406 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Lower Seine, tlie general reports are that 

 the season has been a very ordinary one — 

 both for lioney and increase of stocks. 



A letter froin a bee-cnlturist in Savoy, in 

 Eastern France, to UApiculteur, of Paris, 

 states that the harvests have been medi- 

 ocre. 



"Swarming in our locality has been very 

 good. Nearly all hives liave given two 

 natural swarms."— Rousseau, St. Chislain, 

 Behiium. 



In England, comb honey is not abundant. 



Wintering ix Pits anb Cellaks.— 

 The Vice-President of a Bohemian apiarian 

 society, Pastor Joseph Ehl-Dittersbach in- 

 troduced, at a convention of bee-keeperS) 

 the following question: 

 "Has a trial of ivintering bees in cellars 



or earth pits been made; if so, ivith 



ichat result; and is this method to be 



xiniversally recommended?" 



" This question is one of the most impor- 

 tant relating to bee-culture, since the pros- 

 perity of the colony depends upon the 

 successful wintering of the bees. Only 

 when we are able to determine upon a 

 method of wintering bees successfully can 

 we lay claim to the title, 'Master of bee- 

 eulture.' Innumerable experiments in this 

 direction have been made, and yet one 

 hears, on the opening of nearly every 

 spring, loud complaints that the bees have 

 wintered poorly, since they are troubled 

 with dysentery or are found dead. For ex- 

 ample, one of my friends had this spring 

 but 5 living colonies out of 2.5 put in winter 

 quarters. It is advisable, before discussing 

 tnis question, to call to mind the points 

 essential to success in wintering. 



"As is well-known the honey-bee is a 

 native of the Orient, where, with some 

 slight exceptions, it is able to fly out during 

 the whole year. With us, on the contrary, 

 it is obliged on account of the severe cli- 

 mate to remain in its domicile from 3 to 6 

 months. In order to make this unnatural 

 condition as light as possible for the bee 

 the following-named points must be ob- 

 served. It is to be understood, of course, 

 that tiie stocks to be wintered are populous, 

 healthy, and furnished with a queen not 

 over three years old. The colony must be 

 provided: 



" 1st. With sufficient food — pollen, as 

 well as about 34 lbs., or about 12 kilogram- 

 mes of honey. 



"2d. With v/ater to quench thirst and to 

 thin the candied honey. 



"3d. With fresh air — so as not to be 

 smothered. 



" 4tli. With protection from severe cold. 



".5th. They must remain dry; for too 

 much water, as well as too little, is injuri- 

 ous; too much water produces mold or 

 mustiness in the hive. 



"6th. They must remain quiet. When 

 bees are disturbed during cold weather 

 their exertions cause them to become warm, 

 they leave the cluster and are chilled. 



" 7th. They must be safe from thieves. 



"It will not be difficult for us to give a 

 correct decision in reference to the (pies- 

 tion if we take into careful consideration 

 the above mentioned points." 



The discussion which followed brought 

 lorth from numerous members the state- 

 ment that they were highly pleased with 

 the results of their experiments in winter- 



ing in earth-pits, while others preferred to 

 place colonies in cellars and watch the tem- 

 perature. President Budiegizki said that 

 even in severe seasons he had not failed to 

 winter his bees well in straw hives on their 

 summer stands. It was his opinion that 

 before the practice of wintering in pits or 

 cellars could be recommended for universal 

 adoption it would be necessary to collect 

 the facts which a wider experience in this 

 direction would give. 



Translated from "Bienenfreund" by F. Benton. 



The large Bee, Apis dorsata, of Java. 



BY EDWAKD CORI, BKUEX, BOHEMIA. 



According to the statements of a post 

 officer and a high government official or the 

 Dutch island of Java, with whom I became 

 acquainted in Carlsbad, the surface of this 

 island from the coast some distance inland 

 is, for the greater part, low, level, and 

 covered with tropical productions. The 

 pine-apple, rice, sugar-cane, indigo, vanilla, 

 and other useful plants of hot climates are 

 cultivated in the fields as potatoes with us, 

 the cocoannt palm as with us the fruit tree. 

 In the interior the earth rises into numer- 

 ous broad terraces, one after another, 

 higher and higher, until, finally, as moun- 

 tains it becomes very elevated. The higher 

 these terraces lie above the sea level, the 

 milder, and, in comparison with the tropical 

 shores of the island, the more temperate is 

 their climate. It is upon these terraces that 

 the world-renowned Java coffee flourishes. 

 Beyond the coffee-tree region the primeval 

 forest begins, and stretches away to the 

 inner high mountains of the great island. 

 The climate of this forest region is the most 

 tavorable one can imagine for plant and 

 animal life; the soil is exceedingly fertile, 

 besides there is much flowing water, and 

 the dews are very heavy. Numerous brooks 

 whose waters are crystal clear, cool, and 

 good-tasting, flow down from the mountains. 



Both the officers mentioned could not 

 extol too highly the truly paradise-like 

 beauty and splendor of this terrace region 

 of the island. Everything which nature 

 produces here is larger and more beautiful 

 than elsewhere— is even gorgeous and mag- 

 nificent. The flora is particularly rich and 

 various, and the blossoms are exceedingly 

 odorous. The animal life is even as rich as 

 interesting; here is the home of the com- 

 mon, the silver, and the golden pheasant, 

 also of tlie peacock; all of these are wild on 

 the island, and objects of the hunt. The 

 insect life of the island is especially de- 

 veloped, since all the conditions thereto are 

 united in the most favorable manner; but- 

 terflies, moths, beetles, and all other insects 

 are distinguished for their manifold colors 

 and beauty,. and particularly on account of 

 their striking size. 



Good Dame Nature has also produced in 

 this island region, which is so wonderfully 

 favorable to insect life, a peculiar race of 

 bees, the Apis dorsata, which could prop- 

 erly be named "the Great Bee of the Island 

 of Java," for it is, as far as is now known, 

 the larqest bee in the world. The first two 

 segments of its abdomem are dark orange- 

 yellow^ in color, the i-est of them deep black 

 and very shining; the hairy covering some- 

 what white, very thick on the thorax, and 

 particularly broad upon the abdomenal rings. 



