THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



WASHINGTON. OCTOBER, 1869. 



We had prepared, for this number, a transla- 

 tion of the certificates issued by the Committee 

 appointed by the Salzgitler Apiarian Associa- 

 tion, to test Mr. Lambrecht's ability to cause 

 and cure foulbrood in a colony of bees, together 

 with a more detailed statement of the action of 

 the Committee, from the pen of one of its mem- 

 bers ; but want of room compels us to defer the 

 publication of it until next montli. It may suf- 

 fice for the present to say that Mr. Lambrecht 

 executed his assumed task to the satisfaction of 

 the Committee ; though we learn that some 

 others, and among them several eminent apia- 

 rians, have expressed a doubt whether a fair 

 test case had been made up, and hence claim 

 that the result cannot be regarded as conclusive. 

 Our readers will judge for themselves on review 

 ing the proceedings. 



Cl^^Since the communication from Novice, 

 in this number, went to press, we have received 

 from Professor Porter a reply to our inquiry 

 for the name of the plant on the blossoms of 

 which Novice's bees have been found foraging. 

 The Professor says it is *' the Eupatorium agera- 

 toidesL., (white snake root). It abounds in 

 rocky woods and hills throughout the United 

 States, and blooms most profusely in the au- 

 tumn. The odor of the flowers somewhat re- 

 sembles that of buckwheat blossoms. To me it 

 is not specially agreeable ; but, if the honey- 

 gatherers get a good supply of honey and pollen 

 from them, we must not find fault. I have 

 never observed the bees working on them; and, 

 in the case referred to, they may have been 

 driven to it by necessity. Still, they exhibit 

 no little caprice, or perhaps instinct ; for the 

 same flowers may not in all seasons and in all 

 localities produce the same amount of honey." 



May not this be one of the plants neglected 

 by the common black bees, but resorted to with 

 splendid results by the Italians ? The latter 

 have this summer, almost everywhere, where 

 pasturage — in the usual acceptation of the term — 

 was apparently very scarce, displayed a wonder- 

 ful superiority over the former in gathering and 

 garnering stores. This surprising result may 

 possibly have arisen from their ability to resort 

 to and derive supphes from some — perhaps from 

 many — varieties of plants whose sweets are 



either inaccessible to or have no attraction for 

 their shorter-tongued or less keen-scented 

 cousins — though these have the probably un- 

 deserved reputation of being universal pillagers 

 that 



" Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds," 

 and gather honey all the day from every open- 

 ing flower. 



We would suggest to those who, in preparing 

 their bees for wintering, have occasion to use a 

 solution of sugar or sugar syrup as a substitute 

 for honey, to mix with it a small portion of 

 pure glycerine, to keep this feed from candying 

 in the cells. As it does not evaporate or dry, 

 we think it would have that efi"ect, and thus 

 prove beneficial in protracted winters. In Ger- 

 many, where glycerine, as a by-product in the 

 arts, is sold at a low price, it is largely used as 

 bee feed, without any admixture; and it may 

 therefore be regarded as a safe addition, when 

 feeding must be resorted to, though it cannot, in 

 this country, on the score of cheapness, come 

 in commercial competition with sugar or other 

 substitutes for honey. 



We have received a copy of the recently pub- 

 lished "Annals of Bee-Cultuke," for 1869, 

 edited by D. L. Adair, of Hawesville, Ken- 

 tucky. It contains about twenty articles, care- 

 fully prepared by American apiarians and natur- 

 alists, and conveying much useful and inter- 

 esting information, which cannot but be of ser- 

 vice to those engaged, or intending to engage, 

 in bee-culture. The publication is designed to 

 be an annual — this being the first of the series, 

 and will yearly present, in a comjDact form, a 

 -general view of progress and improvement 

 in this department of rural economy. May it 

 be adequately supported. 



The '■'■ Society for the Promotion of Bee Cul- 

 ture^^'' on the Lower Rhine, Prussia, have had 

 in operation for three years past, an arrange- 

 ment to give a course of instruction in the 

 theory and practice of bee culture, gratuitously, 

 every summer. Lectures on the general subject, 

 and lessons in manipulation, are given daily. 

 The course continues two weeks, and at the 

 close, a public examination of those who attend 

 takes place, premiums are conferred, and prizes 

 are distributed by lot. The object is to excite 

 in the community a more general interest in bee 

 culture ; to induce the formation of a model 

 apiary in every parish ; and to provide compe- 

 tent .persons to take charge of them. 



