154 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL 

 AND GAZETTE. 



WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY, 1867. 



The American Bee Journal and Ga- 

 zette is now published monthly, in the City of 

 Washington, (D. C.,) at $2 per annum. All 

 communications should be addressed to the Edi- 

 tor, at that place. 



Honey from Old Ccmbs. 



E^^The letter of the Rev. George Kleine, 

 the eminent apiarian at Liiethorst, near Hano- 

 ver, and editor of the '■'■ BienenwirthscJiaftliches 

 CentralblaW of that kingdom, which has been 

 furnished to us for insertion, was addressed to 

 the foreign editor of the Be« Gazette, whose 

 assistance we hope to have in the "Foreign 

 Department" of the American Bee Journal 

 AND Gazette. 



Mr. Mehring, of Bavaria, known as the in- 

 ventor of the stamps for impressing honey-comb 

 foundations, announces iu a late number of the 

 Bienenzeitung, that after a long series of ex- 

 periments he has succeeded in devising a simple 

 apparatus for extracting or separating honey 

 from old, discolored, and black combs, with 

 ease and despatch, so as to be entirely free from 

 bee-bread and other impurities. He says that 

 by means of his apparatus and process no 

 " second quality" of honey is produced, but the 

 whole perfectly resembles "virgin honey," and 

 is fully equal to any obtained from new combs. 

 No heated chamber, or any special arrange- 

 ment of stove or hearth, is required. The 

 operation can be successfully performed at any 

 season of the year, iu any room free from frost. 

 The combs, being old and of no further value 

 except for wax, are expecjitiously cut in small 

 pieces; and though candied honey requires 

 somewhat more time for extraction, it presents 

 no other material difficulty. The bee-bread 

 remaining after tlie removal of the honey can 

 be preserved and used as a valuable spring- 

 food for bees. 



The apparatus consists of three parts, costing 

 about two francs in specie. To prevent de- 

 fective or erroneous construction, Mr. Mehring, 

 for the present, makes the apparatus himself, 

 and furnishes it for the price stated, accom- 

 panied by detailed instructions for using it. 

 For these instructions a separate fee is charged, 

 the amount of which is not mentioned. 



There is no reason that we are aware of for 

 questioning the truth of Mr. Mehring' s state- 

 ment; and if his invention and process really 

 accomplish what is alleged, another great and 

 highly important advance in apiculture has 

 been achieved. 



A STRONG swarm, put in an empty hive at 

 the swarming season, Avill sometimes, if the 

 weather be favorable, construct a comb twenty 

 inches long by seven or eight inches wide, in 

 twenty-lour hours. 



[The following article, marked for insertion 

 in the October number of the Bee Journal, 

 was inadvertantly misplaced at the time. 

 We insert it now, as an interesting item. 

 Nothing of the kind was observed here, nor 

 have heard that aught similar was noticed in 

 any other quarter.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Disease of Baes. 



Have you seen anything of a strange disease 

 that prevailed among the bees in this section 

 last month ? Towards evening, say from four 

 to five o'clock, the bees could be seen carrying 

 out hundreds of living and apparently' healthy 

 workers, but, upon examining tbem, thej' would 

 be found to have a number of golden-colored 

 vesicles attached to their legs, about the thirty- 

 second of an inch in length, sometimes three 

 growing out of a common stem, sometimes two, 

 and often singly. They would sometimes com- 

 mence just behind the claw on the leg, and pro- 

 ject beyond it, preventing, I should think, the 

 bee from clinging to the combs. I have heard 

 the loss to some stocks estimated at thousands 

 of bees in a few days. The Italian and the na- 

 tive stocks seemed equally affected. 



C. W. T. 



HULMEA'ILLE, Pa., Sept. 11, 1866. 



Care of Empty Combs. 



To protect empty honey-combs from de- 

 struction by the wax-moth or miller, suspend 

 them singly in a dry airj"- chamber, or, if in 

 frames, insert them occasionally for a few days 

 in the hive of a strong colony, or keep them in 

 an air-tight box, and fumigate them once in 

 three weeks with brimstone. 



In Mungo Park's last mission to Africa, he 

 was much annoyed by the attack of bees, prob- 

 ably ofthe same tribe with our hive-bee. His 

 people, in search of honej^ disturbed a large 

 colony of them. The bees sallied forth by my- 

 riads, and attacking men and beasts indiscrimi- 

 nately, put them all to rout. One hoise and six 

 asses were either killed or missing in conse- 

 quence of their attack, and for half an hour the 

 bees seemed to have completely put an end to 

 his journey. On another occasion he lost one 

 of his asses, and one of his men was almost 

 killed by the bees. 



