THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



193 



prepared, without exception, lay before 

 the hives until dried up. Il'liut one seg- 

 meut of a ijrape be broken by violence or 

 by overripeness the bees are unable to 

 reach the juice beyond the lllni separat- 

 injj the l)roken from the unbroken .sej;- 

 ments until further violence or decay per- 

 mits an entrance for the tongue. Clus- 

 ter.s of .sound grapes which I hung between 

 the comb (Vanes in hives occupied i)y 

 strong colonies were unl)rokcu .and sound 

 after lifteen days exposure in the hives. 

 The skins were polished smooth, but none 

 were broken. I also stopped up the en- 

 trance to several hives — containing good 

 sized colonies — in tiie apiary and in the 

 wire-covered house, by pushing sound 

 grapes into the opening, so close together 

 that the bees could not pass through. By 

 this means the bees were confined to the 

 hives for days in succession, not being 

 able to break down and remove the grapes, 

 and although the skins of the grapes next 

 the inside of the hive were polished 

 smooth none were broken or injured. 



The past season furnished an excellent 

 opportunity to observe the capacity of 

 bees, under so exceptional circumstances, 

 both in duration and severity, and I was 

 called to sev(!ral places by fruit growers 

 to witness the proof that bees were "tear- 

 ing open the skin of the grapes" and other- 

 wise behaving in a manner altogetiier un- 

 worthy of an insect enjoying a wide rep- 

 utation for virtue and orderly living. In 

 each instance I succeeded in convincing 

 the fruit-grower that the bees were sim- 

 ply performing the office of gleaners; 

 that violence from other sources, or over- 

 ripeness ajid decay had preceded the 

 bees, and that he would be acting the part 

 of wisdom in following the example of the 

 bees in gathering the grapes before fur- 

 ther violence, or the action of the ele- 

 ments, rendered them worthless. 



After grapes have been subjected to 

 such violence, or have so far burst open 

 and deciiyed as to make it possible for 

 bees to injure them, and the circumstances 

 \i are so exceptional as to lead tlie bees to 

 seek such food, unless they are speedily 

 gathered they would soon become worth- 

 less if molested. During the past season 

 I made many visits to vineyards. One 

 located near the apiary 1 visited every 

 day, and my observations and experience 

 with bees in confinement and those hav- 

 ing free access to the vineyards furnish 

 abundant proof to convince me that bees do 

 not and cannot under any circumstances 

 injure sounti fruit. If from any cause the 

 pulp is exposed, as from the attack of 

 birds or wasps — the most common source 

 of injury — or from the ovipositing of in- 

 sects, or bursting of the berry from over- 



ripeness, and if no other resources are 

 availal)le, the bees a|)proi)riate and carry 

 away the juice, antl the extent of the in- 

 jury depends upon the degree to which 

 the pidp is exposed, the sweetness of the 

 juice, and the number and necessities of 

 the bees." — The Southern Farmer. 



Poor seasons are Blessings. 



James iieddon. 



TiiK last two very poor honey seasons 

 will, I am conlident, prove a blessing to 

 beekeepers. It has given us old veterans 

 a splendid education ; it has taught us how 

 to make the most of disaster; it is a val- 

 uable acquisition to know how to make 

 the most out of our business when good 

 luck favors us, and it is nlso equally valu- 

 able to know how to make the most dur- 

 ing disastrous seasons. Besides this, the 

 markets are cleared out, consumers are 

 getting the habit of paying a little more 

 for their honey, and better than all, pro- 

 ducers as well as consumers, are finding 

 out that bees do not -'work for nothing 

 and board themselves," but that intelligent 

 labor and cnpital are needed to make our 

 business remunerative. 



The quality of honey in this section is 

 some better than that of last year. We 

 shtall strive to winter our bees to the best 

 of our abilitj', believing that hone.y-pro- 

 ductiou oflers more inducements at the 

 present time, than at any time during the 

 past lew years. — Am. Bee Journal. 



Keflning beeswax. 



J. D., MooERS Fouics, N. Y. "I want 

 to know how beeswax is refined so as to 

 clear it from all foreign substances." It 

 is done by melting the wax witii about four 

 or five per cent of water in a briuht cop- 

 per boiler, preferably heated by steam, 

 and, after the whole is perfectly liquid 

 and has boiled for some minutes, with- 

 drawing the heat and sprinkling over its 

 surface a little oil of vitriol in the propor- 

 tion of about five or six fluid ounces to 

 every hundretlweight of wax. Great care 

 should be used, else the melted wax will 

 froth up and boil over the sides of the 

 pan. The acid should be well scattered 

 over the surface. The melted wax is next 

 covered over and left some hours to set- 

 tle, when it is carefully drawn ofl" for 

 moulding without disturbing the sedi- 

 ment.— iS'eio York World. 



