THE AMERICAN DEE-KEEPER. 



Feb.. 



THE OLDEST BEES IN THE WORLD — HOW 



BEES HAVE BEEN PRESERVED SINCE 



THE TIME OF MOSES" 



It is well kDown, that, in 1881, 

 many royal mummies were found in 

 Egypt — that is, the embalmed bodies 

 of kings. For a good while after that, 

 scholars observed that cartouches and 

 rolls of papyrus were sold on the 

 Egyptian market, bearing the names 

 of kings. As to where the mummy 

 diggers obtained these, our learned 

 men at Cairo were at a loss to tell. 

 The venders of these curiosities were 

 sought for. It was soon evident that 

 most of them came from three brothers 

 who lived at Deir el-Bahari. These 

 men were accordingly taken into cus- 

 tody. During a long examination 

 none of them would reveal the secret. 

 Neither threats nor promises were of 

 any avail in making them set a price 

 on it. The men had to be set free. 

 Soon after that, one of the brothers 

 came to an officer of the Egyptian 

 museum of Boulaq. in Cairo, and said, 



" I am now ready to make a full ex- 



. . ,, t 



position. 



" And why now for the first time ?" 

 said the official. 



" Because my brothers have robbed 

 me of the profits of my share. 



The betrayer then conducted 

 Brugsch Bey (brother of the celebra- 

 ted Egyptologist) to a pit 60 feet deep, 

 and showed him a cavity where there 

 were several mummies of kings well 

 preserved. For three days and three 



nights 300 men, under guard of 

 soldiers, were employed in bringing 

 the valuable find to the light of day. 

 These mummies, potographs of which 

 were taken, are in the new museum 

 of Gizeh. It is related that the 

 mummy of Pharaoh (he who oppress- 

 ed the children of Israel), that it might 

 not be destroyed on board the steam- 

 boat, was put on a little skiff in tow 

 of the steamer. At the next railroad 

 station the mummy was put on board 

 of a first-class car, and thus the re- 

 mains of Pharaoh were removed to 

 his capitol city some 3450 years after 

 he had ceassd to rule. In removing 

 the folds of linen from about the body, 

 several flowers were found that had 

 been buried with him: and in a cup 

 were found several mummied bees — 

 the oldest in the world. The size of 

 these bees is exactly that of that of 

 Italians, with yellow abdominal 

 bands. — Karl H. Mathey, in Glean- 

 ings. 



THE GRANULATION OF HONEY. 



The eucouragement given by Bee 

 Associations of late years in having 

 separate classes for honey in a granu- 

 lated state has in some measure re- 

 moved the prejudice which previous- 

 ly existed against honey being shown 

 or bought in any way but the liquid 

 form. Why this popular objection 

 should — and does largely — exist, can 

 only attributed to want of experi- 

 ence. Very few who know any thiug 

 about bees or bee-keeping but know 

 well that all pure honey, when taken 

 from the combs, will sooner or later 

 change into a solid granulated mass. 

 When thus solidified, it is in a fit state 

 to keep for years. Honey gathered 

 from certain kinds of plants, such as 



