132 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



down, and it was -with gloomy forebodings 

 that I witnessed tlie massacre — contest it could 

 not be caired — and beheld the ground in front 

 of the hive strcAvn with dead and dying bees. 



Si ill I hoped tliat the animosity of the vindic- 

 tive Italians might be satiated with the slaughter 

 of lier worker attendants, and that they might 

 yet tender their allegiance to the captive Semi- 

 ramis, whose dynasty might by their means 

 be perpetuated in Great Britain; nor were my 

 favorable anticipations entirely vain. On ex- 

 amining the interior of the hive the next 

 morning, I found the hostile demonstrations of 

 tlie fiery Italians so far moderated and Subdued 

 as to induce me to set the imprisoned monarch 

 at liberty. Remaining unmolested, and being 

 followed only by admiring and caressing anten- 

 nas in this her first royal progress in her new 

 domain, I was encouraged to hope for the best, 

 and successive examinations during the same 

 and following days proving to my satisfaction 

 that she indeed reigned in the affections of her 

 alien though adopted children, I set myself by 

 the careful selection and gradual addition of 

 ripe brood-combs, so to increase the population 

 of the hive as to admit of tlie propagation of 

 Apis fasciata before the season, already so far 

 advanced as to make success improbable, should 

 be so far passed away as to render it entirely 

 hopeless. — A Devokshire Bee-keeper. 



[TO BE CONTINUED.] 



The Candleberry Myrtle. 



Myria Ccrifera is the subject of a paper by 

 Mr. G. E Moore, in Silleman's Journal of 

 Science. He states that it is a hardy plant, ! 

 thriving best on poor soils near the sea, and j 

 producing abundant crops. Its fruit yields a j 

 wax, which, under the names of myrtle wax, j 

 candleberry wax, and barberry tallow, has been | 

 for some time an article of commerce to a limited | 

 extent in the United States. The wax occurs 

 as a white incrustation on the small globular 

 nuts of the plant. To obtain it pure, the ber- 

 ries are inclosed in bags of coarse cloth, and 

 immersed in boiling water, until the fused wax 

 collects on the surface. It is then poured off 

 into pans, in which it solidities on cooling, 

 when it is fit for market. Its chemical com- 

 position was found by Lewy to be — carbon, 74; 

 hydrogen, 12; and oxygen, 14. It is found to 

 be the most accessible source known for pure 

 palmitin and palmitic acid. In illuminating 

 power it is scarcely inferior to the best bees- 

 wax, whilst it can be produced at less than one- 

 fourth the cost. It also forms an excellent soap. 

 As a substitute for bees-wax, Mr. Moore con- 

 siders that the myrica wax has not received due 

 attention, and says there is no reason why in- 

 creased cultivation should not constitute this 

 Avax an important article of commerce. Further 

 details will be found in the Journal of Science. 



"What person, in fact, whether naturalist or 

 not, Avho knows anything of the bee or the 

 ant, would ever think of classing them in the 

 scale of creation as inferior to a spider, a wood- 

 louse, or a scorpion ? 



For tlie Ameriran Bee Gazette. 



Do Bees Fresse to Death? 



From the great stress that most writers lay 

 on wintering bees by housing them, or other- 

 wise keeping them warm, one would be led to 

 suppose that they would die from extreme cold'. 

 Is it so ? 



On the 24tli day of December, 1864, in passing 

 near my bees, I noticed one hive liad been 

 thrown down from its stand, and, in falling, the 

 top was split, and about one-third of it entirely 

 knocked off. It was a common box hive, 

 12x12x12 inches, or just one cubic foot inside. 

 It was laying on its side on the ground, thus 

 exposing the bottom of the comb, and about 

 one-third of the top of the comb. The weather 

 being Avarm, the bees were flying about very 

 much excited, and when I approached them to 

 replace it on its stand, they aliacked me so 

 turiously that I concluded to wait until night. 

 I Avas that evening suddenly attacked with 

 rheumatism, and did not again get out of the 

 house until the middle of March. I had not, 

 during that time, thought of the bees. It Avas 

 the coldest winter Ave have had here in many 

 years. The thermometer marked as Ioav as 18^ 

 beloAV O. Snow fell to the depth of 15 inches, 

 and must have blown through the hiA^e, as the 

 bottom of the hive Avas facing the northwest. 

 In the classic language of the poet — 



" It snew and it Mew, 

 It friz and it chew, 

 And it blew and it suew, 

 And it friz and it tkew again." 



When I got out I thought of my poor bees, 

 and hobbled to Xhciv stand, or rather '■^lay,'''' 

 and was astonished to see that they were alive 

 and Avorking vigorously out of both ends of the 

 hive. I righted them up, and from them I got 

 the first swarm of the season, out of twenty 

 hives, and two after-SAvarms, and took from the 

 cap about 25 pounds of honey, and from tlie 

 first swarm I took tAVO boxes of 10 pounds each, 

 besides two other boxes partly filled — say 5 

 pounds; in all 50 pounds. I had but one or 

 two other sAvarms that yielded so much. Can 

 you imagine a severer test of the ability of bees 

 to withstand cold ? 



While I Avould not recommend wintering bees 

 by knocking them ofi' their stand, and splitting 

 one-third of the top off, and let the wind and 

 snow blow througli them all Avinter, yet I think 

 there is a great deal of nonsense Avritten about 

 bees being kept Avarm in Avinter. A strong 

 colony Avill winter in a box-hive made of boards 

 one-half inch thick, in the open air, in Siberia; 

 Avhile a Aveak sAvarm might not stand a single 

 Nor'Avester in Texas. Keej) your colonies strong, 

 and they will talce care of themselves. 

 Yours, &c., 



D. L. Adair. 



Hawesa'ille, Ky. 



In the aculeated division of the Ilymenoptera 

 order of insects, there is a tangible character 

 whereby the sex of the indiA'idual may be dis- 

 criminated, for the males have one joint more 

 to the antennae and the abdomen than the 

 females. 



