1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



301 



promenading among' queen- cells, such 

 as they nor their fathers ever saw em- 

 ployed before in the incubation of 

 queens' eggs, or watching the moon or 

 some such foolishness they think is more 

 genteel — more aristocratic. But the 

 strong, healthy colony, with plenty of 

 stores, does not want to be fooled with 

 at any time of the year ; and he who 

 goes against their wishes does so to his 



sorrow. 



There are a score of little things 

 which the novice persists in for a 

 long time, and this is one. There can, 

 however, be but two reasons why any 

 one should advocate it: one reason would 

 be ignorance and the other a desire to 

 deceive. 



Hurricane, Ark. 



The 



Bee-keeping World. 



Peculiarities of the World's Wax 

 Production. The beeswax as produced 

 In tlie different sections and countries 

 seems to be of somewhat varving char- 

 acter. Gravenhorst's ILlustr. Bienen 

 Zeitung has the following to say about it: 



"In Austria the best wax is found or 

 produced in the southern portion, equall- 

 ing the wax produced in buckwheat lo- 

 calities. The provinces Bohemia, Mora- 

 via and Galicia produce a soft wax, 

 al*.hough a distinction has to be made 

 between the wax from the western part 

 of Galicia and that from the eastern 

 part. That from the first named locality 

 has a pitchy odor, while the other pos- 

 sesses the common odor of wax: is red or 

 brown-yellow and fairly hard. The best 

 of all known waxes is that from Turkey; 

 it is red in color and demands the high- 

 est price. The wax from Greece and its 

 islands is nearly equal to it in quality. 

 The southern part of France produces 

 wax of better quality than the north. 

 The wax from Spain is about as good as 

 the best produced in France. Italy pro- 

 duces much good wax. 



The wax of India is of grayish-brown 

 and has almost no odor. The wax pro- 

 duction upon the Islands, as Timor and 

 Flores, etc., is of importance. Quanti- 

 ties of the product have been exported to 

 China', where a great deal is consumed, 

 and also produced. 



Egypt, Morocco and the Barbary States 

 furnish a considerable quantity of very 

 impure wax. Beeswax from the Senegal 

 is rather poor and dark-brown in color, 

 accompanied by an unpleasant odor. 

 Very good wax is produced in Guinea ; 

 it is hard and yellow, about as good as 

 Russian wax. The American wax is 

 usually dark and difficult to bleach. 



From Guadaloupe black wax from wild 

 bees is brought into the markets. It 

 cannot be bleached out. 



AUSTRIA. 



Baron v. Ehrenfels is the originator of 

 the saying, "Apiculture is the poetry of 

 agriculture." 



Colestin, of Austria, in speaking of a 

 honey-bee visiting a mignonette plant 

 standing in his window, says: "One and 

 the same bee continued to work on the 

 blossoms of the plant for eight consecu- 

 tive days during the forenoon hours, 

 staying about four minutes at a visit, 

 gathering pollen and honey, then making 

 her home journey and returning after 

 fifteen minutes of absence. At no time 

 did another bee come with her or visit 

 the plant. 



Schachinger thinks bees posses hercu- 

 lean strength. He observed at a time a 

 very small cluster of sixty-four bees 

 hanging from an alighting board and 

 only two of the bees clinging to the 

 wood; all the rest were hanging on the 

 two, thus each one of the two bees car- 

 rying or holding in suspension thirty- 

 two sisters. Quite an e x h i b i t i o n of 

 strength, indeed. 



m 



The apicultural museum of the Central 

 Verein contains among other things the 

 first honey extractor ever constructed by 

 the inventor, Major Hruschka ; also one 

 of the two hives the first Italian bees 

 occupied when brought to Germany in 

 18.")3. 



