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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



put them into the hive, and set them be- 

 tween No. 2 and No. 3, not over 8 

 inches apart. No. 1 left the hive again, 

 and went into No. 3's hive. No. 3 car- 

 ried them out dead. One old colony was 

 destroyed with moth-worms, so I have 4 

 colonies in good condition. Why did 

 they alight all over the tree ? The wind 

 blew very hard both times. Did that 

 cause it ? J. C. Dill. 



Morganville, N. J., March 18, 1893. 



Answer. — It is nothing unusual for 

 bees to settle in a scattered way over a 

 tree, and a strong wind would increase 

 the tendency in that direction. 



Queer Actions of a Colony. 



On March Idth I had a colony to 

 come out and settle on the other hives. 

 I caught the queen, clipped her wing, 

 and took her back, but the bees would 

 not follow, and all perished. The queen 

 was all right, and they had plenty of 

 honey. It was a strong colony, with 

 some young brood. What was the mat- 

 ter? I have been keeping bees more 

 than ten years, but never had such a 

 thing occur. Allen Springer. 



Rose Bud, Ills., March 20, 1893. 



Answer. — This case looks very much 

 like one of spring dwindling, only you 

 say it was a strong colony. Possibly 

 some one may account for their conduct, 

 or it may be one of those cases where 

 bees seem to become demoralized in 

 some way and act abnormally. 



L 



conducted by 

 Oldenburg, Grossherzogthum, Germany. 



Apis Dorsata — Poisonous Honey. 



Introduction of Apis Dorsata in Amer- 

 ica. — There has been written already a 

 good deal about this bee in the "Old 

 Reliable," but perhaps I have something 

 new to say. 



Efforts have been made to get up 

 capital by shares, but there is only very 

 little money necessary to introduce their 

 race. Try to get communication with 

 some English or American residents in 

 Ceylon; for instance, with Mr. Holloway, 

 who lives at Wattagama, Maria Estate, 



near Kandy. When Mr. Rud. Dathe, of 

 Eystrup, Germany, went over to Ceylon 

 to get the "Dorsata," the assistance of 

 this gentleman was very valuable to 

 him. Dathe first spent a lot of money 

 for bull-carts, a dozen of natives for as- 

 sistance, etc., and many a day was spent 

 in those immense virgin forests to catch 

 the I)orsata on the giant trees. But 

 afterwards he caught plenty of colonies 

 on Maria Estate, doing nothing but 

 smoking his pipe and lying on an easy 

 chair. He only put some honey in the 

 open air, and as the Dorsata migrates 

 from place to place, several swarms 

 soon found the honey, and settled on 

 the surrounding trees, and were easily 

 caught. All hives were filled in a few 

 days. 



But if, for instance, Mr. Crum, of 

 Streator, Ills., would go himself, he 

 need not be afraid of fever. Those high 

 mountain districts of Ceylon belong to 

 the healthiest parts of the world. I know 

 half of the world, but never met with a 

 more healthy place. 



A crossing with Apis mellifica is im- 

 possible, as the Dorsata is quite another 

 kind of bee. Rud. Dathe noticed that 

 worker-bees of the Dorsata, when 

 brought on brood of the Apis mellifica, 

 took no care of it, and within a few days 

 the brood died for want of food. 



Poisonous Honey at Trebizond. — Mr. 

 A. I. Root inquired in Gleanings some 

 time ago for the address of some proper 

 person who lived near that locality. He 

 may write to the English Vice-Consul 

 Bilicki, who will confirm that all is cor- 

 rect that Zenophon once wrote, viz. : 

 That the honey of Trebizond is always 

 poisonous on account of the "deadly 

 night-shade" which grows there in 

 abundance. People keep a good many 

 bees there, but only on account of the 

 wax. There is another kind of poison- 

 ous honey in the South of Africa, in 

 Caffraria, but this honey is only poison- 

 ous at the time when aloes is blooming. 



H. Reepen. 



Bee-Keeping: for Profit.— We 



have just issued a revised and enlarged 

 edition of Dr. Tinker's book, called 

 "Bee-Keeping for Profit." It details 

 his most excellent " new system, or how 

 to get the largest yields of comb and 

 extracted honey." The book contains 

 80 pages in all, and is illustrated. Price, 

 postpaid, 25 cents, or clubbed with the 

 Bee Journal for one year, for $1.15. 



