Crusade Against the Bees. 



The London Daily News has published 

 the following item : 



It is a disadvantage of civilization 

 that it shows us the dangers to which 

 life is exposed. Every year presents us 

 with a new peril, and the latest is al- 

 ways the least expected. French men 

 of science are now preaching a crusade 

 against the industrious race of bees. 

 Not only are they destructive to prop- 

 erty, but they are actually dangerous to 

 human life. The Prefect of the Paris 

 police has been appealed to. M. Del- 

 pech has drawn up a formidable brief, 

 and is precise in his statements and 

 clamorous in his demands. It seems 

 that bee-keeping is lucrative in the 

 neighborhood of Paris, and that so also 

 is the distillation of spirits and the re- 

 fining of sugar. Moreover, wherever 

 there are sugar works the bees are act- 

 ive and abundant. At Say, for instance, 

 the loss attributable to them is esti- 

 mated at £1,000 a year. M. Delpech 

 gives facts and figures. At another re- 

 finery the number of bees killed daily 

 amounted to fully 22 gallons. He him- 

 self saw a large glass of syrup drank 

 up in 2 hours. As to loss of life he is 

 equally circumstantial. He gives a full 

 list of people who died of bee stings in 

 the course of the year. Most of the 

 cases occurred in America, but many 

 are furnished by France and some by 

 Germany. The death is very painful 

 and in some cases extremely sudden. 

 At Chemnitz, in Hungary, a peasant 

 stung while cutting a branch of a tree 

 died on the spot. At Chester, Penn., a 

 farmer, examining some hives, was 

 stung, fell at once into a state of syn- 

 cope, and died within a quarter of an 

 hour. In another case 25 minutes 

 elapsed between the wound and its fatal 

 consequence. M. Delpech accordingly 

 appeals to the Prefect for the assistance 

 of the police, and what he asks is that 

 the keeping of bees maybe placed in the 

 category of dangerous and unhealthy 

 occupations. The 4th Georgic of Virgil 

 may be read with new interest. 



"Funny Folks" a London illustrated 

 paper, contains a cartoon on the above 

 subject, characterizing the keeping of 

 bees as a misdemeanor, as declared by 

 French authorities. 



We have lately noticed several in- 

 stances of death resulting from bee 

 stings. But the condition of the sys- 

 tem of the persons stung doubtless in- 

 duced the poison to take rapid effect, 



shortening life a little — the stings acting 

 only as any other casualty, to which all 

 humanity is subject. 



Ingratitude. 



R. C. Kedzie, Professor of Chemistry 

 in the Michigan Agricultural College, 

 has lately been making elaborate tests 

 of the relative value of the different 

 kinds of wheat. The " Clawson" has 

 heretofore been deemed less valuable 

 for flour, and 10c. per bushel has been 

 the penalty of this prej udice. The Pro- 

 fessor has demonstrated that it is fully 

 equal to other kinds, and now it ranks 

 with them, saving the Michigan farmers 

 alone half a million dollars a year. The 

 College modestly asked the Legislature 

 to grant a small amount for needed ap- 

 paratus for the chemical laboratory, but 

 we notice by the papers that it has been 

 refused— thus rewarding the College for 

 its valuable work by the grossest ingrat- 

 itude. How natural it is for public 

 benefactors to be treated with inconsid- 

 eration while living, but to be honored 

 and lauded when their race is run and 

 they no longer need encouragement, 

 having passed beyond the smile or frown 

 of mortals. 



Comb Foundation Experiments. 



It will be remembered we intimated 

 in the Bee Journal for August that 

 we would submit the Given wired foun- 

 dation to another trial, as we did not 

 think the test a satisfactory one, owing 

 to the wash used on the plates. Our 

 subsequent experiments have been 

 much more favorable for the Given, but 

 invariably the Dunham has been first 

 completed and fully occupied with brood 

 or honey before the Given or Novice. 

 We cannot but reiterate the conclusions 

 then arrived at, although there may be 

 especial uses or places where some other 

 foundation may be preferred. 



i^° Strangers wishing to visit our 

 office and Museum of Implements for 

 the Apiary, should take the Madison 

 street cars. Going west they pass our 

 door. 



