1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



1?A 



Among ilie uses of houey, in Europe, 

 the fabrication of a beverage called 

 hvdromel is frequently considered. Hy- 

 dromel is somewhat alcoholic, and there- 

 fore in large quantities might be intoxi- 

 cating. The fight against intemperance 

 has taken in Europe a different turn 

 than here. The attempt there is 

 to charge a considerable revenue on 

 whiskies and other decidedly unwhole- 

 some liquors, and encourage the use 

 in their place of light wines, hydro- 

 mels and other comparatively harmr 

 less beverages. The scheme will 

 probably work there ; but would not 

 here, on account of our different habits 

 and character. I think best to let the 

 manufacture of hydromel aside entirely, 

 so far as we are concerned. 



A queen-trap is described and illus- 

 trated by Mr. Fievez, in the Pro(jres 

 Agricole. It is not so good, as far as I 

 can see, as our American traps, except 

 that the cover is formed by a piece of 

 glass. For several years I have used a 

 cover of wire-cloth. This has the ad- 

 vantage of not being so frail as the 

 glass, and it has all the advantages of 

 the glass. It gives plenty of light and 

 thereby induces the queens and drones 

 up at once. With the usual arrange- 

 ment, the drones try first to get out 

 through the perforated zinc; and only a 

 hundred or two of them are sufficient to 

 blockade almost completely the entrance 

 for two or three hours every afternoon. 

 With an abundant light shining through 

 the cover and the cones, they come up 

 at once and are out of the way of the 

 workers. If swarming occurs or has 

 oceurred during the absence of the 

 apiarist, it is easier to see the queen 

 through a glass or wire-cloth cover than 

 through a perforated zinc. 



Among the advertisements of the 

 Revue Internationale, I see an •■apiarist's 

 pipe." I suppose that refers to a kind of 

 smoker in the form of a pipe. The api- 

 arist holds it in his mouth and blows 



the smoke through it. This has the ad- 

 vantage of permitting him to work witli 

 both hands. I don't think such a thing 

 could replace the regular smoker; but I 

 have many times felt the need of some- 

 thing in that line when examining combs 

 for finding the queen, cutting cells etc., 

 just to keep out the bees that might be 

 in the way, or sending off those that 

 might get obstreperous, without having 

 to drop the comb and grab the smoker. 

 If I am not mistaken, the Frances and 

 Henry Alley are using some implement 

 of that sort. 



Mr.Raffy (Revue Intenuitlonale)in pres- 

 ence of delegates of the Societe Ramande 

 removed a queen from the comb and put 

 another, taken from a nucleus, in her 

 place, and then replaced the comb in the 

 hive. That is his usual way of re- 

 queening. This must be done quickly; 

 if some of the bees realize that the old 

 queen is missing, they will ball at once 

 the new one and kill her. 



Mr. Mercier [Proijres Agricole) says 

 that a queenless colony will not always 

 accept a queen-cell at once. But he has 

 always succeeded in introducing the cell 

 the third day after removing the old 

 queen', destroying at the same time the 

 cells already started by the bees. 



Mr. Rogers (Progres Apicole) in order 

 to find the old queen, removes the 

 hive to another part of the apiary, takes 

 out three or four combs, shakes the bees 

 off and puts them into a new hive on the 

 old stand. Later in the day, or the next 

 morning, only the young bees are in the 

 old hive. The queen can easily be 

 found, and then the whole re-united on 

 the old stand. He re-queens every year. 



"Id Guiana, when a native negro is stung 

 by bees, his revenge is to capture and eat 

 as many bees as he can." 



"In the islands of the Caribbean Sea the 

 natives eat young bees, either raw, roasted 

 or boiled." 



