the American, I leave the entire space 

 above open. I think it best to use a 

 quilt on such hives as the Langstroth. 

 The object of upward ventilation is to 

 let the moisture escape, for without it 

 the colony would soon perish on the 

 account of mold. We might as well 

 leave them on their summer stands as 

 to put them in a damp cellar. 



My bees seem to be in the very best 

 condition, but some were troubled with 

 dysentery. I put them out Jan. 29th, 

 and they flew two days in succession. 

 After the second evening I carried them 

 into the cellar again. These two days 

 were very warm and the bees improved 

 the time. The only fault I find about 

 wintering in the cellar is the labor in 

 carrying the bees up and clown the 

 stairs. 



I have adopted the Langstroth frame 

 and I use a modification of the Lang- 

 stroth hive, made to suit my own fancy. 

 I have been using hoop-iron I in. wide 

 for metal rabbets for the frames to rest 

 upon. I think that such are of more 

 advantage than tin. 



ADULTERATION. 



It seems to me that intelligent persons 

 would soon see the evil effects of adul- 

 terating honey. C. J. Quinby remarked 

 in the February Bee-Keepers' Magazine: 

 "Bring forward one case where a per- 

 son has been injured by eating glucose; 

 thousands of pounds are being eaten 



daily It is a little singular that some 



one does hot And out and show up its 

 poisonous qualities." 



Everybody knows that all articles 

 manufactured for food will not kill any 

 person out-right ; but give it its time 

 and if it contains impurities, as glu- 

 cose generally does, it will leave its 

 effect on the system. Nearly all syrups 

 are adulterated to a great extent. They 

 are principallymade of glucose sulphuric 

 acid and old rags. Thousands of pounds 

 of this are being eaten daily. Why don't 

 this kill everybody that eats it V Lid 

 you ever hear of any one being killed 

 by eating syrups. No! But we hear of 

 somebody being sick almost every day, 

 having sick stomach, indigestion, &c, 

 and a hundred other ailments. 



All articles adulterated with such 

 things are unfit to enter the human 

 stomach. It is daily Avorking on the 

 human system somewhere, producing 

 weakness and inducing many diseases. 



Palestine, Ind., Feb. 20, 1879. 



[In the Bee Journal for April, 1878 

 will be found Prof. Kedzie's Report on 

 the Adulteration of Table Syrups, made 

 to the Michigan State Board of Health. 

 In it, the proof is given of the poison- 



ing of a family by the name of Loty, 

 in Hudson, Mich., by the use of glu- 

 cosed table syrup, containing "71.83 

 grains of free sulphuric acid, 28 grains 

 of sulphate of iron and 363 grains of 

 lime." Its effects on the human system 

 is, as we have before said, most deadly. 

 It induces disease which unless arrested 

 will result in death.— Ed.] 



• » » ♦ ■»» 



From the British Chemical News. 



Sugar in the Nectar of Flowers. 



ALEX. S. WILSON, M. A., B. SC, 

 Fellow in Natural Science, Glasgow University. 



Nectar is the term applied by botan- 

 ists to the sweet-tasted fluid which is 

 secreted within the cups of insect-fer- 

 tilized flowers ; and the object gained to 

 the plant by its presence is that insects, 

 induced to visit Mowers for its sake, are 

 useful to the plants by effecting a cross- 

 fertilization. Mr. Larwin has shown 

 what an amount of additional vigor is 

 thus conferred on the seeds, which sub- 

 sequently result in contrast with the evil 

 effects produced by in-breeding. In 

 many instances this sweet liquid is 

 exuded from special glands, but in other 

 cases from portions of the flower that 

 do not seem to have been especially 

 adapted for this purpose. Morphologi- 

 cally, nectaries may represent very dif- 

 ferent structures, but not unfrequently 

 they are of the nature of an aborted 

 organ — such as a petal or stamen. 



It is a point in dispute among biolo- 

 gists, whether this saccharine matter is 

 a true secretion or simply an excretion 

 of effete matter from the vegetable cells 

 —a by-product of the chemical changes 

 taking place within these cells. The 

 latter view seems to be favored by the 

 fact that a similar sweet-tasted fluid, 

 much sought after by insects, is exuded 

 on different parts of some plants quite 

 unconnected with the flower, as in the 

 laurel, brake-fern, lime-tree, acacia, etc. 

 As to the use of such exudation of sweet 

 liquid, various suggestions have been 

 made by those who are disposed to re- 

 gard it as a true secretion ; as for in- 

 stance, that it serves as an attraction to 

 certain insects, to frequent the plant, 

 rendering service by keeping off ani- 

 mals to whose attacks the plant may be 

 subject. Probably this is to some extent 

 true, but it cannot be said to hold uni- 

 versally. Nectar is of course the source 

 whence the bee derives honey, but it 

 also affords food to many kinds of in- 

 sects which do not possess the habit of 

 storing up. 



