iwa 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



203 



It follows from this experience that 

 the esseutiuls to yi-eat honey 5'ields are: 

 plenty of empty comb and contraction 

 of the brood nest." 



Dr. Dzierzon is not far out of the 

 Avay. and we can endorse every Avord 

 so far; but he continues, and that 

 seems the siniiular part of his writing: 

 "The operations of enlarging and con- 

 tracting both brood chamber and store 

 room are impossible witn any other 

 style of hive but my twin hive as far 

 as 1 know. Any one desirous to ob- 

 tain these large yields can only ac- 

 cimiplish this bj' adopting it." 



Dr. Dzierzon's twin hive is a one- 

 story hive, open from the rear. The 

 frames are narrow (23 1-2 centime- 

 ters), and sixteen of these are used, 

 and it is claimed a queen will not oc- 

 cupy very many narrow frames, thus 

 leaving most of them for storing hon- 

 ey. Dr. Dzierzou is opposed to the use 

 of queen-excluding metal, and he ac- 

 complishes the desired result by in- 

 serting combs containing pollen, such 

 a,s have verj- deep cells. 



P'roui the Bieuenphlege: A German 

 tavern-keeper, witness at a honey ad- 

 ulteration suit, was asked by the court 

 for the reason why he persistently 

 kept adulterated honey on the table 

 for his guests. His answer was: "Of 

 the pure article they eat so much; of 

 mixed stuff they soon get enough." 



H. Gravenhorst says, in 111. Bztg., 

 that heavy thunderstorms prevent 

 buckwheat from yielding honey. 



R. Spiegler had an unpleasant expe- 

 rience with a very vicious swarm of 

 bees. After treating it with chloro- 

 form he had no further trouble with 

 it. and it worked well the next day 

 and thereafter. 



Bee-keeper Hei-rel. of Heidell^erg, 

 has hit on a plan, possibly of value, 

 especially to those who keep black 

 bees which will make the finding of 

 queen bees easier. AVith a quick-dry- 

 ing adhesive paint iTe painted the tho- 

 rax on tlip back of Ins queens a bright 

 yellow. This did not prove detrimen- 

 tal to the (lueen's welfare. He keeps 

 the queens confineil in a cage among 

 the combs of her colony for an hour 

 until the paint is thoroughly drv. 



It has been claimed, even by some 

 American writers that Dickel and the 

 Dickel theory is being totally ignored 

 in Germany by bee-keepers and the 

 scientific men. This does not seem to 

 be so, as different scientific publica- 

 tions continue to publish Dickel's writ- 

 ings as they relate to the physiology 

 of the honey bee. Mr. Dickel speaks 

 in "I>ie Bieue"' of an experiment al- 

 most any bee-keeper may make, and 

 which throws light upon the disputed 

 questions. The experiment is as fol- 

 lows: Late in the fall, when there is 

 still a very little open brood in the 

 hives, remove the queen from one of 

 the colonies — the bees will proceed to 

 rear a queen which usually will not 

 become fertile — and when she begins 

 to lay eggs the following spring only 

 drones will be the result. Allow the 

 colony to go on in this fashion till 

 normal colonies begin the rearing of 

 drones. Secure a small piece of drone 

 comb containing young larvae, which 

 latter should be carefully removed and 

 then replaced with very young work- 

 ing larvae. When this is done fiit the 

 little piece of comb into a comb free 

 from any brood and give it to the colo- 

 ny before mentioned; first, however, 

 removing all brood and the queen. 

 After an elapse of eight days an ex- 

 amination will show that, although 

 there be less sealed cells than larvae 

 were transferred, yet there will be 

 found capped (jueen-cells.capped drone- 

 l<rood and capped worker brood, all 

 reared from worker-larvae. The ex- 

 periment proves that liees. no matter 

 how old they may be, are able to rear 

 brootl. 



The heath honey is largely produced 

 in the province Hanover. It is prob- 

 bl.v the thickest or heaviest of any 

 honey produced. It cannot be ex- 

 tracted; to obtain it the combs nave 

 to be destroyed oi- mashe<l and the 

 honey pressed out. Sometimes arti- 

 ficial heat is applied when thus treat- 

 ed, hut the honey obtained without it. 

 or hy the cold process, is of better 

 quality and brings better price. 



ITALY. 



Dr. Alessandro shows in Apicoltore 

 that during the middle age bees were 

 frequently used as a means of defense. 



