414 



as you began, hi your excellent cellars, by 

 offering us wine of the second quality, so as 

 to pass afterward to the better sorts,— a way 

 permit me to say, which connoisseurs in 

 wines have, but of which no one ever com- 

 plains. From this, fac ut bene vnleas, 

 Liepore, May, 1878. Dr. Reisser. 



Foreign Items, 



GLEANED BY FRANK BENTON. 



" Ein Vorspiel Im November nur : 

 Uaa Volk bleibt meistens frei von Ruhr." 



This proverb among German bee-keepers 

 would read in English as follows : " A 

 flight in November only, and the colony 

 remains quite free from dysentery." 



From Luneburg, Hanover, news comes 

 that the fall weather has been very pleasant 

 and favorable for the securing of the crops, 

 which this year are excellent. The bee- 

 keepers, especially, have been favored with 

 a good harvest, the first " honey year," it is 

 said, since 1859. 



The luxuriance and beauty of the vege- 

 tation on the Island of Java, particularly of 

 the flower-producing plants, are said to be 

 wonderful. The island is described as be- 

 ing "the most fruitful island in tlie world, 

 an Eldorado, a paradise." To Herrn. Ru- 

 dolf Mayerhoeifer, the active and worthy 

 editor of ''Der Dienenvater," Prague, be- 

 longs the whole credit of having suggested 

 and even urged upon the Dutcli government 

 the importation of European bees. Several 

 colonies were safely landed on the island 

 last year, and a new source of wealih to the 

 government has been opened. It seems that 

 in the manufacture of tlieir clothing the in- 

 habitants use much wax, and, thus far, have 

 been obliged to import all of it ; now, how- 

 ever, Java has the prospect of being able to 

 export wax ere long. Herr Mayerhoeffer's 

 service in this matter certainly deserves a 

 high reward. 



The Egyptians exhibit great skill in their 

 manner of cultivating the bee. The flowers 

 and the harvest are much earlier in Upper 

 Egypt than iu Lower, and the inhabitants 

 profit by this circumstance in regard to their 

 bees. They collect the hives of different 

 villages on large barges, and every proprie- 

 tor attaches a particular mark to his hives ; 

 when the boat is loaded, the conductors de- 

 scend the river slowly, stopping at all places 

 where they can find pasturage for the bees. 

 After having thus spent three months on the 



Nile, the hives are returned to the proprie- 

 tor, and after deducting a small sum due to 

 the boatman for having conducted his hives 

 from one end of Egypt to the otlier, he finds 

 himself suddenly enriched with a quantity 

 of honey and wax, which is immediately 

 sent to the market. This species of indus- 

 try procures for the Egyptians an abundance 

 of wax and honey, and enables them to 

 export a considerable quantity to foreign 

 countries." 



In the Blenen-Zuechter for November, 

 under the heading " Postscript," the follow- 

 ing appears in large type : 



" The Latest Discovery.— Artificial 

 capping of honey-combs. Hot, liquid wax 

 is blown upon the open honey-combs by 

 means of the refraicheur. The discoverer 

 is Pastor Knoblauch, of Roloiishogeu, Pom- 

 erania." 



Perhaps hereafter one can seal up any 

 honey left in open cells by the bees or fed 

 late in the season ! 



Mating in Confinement. 



By F. J. Grohman, Schoolmaster at 

 Wolfsberg, near Rumburg, Bohemia; Trans- 

 lated by R. Mayerhoett'er : 



When the bee-keeper has queens just 

 hatched in a queen-nursery, (the latter is 

 indispensable in securing tiie mating with 

 selected drones, i.e., in confinement), two 

 things in reference to the rearing-hive must 

 be arranged : First. The queen-nursery is 

 to be fixed in the interior of the hive under 

 the aperture. (The author means here a 

 hole in the top covered with wire-cloth or 

 perforated tin.) Second. We must^ prepai'e 

 a roomy frame-work or case, the sides and 

 top of which are glass, and the bottom wood. 

 Through the latter a hole is made, to corres- 

 pond witli the aperture in the top of the 

 hive, and the frame-work or case is then 

 fitted on the hive. The passage connecting 

 the two must be provideo with a slide so it 

 can be opened or closed from the exterior. 

 When this case is closely fitted to the hive 

 on ail sides we can pi'oceed with the opera- 

 tion. 



One of the first hatched queens is removed 

 from the queen-nursery and placed between 

 the wire-ciotii or perforated tin wiiich closes 

 the aperature in the top of the hive, and the 

 slide of the glass case which has been placed 

 above. The bees below will feed her 

 through the wire-cloth or perforated tin, so 

 she can remain there till time for her to 

 mate. When the weather is favorable one 

 or two active drones of the desired stock 

 are placed iu the glass case ; the slide is 

 opened, and the queen, never having known 

 a larger space than her prison, is quickly 

 attracted by the fluttering of the drones 

 and the streaming in of the light, to fly up 

 and mate, whereupon she is removed and 

 lier place supplied by another. No more 

 certain method exist. 



