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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 16, 



that their young may have food, doubtless use their antennae 

 in the same manner that the bee does its antennse. As the 

 bee rushes into a flower in search of nectar, it is almost certain 

 to get its antennie dusted with pollen — or, in other words, to 

 get Its nose dirty. Thus we see that the bee, as well as the 

 boy, may need to wipe its nose. It has no regulation pocket 

 handkerchief, but has a much more novel and Interesting ar- 

 rangement by which to perform this important work. It is 

 the antenna'-cleaner on the foreleg. At the base of the first 

 tarsal joint — the tarsi are the last five joints on the leg of the 

 bee — there is a concavity — more than a hemi-cylinder — lined 

 with the most delicate hairs, and just the size of the antennie. 

 Projecting from the lower end of the tibia — the joint of the 

 leg next above the tarsi — is a spur which may, at the will of 

 the bee, close directly over this groove already mentioned. 

 The inner face of this spur consists of a membrane more 

 delicate than the finest chamois skin. 



Now, we are prepared to note just how the bee wipes its 

 nose, or rather cleans its antennii?. It throws its front leg 

 forward and receives the base of its antennw in this groove, 

 closes down the spur, and draws the antenniB through. The 

 brush and chamois-skin-like membrane removes every particle 

 of the pollen, which now rests on the side of the antennio- 

 cleaner very much as the scraping of the shoe or boot rests on 

 the foot-scraper by the side of the door. There is a difference, 

 however. The dirt on the boot-scraper is only good to be 

 pusht one side. This pollen, on the other hand, is valuable 

 food, and the bee wishes to save it. 



The bee next takes this part of the foreleg and draws it 

 through between the first two joints of the tarsi of the middle 

 legs, and thus all this pollen is gathered on these brushes of 

 the middle legs. The bee next takes each middle leg and rubs 

 it over the outside of the pollen-basket on the hind legs, and 

 thus the pollen is packt, ready to be conveyed to the hive. 

 Thus the bee wipes its nose and gets its dinner at one and the 

 same time. 



The wasp collects its mud to build the brood-cell in the 

 dust, and so renders its antennfe foul. Not with useful pollen, 

 but with annoying dirt. But before the wasp seeks its insect 

 or spider with which to people its mud-cell as store for its 

 young, it must clean its nose or antennje. This it does very 

 much as did the bee. I will describe it in the next number of 

 the American Bee Journal. Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



Enforcing and Securing Laws Against the 

 Adulteration of Honey. 



BY CALEB L. SWEET. 



I belonged to the Old Union for a time, but as I was not 

 having any trouble with my neighbors in the direction in 

 which it was working, and as it appeared that about all that 

 was necessary was to bring out the decisions of courts already 

 obtained, to silence the enemy, I had quit paying, and so did 

 not have a chance to vote on the question of amalgamation. 



1 am very much in favor of making an attack on the 

 adulterators. I do not think it will take so very much money 

 to make quite a fuss about it. Every county has a prosecut- 

 ing attorney, and every State, and the' United States also. It 

 will be necessary to furnish the evidence, perhaps, and hire 

 detectives, but I should think we would not have to engage 

 special counsel. The Old Union made no move until some 

 member was attackt, and then of course bad to engage special 

 counsel. 



There Is, I believe, a law in Illinois requiring the judges 

 of the circuit and county courts to recommend to the legisla- 

 ture such laws or amendments as they may discover to be 

 necessary for the people. Now, suppose you have found an 

 adulterator of honey, and you have an abundance of proof, 

 and you bring him up before one of the circuit judges of Cook 



county, under the strongest law you can find in force in Illi- 

 nois, and the law is not strong enough to take him all in, but 

 only a part of him ; or, that he cannot be punisht sufficiently, 

 you have brought the case to the notice of the court, and it 

 would be the duty of that court to bring it to the notice of the 

 next legislature. So, by kicking up a fuss, you have got as- 

 sistance to get a better law if the present law is not sulficlent. 

 Or, suppose that the law of Illinois or California is all 

 that is desired, and you drive them out of one of these States, 

 or both, and they take refuge in some other State, it would 

 attract attention and make it less trouble to get a law in that 

 State against adulteration of honey. Cook Co., 111. 



^ 



Feeding Back Extracted Honey, Etc. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Question. — I have read somewhere that, if I were to run 

 an apiary for extracted honey, during the harvest of white 

 honey, and feed the same back to the bees to put into sec- 

 tions, said extracted honey would sell in the section form for 

 enough more to give me a big profit. Is this a fact ? If so, 

 how and when should extracted honey be fed back in order to 

 procure comb honey ? 



An.swer. — The feeding of extracted honey in order that 

 comb honey may be obtained is something that has been tried 

 by very many of our best apiarists, and still remains an un- 

 solved problem with some of those who have tried it. Some 

 have reported success and others a failure ; but, if I am cor- 

 rect, those who consider the thing a failure far outnumber 

 those who consider it a success. 



From my experience in the matter, I should say if any 

 one must feed extracted honey to his bees in order that comb 

 honey many be produced, it should be fed in the spring, in 

 order to hasten brood-rearing, thus securing multitudes of 

 bees in time for the honey harvest; then, by putting on the 

 sections at the right time, a large crop of comb honey may be 

 secured, if the flowers do not fail to bloom or yield honey. 



My experience has also led me to think that it is better to 

 secure the honey in the sections in the first place, rather thao 

 have it stored in combs, and then thrown out with the ex- 

 tractor that we and the bees may go through with much labor 

 and stickiness to secure the same thing which we might have 

 secured without all this trouble. 



The practice of feeding back is on the principle of pro- 

 ducing two crops to get one, and no one will argue that such 

 a course would pay in the long run. Even under the most 

 favorable circumstances, to finish nearly-completed combs of 

 honey, I cannot make it pay if I count my time as anything. 

 At the close of certain seasous, when I would have a large 

 number of unfinisht sections, many of which were so nearly 

 finisht that a few ounces of honey would apparently finish 

 them, it seemed that it might pay to feed a little extracted 

 honey to finish such ; but after a careful trial of the matter, 

 covering a period of ten or more years, I finally gave it up as 

 a bad job, and have not fed back a pound of honey during the 

 past six years. 



If any one should wish to satisfy himself that feeding 

 back will not pay, he can get the best results by feeding the 

 extracted honey right at the close of the early white-honey 

 harvest, so that the bees are kept active. It is thought best 

 by some to take away all combs except those which have brood 

 in them, when preparing the colony for feeding back ; but if 

 all combs are filled witn sealed honey, except that which the 

 brood occupies, there is no advantage in taking away the 

 combs, that I can see. The extracted honey should be thin- 

 ned to a consistency of raw nectar, by adding the necessary 

 amount of warm water, thinning only the amount needed for 

 one feeding at a time ; for If the thinned honey is allowed to 

 stand long In warm weather, It is quite liable to sour and spoil. 



