345 



Wild Bees and the Indians. 



A Minnesota writer in an exchange gives 

 the following particulars about the intro- 

 duction of the honey bee into that State : 



Civilized Sioux Indians near St. Paul say 

 that wild bees were here long before the 

 Mississippi was ever disturbed by the boat 

 of a white man. It will be 200 years this 

 coining September since the Falls of St. 

 Anthony were first discovered by the whites, 

 but the traditions of the Indians fix the fact 

 of the presence of the honey bee long be- 

 fore the above date. 



The bees were used by the Indians for a 

 purpose, and in such a way that their pres- 

 ence was very likely to fix itself firmly upon 

 the mind. From time immemorial there 

 have been envy, hatred and war between 

 the different tribes of Indians. It was, 

 therefore, necessary to devise some means 

 by which to test the grit of the boy from 10 

 to 12 years of age who was to be the coining 

 warrior. The test used by these Indians 

 was to cut down a bee tree, and the boys, 

 laying off their buckskin clothing, walked 

 in for a fight. The boy that had nerve 

 enough to stick to the bees until they were 

 all trodden to death, was looked upon as a 

 valuable warrior for the future, and was 

 trained accordingly. 



If this custom was really in force, and we 

 have no evidence to the contrary, it fixes 

 the introduction of the honey bee into 

 Minnesota many ages ago. 



Beeswax. 



The uses for wax are numerous and im- 

 portant. Its property of preserving tissues 

 and preventing mold or mildew was well 

 known to the ancients, who use cerecloth 

 for embalming and wax for encaustic paint- 

 ing, as in the wall pictures of Pompeii wax 

 candles and tapers play an important part 

 in the processions and ceremonies of the 

 Roman Catholic church. Wax is used by 

 manufacturers of glazed, ornamental and 

 wall papers, and on paper collars and cuffs 

 for polishing the surfaces. It is used in 

 varnishes and paints and for the "stuffing " 

 of wood which is to be polished, as pianos, 

 coach work, fine furniture and parquette 

 floors. Electrotypers and plasterers use wax 

 in forming their molds. Wax is an import- 

 ant ingredient in preparations for covering 

 surfaces of polished iron and steel to pre- 

 vent rust. Combined with tallow, it forms 

 the coating for canvass and cordage to pre- 

 vent mildew, as in sails, awnings, etc. Ar- 

 tificial flowers consume much wax, and, 

 despite the introduction of paraffine, ceresin 

 and mineral wax, its use appears to be ex- 

 tending. One of the oldest of its applica- 

 tions is in the laundry, and in polishing 

 wood-work. 



The product of wax in the United States 

 is stated to be 20,000,000 lbs. annually and 

 increasing— worth in money at least $6,000,- 

 000. Of this about $700,000 worth are ex- 

 ported, and about $1,200,000 worth of honey 

 also goes abroad. The total product of 

 honey and wax is worth at present to the 

 United States nearly $15,000,000. 



The ingenious production of artificial 

 combs, in a machine recently constructed, 

 that turns out combs with cells rivaling, ij 

 not excelling, the natural product, is an im- 

 portant American improvement in apiarian 

 culture, which will add largely to the econ- 

 omy of this industry, yet in its infancy. As 

 the bee is said to consume three-fourths of 

 time in producing comb at the verv time 

 when the honey harvest is at its best, it is 

 evident that the artificial combs must be a 

 great economy in the collection and storing 

 of honey ; but it is not so clear how the 

 stock is to be kept up unless man deceives 

 the bee by using "mineral wax" in the 

 formation of the artificial comb, and this 

 wax is not true wax, but a natural paraffine. 

 New York Grocer. 



A Cat's Experience with Bees. 



The Virginia (Nev.) Enterprise gives the 

 following incident : 



Charles Kaiser, who has the only hive of 

 bees in town, says that when he first got 

 his colony his old cat's curiosity was much 

 excited in regard to the doings of the little 

 insects, the like of which she had never be- 

 fore seen. At first she watched their com- 

 ings and goings at a distance. She then 

 flattened herself upon the mound and crept 

 along toward the hive, with tail horizontal 

 and quivering. It was clearly evident that 

 she thought the bees some new kind of 

 game. Finally she took up a position at the 

 entrance to the hive, and when a bee came 

 in or started out, made a dab at it with her 

 paws. This went on for a time without at- 

 tracting the special attention of the inhabi- 

 tants of the hive. Presently, however, old 

 Tabby struck and crushed a bee on the edge 

 of the opening to the hive. The smell of 

 the crushed bee alarmed and enraged the 

 whole colony. Bees by the score poured 

 forth and darted into the fur of the aston- 

 ished cat. Tabby rolled herself in the 

 grass, spitting, sputtering, biting, clawing 

 and squalling as a cat never squalled before. 

 She appeared a mere ball of fur and bees as 

 she rolled and tumbled about. She was at 

 length hauled away from the hive with a 

 garden rake, at the cost of several stings to 

 her rescuer. Even after she had been 

 taken to a distant part of the grounds the 

 bees stuck to Tabby's fur, and about once 

 in two minutes she would utter an unearthly 

 "yowl" and bounce a full yard in the air. 

 On coming down she would try to scratch 

 her ear, when a sting on the back would 

 cause her to turn a succession of back som- 

 ersaults and give vent to a running fire of 

 squalls. Like the parrot that was left alone 

 with the monkey, old Tabby had a dreadful 

 time. Two or three days after this adven- 

 ture Tabby was caught by the owner, who 

 took her by the neck and threw her down 

 near the bee-hive. No sooner did she strike 

 the ground than she gave a fearful squall, 

 and ata single bound reached the top of a 

 fence full 6 ft. in height. There she clung for 

 a moment, with a tail as big as a rolling-pin, 

 when with another bound and squall she 

 was out of sight, and did not again put in 

 an appearance for over a week. 



