1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



355 



which he suspected of being fertile, 

 in order to detect them while in the 

 act of laying. Once, even, he spent 

 11 days examining the bees of several 

 colonies, one after another. • 



Huber directed the experiments 

 and devised them so as to retain the 

 control. Nothing is more interesting 

 than this association, which lasted too 

 short a time, for in 179.T Burnens left 

 him to live at Oulens, where his fel- 

 low citizens, aware of his capacity, 

 made him a magistrate. 



On the other hand, he did not cease 

 his bee work, and from time to time 

 he replied to the requests of Huber 

 by additional experiments. I have 

 had the good luck, through my friend 

 Mr. Eiw. Pictet, to publish one of 

 those letters of Burnens, in answer to 

 a question upon the sphinx atropos 

 (Revue Internationale, 1885, page 

 85). A footnote of Huber, in com- 

 municating this letter to Mr. M. A. 

 Pictet, of the Academy of Geneva, 

 shows what sentiments Huber had to- 

 wards Burnens. 



"You will see that the writer of this 

 letter has what is needed to become 

 an excellent observer — good eyes and 

 good logic. You will acknowledge 

 that it is a pity that an instrument 

 which I had sharpened be no longer in 

 my hands. Burnens is justice of the 

 peace at present (New Observations, 

 Preface) ; he does not waste his time; 

 his entire life is being spent in pre- 

 venting his fellow counti-ymen from 

 eating out one another's white of tne 

 eyes' and ruining themselves in law 

 suits. I had not thought that my les- 

 sons would put him there. His obser- 

 vation is very important. It proves 

 that bees, which contract the en- 

 trances of their hives when they are 

 threatened with invasion, do not do it 

 when it is unnecessary. It is there- 

 fore the circumstances which prompt 

 them; they never make any mistake." 



The first edition of the "Observa- 



Note. Pierre Huber, the son, was 

 himself a naturalist of merit, already 

 known through his "Researches on 

 the Habits of Ants," published in Ge- 

 neva and in Paris in 1810, and re- 

 published in 1861. Here is the list of 

 a few of the bulletins which he pub- 

 lished in periodical works: "Memo- 

 randum on Divers Instruments of 

 Physics and meteorology" (Society of 

 Physics and Natural History of Ge- 

 neva, Vol. 2). "Notice Upon a Migra- 

 gration of Butterflies" (Ditto, Vol. 

 3). "Memorandum to Serve Upon 

 the History of the Caterpillar of 

 Hammock) (Ditto, Vol. 7, part 1). 

 "Relations of Ants with Lice and Gall 

 Insects" (Brit. Biblith. of Science & 

 Arts, Vol. 28). "Observations Upon 

 Several Species of Bees" (Vol. 6 of 

 the Linnean Society of London). An 

 extract from this was published in 

 volumes 25 and 26 of the British Li- 

 brary under the title: "Observations 

 Upon Several Species of Bees Known 

 Under the Name of Humble-Bees." 

 "Letters Upon a New System of 

 Meteorography" (Biblio. Universelle, 

 1828). "Letters Upon Aeronautic 

 Spiders," (Posthumous article in Bib- 

 lio. Universelle, 1866. 



tions" on bees was published in Ge- 

 neva in 1792. It contained a series 

 of articles in the shape of' letters to 

 Mr. Bonnet, who had induced Huber 

 to publish his notes. There was a 

 reimpression published in Paris in 

 1796, in one volume in-12, to which 

 was added a short, practical treatise 

 on bees, anonymous. 



A second edition was made in 1814, 

 in two volumes. For the second, Hu- 

 ber, for want of Burnens, employed 

 his wife, and later his son, as assist- 

 ant. 



Born in Geneva in 1777, Pierre Hu- 

 ber died at Yverdon in 1840. 



This curious and beautiful work 

 made the reputation of Huber and se- 

 cured for him a membership in most 

 of the academies oi Europe, especial- 

 ly the Academy of Sciences of Paris. 

 It also caused his being called at 

 present the founder of modern bee- 

 keeping. 



(To be continued) 



HONEY HINTS FOR SMALL PRO- 

 DUCERS 



By Josephine Morse 



There are a good many beekeepers 

 who keep only a few colonies of bees 

 and do not plan to increase their api- 

 aries, but who do like to produce ex- 

 tracted honey and strain and bottle it 

 themselves, thus getting the retail 

 price for their product. In such cases 

 the returns will probably not be suffi- 

 cient, nor will it seem expedient for 

 the limited amount of honey ob- 

 tained, to warrant much expenditure 

 for equipment. 



An easy way to strain honey is by 

 the gravity method, which works very 

 well with the use of the Cooley can, a 

 tall cylindrical can with a cover and a 

 very efficient gate at the bottom. 

 This can was originally designed for 

 raising cream on set milk. Honey 

 is run right from the extractor into 

 the can, then "set" for a day or two 

 (or to suit one's convenience) to let 

 all the small particles of comb, etc., 

 rise to the top. Then, to get it per- 

 fectly clear, it should be strained 

 through any desired small strainer 

 made of the fine wire mesh usea in 

 milk strainers, either directly into the 

 final containers or, if one is busy at 

 something else, run into larger ones, 

 from which it can be bottled later. 

 Not until all the honey but about 2 

 pounds has run out of the can does 

 anything clog the strainer. Straining 

 will be more rapid if the honey is in a 

 warm place. The cans hold nearly 40 

 pounds of honey. 



If the honey producer puts his 

 honey on the market he will want it 

 to look attractive, and so should have 

 a neat little label for each container. 

 The public likes tq see honey it buys; 

 therefore, it may be advisable to use 

 some form of glass jar — at least until 

 his trade is well started. When cus- 

 tomers are fully acquainted with the 

 quality and standard of the honey 

 they will take more kindly to tin cans, 

 of which the 2-lb. friction top can is 

 a convenient size, and can be sent by 



parcel post or express with less dan- 

 ger than glass. A cheap grade of 

 white paper, cut to completely encir- 

 cle the can and come to within one- 

 half inch of the top, is wrapped 

 about the can and secured with a 

 gummed honey label placed directly 

 across the joining point of the two 

 edges. 



A well put up package has a dis- 

 tinctly favorable eff"ect on the pur- 

 chaser. Therefore, it behooves the 

 producer, especially if he is his own 

 middle man, to see that his product 

 not only comes up to a high standard, 

 but is cleanly and carefully prepared 

 for market. 



Massachusetts. 



AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT HELI- 

 CON 



(From "A Journey Into Greece," 

 1682.) 

 By Geo. Wheeler, Esq. 

 "After I had discoursed some time 

 with this good Old Man, whom they 

 esteem a Saint, I was conducted be- 

 low his Garden, between it and the 

 River, to another Hutt; where two 

 other Galoyers live, and look to a 

 Garden well planted with Beans and 

 Pease; and another just by it, fur- 

 nished with four or five Hundred 

 Stocks of Bees. A Place near as 

 pleasant as the other above; being 

 just upon the Banks of the River; 

 which I esteem to be that which Pau- 

 sanias called Heraclitus; upon suppo- 

 sition that some of the forementioned 

 ruins are those of Bulis. The good 

 Caloyer presently went, and took a 

 Stock of Bees, and brought me a 

 Plate of delicate white Honey-combs, 

 with Bread and Olives, and very good 

 Wine: To which he set us down in 

 his Hutt, and made us a Dinner, with 

 far greater satisfaction, than the most 

 princely Banquet in Europe could af- 

 ford us. For the Quiet and Inno- 

 cence of their Life, the natural Beau- 

 ty of the Place, the Rocks, Mountains, 

 Streams, Woods and curious Plants, 

 joyn'd with the Harmonious Notes of 

 Nightingales, and other Birds, in 

 whole Quires, celebrating, as it were, 

 welcoming that forward Spring, to 

 speak the truth, so charmed my mel- 

 ancholick fancy for a time, that I 

 had almost Made a Resolution never to 

 part with so great a Happiness, for 

 whatever the rest of the World could 

 present me with. But in conclusion, 

 it prov'd too hard a task for me, so 

 soon to wean myself from the World. 



LARGE HIVES FOR LOUISIANA 



By Jes Dalton 



We had a very peculiar streak of 

 weather here lately. A continual rain 

 one to four good showers a day and 

 most terrific honey flow I ever saw, 

 right in rainy weather. 



Roads mostly impassable and 

 swarming on a par with the honey 

 flow, especially in 8-frame hives. I 

 am working in a yard of 12 frame 

 hives now and at present have not 

 found a one that has swarmed or is 

 trying to, and I am afraid over one- 

 half my 8-framers will. I am of the 



