284 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



honey in "tumblers," but also in 

 every kind and class of receptacle 

 that will attract the attention of the 

 customer. 



While we cannot prevent the adul- 

 teration of honey, yet we can make 

 a sale for pure honey by making a . 

 liberal offer for any adulteration found 

 in any of 01/ r honey ; placing such 

 offer on our labels over our own sig- 

 nature. — Silas M. Locke, Editor. 



— Of late there has been a question 

 raised as to the advantages and dis- 

 advantages of using smoke to induce 

 bees to fill with honey and become 

 quiet. 



While it is true that a smoker in- 

 judiciously used is a detriment, yet 

 in our experience we have found it 

 indispensable. Generally, a few puffs 

 at the entrance and a few puffs as 

 the cloth cover is carefully re- 

 moved are all that is needed with per- 

 haps a few puffs occasionally where 

 the bees seem determined to run or 

 fly out at the top of the hive. 



One must acquire a knowledge of 

 the habits and disposition of the 

 bees under his charge, else he will 

 have trouble, smoke or no smoke. 



With the Cyprians, smoke has the 

 the effect of making them almost 

 desperate, and it affects the Holy- 

 lands somewhat similarly, although 

 the latter are not so irritable. 



Our advice is, keep your smoker 

 at hand, but use as little smoke as 

 possible to produce the desired re- 

 sults. This must be acquired by 

 practice. 



TESTING BEESWAX. 



— When beeswax is chewed it 

 should have no disagreeable taste 

 .and must not stick to the teeth. In 

 the adulterated wax the nature of 

 the foreign material can generally be 

 detected by the taste ; the addition 

 of fat can generally be readily de- 

 tected. If it sticks to the teeth, the 

 presence of resin may be assumed. 

 A simple method of detecting the 

 presence of fat in wax consists in 



melting it and placing a drop on a 

 piece of woollen cloth ; after it is 

 perfectly cold and solidified, pour on a 

 few drops of ninety per cent of alco- 

 hol and rub the cloth between the 

 hands. The wax will be converted 

 into dust, and will easily separate 

 from the cloth if it contains no fat 

 and will leave no stain ; when it con- 

 tains fat it will leave grease spots. — 

 British Bee Journal. 



— One of the most remarkable 

 yields of honey ever heard of has 

 just been gathered at an apiary near 

 Riverside, Cal. The yield from 

 thirty-three colonies was seven and a 

 quarter tons, an average of 414 

 pounds to the colony. — Canadian 

 Bee Journal. 



— Another member of the Los An- 

 geles County Beekeepers' Associa- 

 tion has been called away. Peter 

 Philipi one of the oldest and most 

 skilful apiarists of this county, died 

 on the 1 7th of August last, at his 

 apiary, near San Fernando. Mr. 

 Philipi was born at the ancient city 

 of Frier, on the river Moselle, in 

 Prussia, in 1831, and learned the 

 trade of weaving. During his ap- 

 prenticeship he took care of his mas- 

 ter's bees, and took a deep interest 

 in the business. He came to the 

 United States in 185 1, and located 

 at Los Angeles in 1858, and soon 

 after commenced beekeeping, start- 

 ing in the business with only a few 

 colonies. He made his settlement 

 on government land at the Tujunga 

 in 1 87 1, and took with him forty- 

 eight colonies of bees. By the open- 

 ing of the season of 1876 he had 

 increased them to 180 colonies, and 

 during that season extracted 75,000 

 jx)unds of honey. During the sea- 

 son of 1884 he extracted about 

 45,000 pounds of very superior 

 honey. 



]\Ir. Philipi was one of the found- 

 ers of the County Association, and 

 for many years took an active part in 

 our meetings. For the last four 



