212 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 8, 1906 



tie them with a string so that no portion of the vessel is 

 exposed, and when thus fixed the wax does not get com- 

 pletely cold in less than 36 hours. 



Composition of Wax. 



Just now the question of adulteration threatens to 

 become very serious, and the tests that can be used to de- 

 tect the adulterating substances may well be examined. 

 Unfortunately the determination of the purity of a sample 

 of beeswax is quite difficult, nearly as much so as that of 

 honey adulterated with glucose. 



To begin with, the wax is not, as generally supposed, 

 a single substance, but a mixture of three different ones, 

 which do not respond alike to the tests that may be 

 applied. 



The first one is the cerine. sometimes called cerotic 

 acid. It dissolves easily in boiling alcohol, and melts at 

 172 degrees Fahrenheit. It crystallizes from its dissolu- 

 tion in delicate needles. 



The second is the myricine. This dissolves in boiling 

 alcohol with much difficulty; it takes at least 200 times its 

 weight of alcohol and a prolonged boiling. Boiled with a 

 potash lye, it is transformed into a kind of soap. It melts 

 at 127 degrees. It is of a greyish white color, and does 

 not crystallize. 



The third substance is the ceroleine. It is quite soft, 

 very soluble in alcohol, and melts at about 60 degrees. 

 There is only 4 or 5 per cent of it in the wax. 



One of the text-books I have before -me gives the 

 proportion of cerine in the wax at 14j^ per cent, and an- 

 other at 22 per cent. A third one merely states that the 

 proportion is quite variable. 



While the myricine is easily transformed into a soap, 

 the other two substances are transformed only with a very 

 strong lye in large quantities and with a prolonged boiling. 

 Eventually the whole wax is transformed into a soap, or 

 rather a mixture of several kinds of soap. These differ 

 from the soaps formed with vegetable oils and animal 

 fats, in that they do not contain any glycerine. 



It has been said that this transformation of the wax 

 into soap might be used to detect the presence of any 

 mineral wax or other similar substance mixed with the 

 wax. I doubt it. I have not before me enough informa- 

 tion to decide the question, but a strong, boiling potash 

 lye will decompose almost anything in that line. 



Knoxville, Tenn. 



5— Dadant Methods of Honey-Production 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



I WISH to digress a little from the task of describing our 

 methods, to speak to you on two subjects which I have 



seen discussed lately, and on which I cannot 'agfee with 

 some other apiarists. 



The first of these subjects is the age of combs. It has 

 been held by some bee-keepers that the old-time bee-masters 

 were right when they practiced the changing of the combs 

 every few years; that worker-combs 10 or IS years old are 

 altogether too old for any use; that the queen will not lay 

 eggs in such combs, and that if she does, the worker-bees 

 hatched in them will be dwarfed in size and unable to perform 

 their duties. 



We have combs in our apiary which were old combs when 

 I was a boy, and which are good yet. I do not mean to say 

 by this that all combs may be kept until they are 40 years old, 

 and that they will prove as good then as when new; but I 

 insist that many worker-combs are as good when they are 

 20 to 30 years old as when first built, and in some cases 

 better, because when they have some age they are tougher, 

 and consequently better able to stand the strain of hot summer 

 days. 



The greatest damage to worker-combs is done by the 

 soiling of them by drones, or by the travel of workers, so 

 that those combs, or part of combs, which are nearest the 

 entrance will be most likely to become unfit for use in the 

 course of 25 or 30 years. 



As I said before, we have some in use which were old 

 when I was yet a boy. Some 5 or 6 years ago we had had 

 such a succession of had seasons that I began to wonder 

 whether we were not overdoing the old-comb business, for I 

 must tell you that we have never destroyed an old worker- 

 comb until it was plain and evident that the queen would 

 refuse to lay eggs in it. I had about come to the conclusion 



that we must change the combs in some of our hives, because 

 these combs were altogether too old. 



Just then came the season of 1903. Every one of those 

 colonies that had good laying queens, in hives which had stood 

 so long that the hive-body had to he replaced with a new 

 box — every one of those colonies filled from 2 to S supers 

 twice during the season. There was not a bit of difference in 

 results between those colonies in combs the most of which 

 were 30 years old. and the colonies on combs 3 to 4 years old. 

 So much for old combs in a good colony during a good 

 season. 



The other question is that of shade. I notice in another 

 bee-paper, that Mr. Alexander, of New York, thinks that 

 shade is injurious to the bees, and that colonies that are in 

 the shade yield less than those which are in the open. I must 

 say that we have part of an apiary which is shaded rather to 

 excess, and I had wondered whether we were not at fault in 

 letting such a thick growth of trees and shrubbery surround 

 our bees. The season of 1903 settled this point also, for the 

 colonies that were in the thickest shade yielded just as much 

 as the others — a tremendous crop. 



There is perhaps one item to consider in the shade around 

 an apiary. If the shade is low down, and very dense, so that 

 the rays of the early summer sun are entirely intercepted, 

 there may be a short delay in the awakening of the bees, and 

 they may lose a little time in the early morning hours by the 

 existence of this thick shade which delays the arrival of day- 

 light. But if the shade is overhead, and the morning sun's 

 rays are not altogether intercepted, there is no loss in the 

 existence of that shade. I do not know but that even a slight 

 delay to the bees may be beneficial, for it will prevent them 

 from starting out when the weather is still cool. With a very 

 early start, some of the bees may find themselves chilled, and 

 may perish or become so numbed that they are compelled to 

 alight and remain inactive until the sun warms them. So, 

 after all, even a little delay may be beneficial. 



There are some advantages to shade which certainly help 

 make up for the possible disadvantage. There is less suffer- 

 ing from the heat of the sun during the hot part of the day, 

 the bees are less likely to hang out, and the hive is less likely 

 to become warped or to check under the sun's rays. 



Climate has some influence on these points. In a very hot 

 climate, such as that of the Mississippi valley, where the sun 

 is powerful and the nights exceedingly warm in summer, 

 shade is beneficial, without a doubt. In more temperate climes, 

 where the cornstalk is not known to grow up 2 inches in a 

 single night, as it often does in Illinois hot nights, the useful- 

 ness of shade-trees may be less advantageous. 



Hamilton, 111. 



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Conducted by Morley Pettit, Villa Nova, Ont. 



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"Whipped Honey" 



A returned missionary from Turkey, now resident in 

 Massachusetts, writes asking where candied honey can be 

 obtained. In Turkey it is beaten while candying, and is 

 sold as " Whipped Honey." 



A Pure Seed Special Train 



Tremendous is the interest taken in agriculture by the 

 Canadian Government. Witness the following clipping 

 from the Farming World and Canadian Farm and Home : 



The Pure Seed Special. 



Great interest is being taken in the West id the " Seed Special " 

 train now journeying through the West in the interest of clean seed 

 and the eradication of weeds. The train consists of two auditorium 

 cars and a living ear for sleeping and dining accommodation for the 

 lecturers. In addition, the private car of the freight department of 

 the C. P. R., for the accommodation of railway otricials who will dis- 

 cuss with the farmers present any matters of mutual interest. The 

 train will remain one hour at the stations previously announced by a 

 schedule. 



A score of lecturers, including Dr. Fletcher, Ottawa; G. H. Clark, 

 Seed Commissioner; Prof. Black, Winnipeg; Angus McKay, Indian 



