Exhibitors would like to know at 

 what time they should send articles to 

 the Trocadero. It is difficult to say. — 

 The structure, which is to containthe 

 products placed under Class 83, will 

 not be constructed until the close of 

 winter. It is probable that exhibitors 

 will be notihed to send articles early in 

 April. A large number of industrial 

 exhibitors have addressed to the Min- 

 ister of Agriculture and Commerce a 

 petition, which raises an important 

 (luestion, relative to the organization 

 of the jury of awards for the Exposi- 

 tion. The following is the text of this 

 petition: The undersigned, French 

 exhibitors, at the Exposition of 1878, 

 have the honor to request that the 

 French members of the Jury of awards 

 for this Exposition be, (at least, the 

 greater part of them), nominated for 

 election, by the exhibitors themselves, 

 as is the case with those of tlie fine art 

 department. They hope that you will 

 permit this manner of proceeding, 

 which, guaranteeing independent and 

 competent judges, would put the jury 

 beyond the reach of unjust criticism 

 and accusations." We think that a 

 great majority of the exhibitors in 

 Class 83, will unite in this proper 

 request, upon which it will, no doubt, 

 be adopted. — L''Aincultexir^ Paris. 



The following question was asked at 

 the twenty-first convention of German 

 and Austrian bee-culturists: " What 

 experiments have been made, since the 

 last convention, with colonies of bees 

 located in the open air without hives?" 



After Herr Guehler had stated the 

 results of his experiments with colo- 

 nies of bees, situated without hives in 

 the open air, he drew the following 

 conclusions : 



1. The lack of hives has no influence 

 on the production and development of 

 brood. 



2. The yield of honey is not dimin- 

 ished. 



3. There is no greater chance for 

 robbing, as the robbers are quickly 

 driven away. 



The speaker dwelt i;pon the import- 

 ance of this last point, because it indi- 

 cates that one ought not to make the 

 entrances very narrow, and that when 

 robbing has already commenced it 

 would be advisable to turn the hive 

 about, in order to rouse the whole colo- 

 ny to action. But what is most im- 

 portant, in a practical way, is this: 



4. Bees have no need of water di;r- 

 ing the winter. When they collect 



water, or when they search for it, is- 

 when they find themselves in an abnor- 

 mal condition. They are able to 

 preserve a medium and iniiform tem- 

 perature during winter, but the hive 

 should be protected against dampness. 

 Dr. Dzierzon considered the experi- 

 ments of Guehler interesting and 

 important for practical bee-culture ; 

 not that one would be able, practically, 

 to establish his colonies in the open air, 

 without hives, but because these exper- 

 iments prove that cold is not injurious 

 to bees. Then, one can give some 

 ventilation constantly. — Trans, from a 

 Foreign Report. 



L^ Amculteur says, relative to a report 

 publislied in the Journal de Saint Peters- 

 burg: " At the meeting of the Eco- 

 nomic Society, of St. Petersburg, held 

 Nov. 24, the statements of Prof. Bout- 

 elerow, an expert apiculturist, were 

 listened to with great interest. It 

 appears that the bees of Italy, so 

 praised by our apiarists, particularly 

 for the 'mildness of their disposition,' 

 are likely to be dethroned by bees 

 which M. Boutelerow has brought from 

 Caucasus, (to which place he recently 

 made a voyage), and which are more 

 productive and still more gentle in 

 disposition than Italian bees. They 

 wish to make of these bees an article 

 of exportation, hoping for excellent 

 profits from it ; but, according to com- 

 munication made to us, the managers 

 of railroads object to transporting 

 them. The Economic Society should 

 have resolved to enter into conference 

 on this subject with the managers of 

 our railways." 



Apis Dorsata. — Mr. Gravenhorst, of 

 Germany, gives his opinion of the Javan 

 Bee, as follows: 



" Apis dorsata is not at all suitable for 

 culture. Its honey is not particularly agree- 

 able to the taste; then, too, it stores up but 

 little. The combs of this bee are quite 

 dilt'erent from those of our honey-bee; it 

 does not build them perpendicularly, but 

 horizontally, after the manner of wasps and 

 hornets. From this, it is to be seen that 

 this bee can accunnilate no great store. 



" For this information I am indebted to Mr. 

 Kykens, a Hollander, who was sent by his 

 government to the island of Java. Instead 

 of cultivating Apis dorsata, they propose 

 to introduce the Italian and Cyprian hees 

 there, and, to this end, these bees were 

 sent, on the 2nd of October, 1877, to Java. — 

 Rykens took with him 24 Italians, 2 Krain- 

 er, and 2 Cyprian colonies. He sailed by 

 steamship from Helder, in Holland, and, 

 via Suez canal, arrived at Java in seven 

 weeks." C. J. F. Gravenhorst. 



