 

 tion, ..'i c. c. ; for the 2 percent solution, 

 0.2, and for the 1 percent solution, 0.2 

 c. c. of the serum is used and a drop of 

 toluol is added to each sample to 

 check bacterial growth. After a thor- 

 ough shaking, the samples are allowed 

 to stand five hours at a temperature of 

 35 degrees C. At the expiration of 

 that time the reaction is considered 

 complete. Specially constructed glass 

 tubes, narrow at the bottom and grad- 

 uated, are used. The samples are for 

 five minutes rotated in a centrifugal 

 apparatus, so the precipi ate will col- 

 lect at the bottom in uniform density, 

 and the quantum is measured or read 

 off. 



The results so far obtained show that 

 honey from the forest, from a fir tree, 

 has a little less albumen than that from 

 the nectar of flowers. Probably honey- 

 dew will do the same. 



Sugar fed to bees and extracted 

 showed about one-half as much albu- 

 men as honey. This the beekeepers 

 should bear in mind. Sugar has no 

 albumen; it is the bees who supply 

 that, which, no doubt, is detrimental to 

 the bees when feeding large quantities 

 of sugar. It may also be pointed, here, 

 that honey is more than a mere sweet. 

 It can be assimilated without further 

 work on the digestive organs. Sugar 

 must first be inverted. In addition it 

 contains a great variety of other sub- 

 stances, ethereal oils, albumen, etc., 

 while sugar is a pure hydrocarbon, a 



nutriment, but not as wholesome (?), 

 salubrious (?) as honey. 



Kempten, Bavaria, Germany. 



Beekeepers I 

 "W.S. 



Have Known— 

 Pangburn" 



BY FRANK C. rF.l.LKTT. 



THERE are beekeeping farmers and 

 again there are farming beekeep- 

 ers. Shelly Pangburn belongs to 

 the latter class. Although he farms on 

 quite an extensive scale, his bees are 

 not neglected, and beekeeping is not 

 with him a side line. 



Until a few years ago friend Pang- 

 burn was a painter by trade, but laying 

 aside his brushes he moved to th& 

 country and bought a farm overlook- 

 ing the town of Center Junction, Iowa. 

 Being a great hustler and a good man- 

 ager he has prospered from the first, 

 and now finds himself in very com- 

 fortable circumstances. His is one of 

 the neatest apiaries in Iowa, and he 

 has every facility for lightening the 

 labor of caring for his honey crop. 

 The honey house is composed of three 

 large rooms. In one end is the work 

 shop for assembling hives and supplies, 

 and in the other end the e.xtracting 

 room. The center room is used for the 

 engine and also contains the cream 

 separator, for the Pangburns also have 

 a fine dairy herd. There is a power 

 machine also, which robs wash day of 

 its terrors for the women of the house- 

 hold. 



Mr. Pangburn has hit on the best 

 plan of liquefying candied honey that I 

 have seen for the average beekeeper's 

 use. He bought a feed cooker from 

 one of the catalog houses for $11 

 that ju't fills the bill. The tank is 

 the right size for eight GO-pound cans. 

 He has made a wooden crate, as shown 

 in the photograph, which lifts the cans 

 about 4 inches from the bottom of the 

 tank. He puts 3 or 4 inches of water 



in the bottom of the tank, but not 

 enough to come up around the cans. 

 The cover is shut down and the honey 

 heated by steam instead of hot water. 

 A small hole in the top allows a ther- 

 mometer to be seen at any time, and in 

 case the heat arises too high it can be 

 lowered instantly by raising t :e cover 

 and allowing the steam to escape. 



The photograph shows the outfit as 

 it stands in the honey house. Very lit- 

 tle fuel is required, and as much honey 

 can be melted at one time as the ordi- 

 nary beekeeper will have occasion to 

 use. It seems to me that our supply 

 dealers might look into this proposi- 

 tion and offer this outfit in their cata- 

 logs. 



The Pangburn home is one of cul- 

 ture and refinement with music and 

 good reading matter much in evidence. 

 Mrs. Pangburn has a little the best of 

 the family division, for there are three 

 attractive daughters and only two sons. 

 It sometimes happens, however, in 

 cases like this, that the girls leave the 

 nest sooner than the boys, so it seems 

 to be a fair division after all. The 

 youngest son seems very much inter- 

 ested in the bees, and bids fair to be an 

 unusual help to his father in the apiary. 

 He shows a knowledge of beekeeping 

 rare in children much older than he. 



Any live beekeeper will enjoy a visit 

 to the Pangburn apiary. 



Atlantic, Iowa. 



Methods of Queen Introduction 



BY J. E. H.\ND. 



THE successful introduction of alien 

 queens has been a problem for 

 the amateur and the professional, 

 as well as for the novice and the expert 

 throughout the beekeeping world. Ex- 

 perimenters have discovered that while 

 there are seasons and conditions when 

 alien queens may be given to queen- 

 less bees direct, with impunity, some 

 method of introduction is imperative 



The Pangburn Home at Center Junction, Iowa 



