May 10, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



297 



living can produce a crop of section honey without consid- 

 erable variation in weight, and if it is insisted that no sec- 

 tion shall fall below 16 ounces, then there must be many 

 which shall exceed that weight. 



This one thing, however, ought to stand out clear : If 

 the grocer sells sections by the piece, he ought to be willing 

 to buy them the same way. 



Wild Bees and Honey in Connecticut. — The Country 

 Gentleman of recent date contained the following para- 

 graph concerning the wild-bee-and-honey " industry " in 

 Connecticut : 



"A despatch from Winsted, Conn., to the Hartford 

 Courant says that the extent to which hunting for wild 

 honey is carried on in that section is not generally known. 

 One of the Winsted hunters says that there are probably IS 

 to 20 men there who engage in the business, more or less, 

 and take up altogether nearly a ton of honey in the season. 

 He estimated that in Litchfield County there were nearly 

 100 bee-hunters, and that their gatherings amounted an- 

 nually to 8 or 10 tons. As the honey is worth about 20 cents 

 a pound, these figures make the value ol honey gathered in 

 the woods in Litchfield County nearly S4,000. Canaan 

 Mountain is said to be one of the best localities. Over 20 

 trees were found there last fall, yielding from 50 to 100 

 pounds each. The flavor of the wild honey of this region 

 is said to be much more delicate than that of the domestic 

 product." 



"We were not aware before that Connecticut " bee- 

 keepers " had so many apiaries that were not only out- 

 apiaries, but also up-apiaries as well. Perhaps our giving 

 the above notice a wider reading will cause an overstocking 

 of bee-keepers in that locality. That would be a variation 

 from the occasional complaint of an overstocking of bees. 

 What a fine field for the old-time as well as the new-time 

 bee-hunter that must be. And it seems their efforts are not 

 unrewarded. However, in this locality, we prefer to con- 

 tinue to keep bees on the earth, instead of in trees. Of 

 course, localities often differ ! 



A New Comb Foundation. — Henry Vogeler, of Cali- 

 fornia, has patented an improvement in comb foundation 

 that seems to have possibilities in it, altho only actual ex- 

 periment in the hive can decide its real value. The im- 

 provement consists in a subsequent operation, after the 

 foundation has left the mill. Mr. Vogeler says : 



" I form the comb foundation or series of cells with very 

 thin walls — that is to say, with walls which are as thin as 

 experience has shown to be practicable — and I provide the 

 same with thickened rims or outer edges. The said rims 

 may be produced by laying on melted wax with a brush. 

 This construction secures two important advantages — 

 namely, it greatly strengthens the foundation, and renders 

 it more rigid, so as to better resist injury in shipment and 

 attachment to comb frames, and it provides surplus wax for 

 use of the bees in lengthening the cells to approximate or 

 equal natural cells in depth. Such lengthening is effected 

 by the bees drawing out and thinning the beadlike rims un- 

 til they are reduced to the same thickness as the adjacent 

 interior portions of the cell-walls. 



" I prefer that the thickness of the beads or rims shall 

 be gradually reduced from the top of the foundation, where 

 the greatest strength is required, downward to the bottom 

 or lower end, where the cells are constructed in the usual 

 way, or without thickened rims." 



Formation of Spores. — Dr. Wm. R. Howard gives in 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture the following interesting infor- 

 mation : 



" Bacillus milii belongs to a form known as endospor- 

 <?;«— spores formed within the bacillus or germ. Bacillus 

 thoracis belongs to the so-called arthrosporous form, in 

 which the spore separates itself from the rod or germ by 

 fission or transverse section, and does not form within as 

 in Bacillus milii. In some species spore-formation takes 

 place only when the pabulum is about to be exhausted, and 

 remains at rest until a new nutritive medium is furnisht, 

 when they vegetate and again become bacilli or germs. 



There are other species which form spores when the condi- 

 tions are most favorable for a continued development. The 

 spore-formation of the germs under consideration belongs 

 to this latter class. 



"The relation of spores to germs is quite similar to 

 that of seeds to plants. Spores possess a greater resisting 

 power to drying, heat, chemicals, atmospheric changes, 

 etc., than do the germs themselves. Spores oi etidosporous 

 bacteria are more resistant than those of the so-called at/i- 

 rosporous; accordingly, spores of Bacillus milii would have 

 greater resisting power than those of Bacillus thoracis, all 

 other things being equal ; but Bacillus milii, being aiucro- 

 bic, growing better without oxygen or atmospheric air, the 

 exposure of these germs or their spores to the atmosphere 

 would possibly prove detrimental to their vitality. While 

 Bacillus thoracis is lerobic — thrives better in the atmos- 

 phere, it would possibly resist atmospheric influences for a 

 longer period. The spore formation of Bacillus alvei, the 

 germ of foul brood, has been carefully studied, and, altho 

 etidosporous, and retires to the spore or resting stage only 

 when the food medium has lost its nutritive qualities, the 

 spores lose their vitality in 24 to 36 hours when exposed to 

 the atmosphere. [Author's Foul Brood, p. 21.]" 



A Lively Picture of Swarming is thus given in the 

 Australian Bee-Bulletin : 



" A swarm ! A swarm ! Where from ? They are fly- 

 ing all about the place. Quietly wait. Look at the en- 

 trance of each hive, and around same. Now where are they 

 issuing from ? We are too late to see. Perhaps it might 

 be here. See those newly-born bees outside. They are too 

 young to follow the rest of the swarm, and are about the 

 front of the hive. But look, what is that cluster on the 

 ground about two feet away ? Yes, sure enough it is the 

 queen, she was dipt and couldn't fly, and a few faithful 

 attendants are sticking to her. We pick her up carefully, 

 put her in a cage, then open the hive. Yes, only a few bees 

 are left. What is the matter ? See, here are queen-cells. 

 Cut them out, then liberate the queen on the combs. See, 

 the swarm is coming back. Just watch them running in. 

 What a hurry they are in." 



But some of the particulars are at variance with the 

 usual course on this side of the globe. It is unusual to find 

 a cluster of bees with the queen before the return of the 

 swarm. She generally scrambles for herself till after the 

 return of the swarm, and she is likely to be among the first 

 to get back home. It is by no means the rule that the 

 queen will be found on the ground with a cluster of bees, in 

 this country. Neither is it often the case that the bees are 

 so slow about returning that there will be time to cut out 

 queen-cells before their return. 



Queens Not Balled Thru Robbers — H. Mulor says it is 

 incomprehensible to him how bee-keepers of experience can 

 think that queens are balled or lost because robbers have 

 entered and attackt them. The robbers are intent upon 

 just the one thing of getting booty, and don't trouble their 

 heads about the queen. Much more reasonable to say that 

 robbing occurs because the queen has been balled. In nine 

 cases out of ten the balling occurs, not thru field-bees or 

 robber-bees, but thru young bees between S and 14 days old 

 that have strayed into the wrong hives. When hives stand 

 near together and young bees are out for play, the wind 

 often blows them to the wrong entrance.— Maehrische 

 Biene. 



York's Honey Calendar for 1900 is a 16-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up to create a demand for honey among 

 should-be consumers. The forepart was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at tliese prices : A sample 

 free ; 25 copies for 30 cents ; 50 for 50 cents ; 100 for 90 

 cents; 250 for $2.00 ;.S00 for $3.50. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. ;_Zi 



