128 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The Wax-tree of Japan. 



On this remarkable plant, the RJms succedanca 

 of botanists, the Bulletin of the Society of Ac- 

 climatization of Paris, publislies an interesting 

 paper by M. Eugene Simon, noAV at Nagasaki. 

 The vegetable wax of Japan is one of the chief 

 articles which that country exports. It is not 

 exactly of tlie same nature as common bees-wax, 

 since it melts in summer at the ordinary tem- 

 perature of the air. But tliis inconvenience is 

 obviated in Japan by protecting the candles 

 made Avitli this wax by a coating of bees-wax. 

 It appears that in England a process has been 

 discovered for increasing its consistency, since 

 the demand for the article from that quarter 

 has considerably increased of late. The tree 

 itself might easily be acclimatized in the south- 

 ern parts of France and the United States. It 

 thrives on mountains and in stony and barren 

 ground unfit for other agricultural purposes. 

 Mr. Simon has sent about twenty kilogrammes 

 of the seed to France for trial. The young 

 trees are planted in Japan along the highways, 

 when they are two years old, leaving a distance 

 of about three feet between tlie stems; but if 

 planted in squares, the distance must be double. 

 The trees are kept low by lopping, and trimmed 

 in the shape of pyramids. In llie fifth year 

 after planting, each tree yields on an average 

 four pounds of seeds; in the eighth year, six 

 pounds; in the tenth, eighteen pounds; in the 

 twelfth, forty pounds ; in the fifteenth, sixty 

 pounds. In the eighteenth year tlie tree enters 

 upon its decline. Four hundred pounds of 

 seed yield one hundred pounds of wax. At 

 present, one hundred pounds of this wax are 

 sold in London for two pounds, ten shillings, so 

 that a plantation of 10,000 trees in their prime 

 would produce 4,000 pounds. The seed is 

 gathered toward the end of autumn, threshed, 

 and then left to drj^ about a fortnight, after 

 which it is slightly roasted. It is next Crushed 

 under a mill-stone, and the produce ex^wsed 

 to the heat of steam, in canvass bags. The 

 wax is then obtained by the action of a screw 

 press. This wax is of the third or lowest 

 quality; to bleach it,it is rasped,rinsed in water, 

 and then exposed to the action of the sun and 

 dew for three days. A still higher quality 'is 

 obtained by repeating the operation.— i«?/8- 

 tratecl London J^ews. 



If the weather be wet tlie next day or two 

 after hiving a swarm, it will be well to give a 

 little assistance to the ncAV colony in the shape 

 of food, for, though when a swarm leaves a 

 hive almost every bee composing it fills itself 

 with honey, we have known not a few instances 

 in case of very wet weather, in Avliich the whole 

 swarm perished from starvation for the want of 

 this little timely help. Of courre, the first work 

 of the bees is to l)uild themselve.« combs, and 

 these combs being produced by the secretion of 

 wax from honey, a great drain upon their re- 

 sources immediately begins; and any little out- 

 lay at this juncture is abundantly compensated 

 by its enabling these industrious emigrants the 

 more quickly to push forward the furnishing of 

 their new home. 



[From the AgriciJtural Report for 1865. ] 



Changing from Common to 

 ! Bees. 



Italian 



I The ease with which this is accomplished 

 ! brings Italian bees within the reach of all, in 

 every part of our land. Pure ciueeus are raised 

 I by reliable persons, and sent, as ordered, auy- 

 wliere with perfect safety. If it was necessary 

 to purchase and transjDort full colonies, the 

 Avork of introducing the new variety would be 

 : much more difficult and expensive. Now, any 

 : one who is convinced tliat the Italians are 

 j better and more profitable can order one or 

 I more Italian queens, and from them raise others 

 ! to .supply all his hives. Many and full directions 

 I have been given hoAV to Italianize, but still the 

 ; plain, simple way seems to be little understood. 

 i Having been engaged in the work for three 

 I seasons, I shall try to give some hints which 

 ' may be valuable to those commencing in it. 

 [ The queen being the mother of the Avhole 

 colony, it follows that if a pure Italian queen 

 be given them instead of their own, all the bees 

 reared after the change are Italians; and as the 

 bees already there die off, they are replaced by 

 the others, and the stock, in a short time, is 

 fully Italianized. By a pure queen, I mean 

 one of pure stock, and which has been fertilized 

 by an Italian drone. There has been much 

 stock reared in this country which is hybrid. 

 ~By this I mean the progeny of a pure Italian 

 cjueen fertilized by a common drone. This, in 

 in the first generation, is hard to be distinguished 

 from the pure; but it soon degenerates. As the 

 drones are invariably like their mother, those 

 rearedfrom such hybrid queens are ulwayspure. 

 This fact should be borne in mind, as it makes 

 it comparatively easy to keep the stock right. 

 The queen with which you commence should 

 be pure beyond doubt. Purchase of some one 

 who will warrant her, and whose guarantee 

 you can trust, remembering that in the begin- 

 ning you v/ill be no judge of their purity. The 

 fall is tlie best time to purchase your (jueeu, 

 because she will then be ready for early 

 operations the next season. Introduce her into 

 the best and strongest colony you have for 

 safe-keeping througii the winter. If you have 

 but a fcAV colonies, tlie work for the next spring 

 is very simple. About the middle of May, if 

 you examine the hive containing your Italian 

 queen, you Avill find drones in all stages. Then 

 take the queen out and confine her in a cage 

 made by rolling a piece of Avire cloth, lour 

 inches square, into a tube, tying it firmly, and 

 putting a Avooden stopper in each hand. Next 

 remove from another hive its queen, and hav- 

 ing killed her, insert the queen cage betAveen 

 the tAVO frames, and keep her there forty-eight 

 hours. Then release her, and that hive has an 

 Italian queen. The one from Avhich you took 

 her will preserve its pure drones Avitli care, and 

 immediately proceed to rear queens. In ten 

 days you will find from six to tAvelve cells 

 nearly ready to hatch. Then take from as 

 many hives as you have queen cells their 

 queens, and leave them queenless about ten or 

 tAvelvc hours. Then from one of the hives take 



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