390 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



June 19, 1902. 



Contributed Articles. 



CS2 



BY PROF. A. I. COOK. 



To the one who has never looked into chemical science 

 at all, the above will sugg^est a rebus, and he will whisper 

 something like seeing crooked twice. But how inappro- 

 priate ! for the bee-keepers who read our " old reliable " 

 American Bee Journal, I take it, rarely see crooked even 

 once. To the one who has looked but little into the marvels 

 of modern chemistry. C suggests Carbon — that which forms 

 much of gun-powder, most of coal, and nearly all of graphite, 

 and all of the diamond. S also recalls Sulphur, the same 

 that coats the end of the match. And CSj means to him 

 Bisulphide of Carbon, or carbon bisulphide. The 2 indi- 

 cates that in a molecule of the liquid there are two atoms of 

 sulphur to every one of carbon ; hence the %vordbi-sulphide. 

 I have been thus explicit as this susbtance is coming to 

 have a very important place in our fighting of insects. 

 The bee-keeper finds it more pleasant to use in protecting 

 against the bee-moth than is the sulphur alone. And so, 

 before long, sulphuring will very likely be entirely super- 

 seded by sulphiding, which, by the way, is a newly-coined 

 word, and will not be found, I take it, in the dictionaries. 



The old-time use for this liquid was almost wholly as a 

 solvent of rubber, and so the unpleasant odor of the vapor 

 was rarely met except in the presence of the cobbler, who 

 used it to form his rubber patch to shoe or boot. 



The man in our country who has made the bulk of this 

 liquid is Mr. Edward Taylor, formerly of Ohio. I visited 

 this plant some years ago, and was much interested in his 

 work and explanation of how he had improved the process 

 of manufacture. He now makes it by a new electric pro- 

 cess, which he has patented, and his factory in New York 

 State is said to turn out 20,000 pounds daily. 



It is made by passing the fumes of burning sulphur 

 over red-hot charcoal. The gases of the two unite to form 

 a vapor which cools into a liquid, and this is CSi. This has 

 a specific gravity of 1.29 at 30 degrees Fahr. It is exceed- 

 ingly volatile, and when turned onto one's hand cools it 

 greatly by the rapid evaporation. Of course, it will evap- 

 orate more rapidly in a warm atmosphere, and when a large 

 surface is exposed. If we throw a spray into a room the 

 evaporation would be almost instantaneous. As it is one- 

 fourth heavier than water, a little water turned into a ves- 

 sel containing it will largely 'prevent evaporation, as the 

 water remains at the top. Of course, it must be kept in 

 perfectly close or well-stopped vessels, or when we go for 

 it we will be met by emptiness, as have many druggists of 

 whom I have essayed to purchase a little to use in illustrat- 

 ing a lecture. 



The usual bisulphide is not quite pure, and is sold as 

 " Fuma Carbon Bisulphide," a quite appropriate name, as 

 the disagreeable odor comes wholly from the impurities. 

 When perfectly pure it is colorless as water, has a slightly 

 acid taste and a sweetish odor, reminding one of that of 

 ether and chloroform. When perfectly pure it can be 

 poured on the most delicate fabrics, or on flour, and it will 

 very soon evaporate wholly and leave not the faintest show 

 of its previous presence. 



The " fuma bisulphide " is slightly yellowish, and will, 

 because of the impurities, often leave a stain, and so its use 

 must be guarded. The vapor will not stain, and so in its 

 use we are safe, if we do not pour the liquid on the cloth or 

 food products. I use it much in ridding my insect cabinets 

 of other insects that are lured to eat them up. I put the 

 cases into the box, close it hermetically by shutting the 

 cover on rubber, and then pour the liquid through an un- 

 corked opening into the box, so that only the vapors strike 

 insect or the paper lining the bottom of the cases. 



The vapor which can be detected in all parts of a large 

 room almost immediately after spilling a few drops, is 2.h3 

 times heavier than air, so it of course tends to settle. Thus, 

 unless we use enough to saturate a box or room, the lower 

 portion will be much more dense. This is an important 

 fact to remember. 



With care there is no danger in breathing this gas or 

 the vapor. If we are confined in it for long it results in 

 dizziness, nausea, extreme congestion, insensibility, and 



death. In filling a mill which it is desired to rid of insects 

 with its vapors, one may suffer considerable inconvenience 

 if they fill from the top to the bottom, while by going from 

 the bottom to the top, no trouble will be experienced. In 

 this case one leaves from an upper window. It acts quite 

 energetically on the heart, so those with weak hearts 

 should use it with extreme caution. 



We should always remember in using this substance 

 that the vapors are explosive and very inflammable. A 

 lighted cigar or match in a room containing the vapors 

 would result very seriously. We must use the same caution 

 as we would in using gasoline or napthaline. 



Bisulphide of carbon is now used in killing ants in 

 their under-ground tunnels, as I have often described; in 

 killing other subterraneous insects; in destroying insects 

 in mills, warehouses, etc.; weevils in peas, beans, etc.; in 

 destroying moths and beetles that eat our silk and woolen 

 clothing ; to some extent in killing insects on living plants 

 by covering with close tent or box ; and, last, in protecting 

 our honey from the ravages of the bee-moth. It has strong 

 disinfecting power. Meat will keep in its vapor. 



USE TO PROTECT COMBS. 



To destroy the bee- moth larvre or caterpillars, we have 

 only to turn the liquid into a close box containing the 

 affected or suspected combs to be treated In a perfectly air- 

 tight enclosure. One pound is ample for 1000 cubic feet, or 

 a room 10 feet each way ; so we see it is not expensive. We 

 must remember, however, to keep the cork — rubber corks 

 should not be used — in the bottle or can holding the liquid. 



It can be used with so much less trouble and danger 

 than is required to fumigate by burning sulphur, that I feel 

 sure its use is to become well-nigh universal. 



The two cautions to be emphasized are : Be wary of 

 fire ; and exercise caution in reference to breathing the 

 vapors. Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



No. 3.— Rearing Long-Lived Queens and Bees. 



BY DR. E. G.\LLUP. 



Nearly 40 years ago, or the next season after I moved 

 into Iowa, I had some horses stray away, so I went to hunt 

 them. After finding them it was so late that I dared not 

 venture across the open prairie, so I sought a place to stay 

 overnight. I found a man that had some 20 colonies of 

 bees in box-hives, all with large clusters of bees hanging 

 on the outside. This was in July. So I made arrange- 

 ments with him to stay over night, and in the morning I 

 drummed out a swarm of bees, and explained all the para- 

 phernalia of making artificial swarms, all of which was new 

 to him. 



In the course of our conversation he wanted to know 

 whether a colony could be transferred from a log to a hive. 

 He said he had a near neighbor that would give $5.00 to any 

 one that would do it for him. So we went over to the 

 neighbor's, and he had a basswood log with a big colony of 

 bees in it. The log veas sbout six feet high, and had two 

 hollow branches about 12 inches high above the main log. 

 The log was nearly 18 inches in the clear inside the hollow, 

 completely filled from top to bottom. So you can judge 

 that it was a very large colony of bees, and I was the very 

 chap to tackle them. 



They could not see how I was going to manage them 

 without getting stung very badly. The first drumming I 

 got out a half-bushel measure full of bees, but no queen. 

 She probably went up into the other branch. He had mov- 

 able-comb Langstroth hives with bees in them, so I went to 

 one of them and took out the queen and gave to the half- 

 bushel of bees. In due time I hived them. I turned down 

 the log, sawed it in two in the middle, turned the top half 

 upside down, drummed out another half-bushel of bees, and 

 this time I got the queen, so we had two large colonies of 

 bees, and comb, brood and stores enough for two more colo- 

 nies in 21 days. 



I explained everything to them so they could transfer 

 and fix all up in 21 days. I explained what the bees would 

 do for a queen in the hive where I took the queen away. 



In sawing the log in two I discovered one large queen- 

 cell in the top half, and two in the bottom half. We cut 

 one loose from the comb and it fell on the ground. I dis- 

 sected that cell from the base carefully, and made what to 

 me was a great discovery at that time. "■ 



I explained to Mr. Drake how to give one of those sealed 

 cells to the queenless colony in 24 hours ; told him how to 

 handle it carefully, etc. He met with perfect success with 



