1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



95 



I found in tlio siii-plns box fi'oni four to six 

 combs well rilled with brood I would set it oft 

 and remove the old hive to a new stand: then I 

 would take a new hive (empty of course), and 

 transfer the eight frames from the surplus box 

 into it. and place it on the old stand, not caring 

 which one retained the queen, for one had to be 

 queenless. 



There are very many more good points in 

 favor of the excessive use of comb foundation: 

 and it is a subject that is often brought up at 

 our conventions, and fully discussed, and 1 for 

 one have yet the rirst time to hear any one 

 claim that we can get along just as well with- 

 out it. Ben.i. E. Rice. 



Boscobel. Wis.. Jan. (>. 



BEE-KEEPING IN TUNIS. 



ANOTHER LETTER FROM P. H. HAI.DEXSPERGER. 



When I first landed in Tunis I had to put 

 aside the impression which I. had always had 

 in regard to '"Afric's sunny fountains." for I 

 had to put on every warm bit of clothing. It is 

 true, it was the beginning of November: still, 

 about the same time in Palestine we are gener- 

 ally suftering for want of rain, which was the 

 case this year again, while in the North of Afii- 

 ca, Tunis'and Algeria have had a great deal 

 too much. 



Owing to the want of vegetation in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of Tunis (town), very few bees 

 are kept. I have seen only a few flying about 

 the sweetmeats one finds in all Oriental towns, 

 put before the public on large trays, in front of 

 the shoiJS. Always accustomed to see the yel- 

 low Easterns, the' sight of those black ones'ex- 

 cite my curiosity. I had been told to look lor 

 bees on the other side of the gulf of Tunis. A 

 small sailing vessel took me over in a couple of 

 hours. On the point of the cape, and com- 

 manding the entrance, covered by divers de- 

 structions, lies the once mighty rival of Rome, 

 so thoroughly destroyed. Seldom did ruins af- 

 fect me so mightily as those of Carthage. 

 Though in Palestine ruins abound, yet this 

 ruler of the Mediteri'anean makes you feel that 

 we are all but dust. The archbishops of Al- 

 giers and Carthage have built a beautiful ca- 

 thedral on the ruin: and from the ruins in the 

 excavations, beautiful marble statues and col- 

 umns have been brought to daylight, showing- 

 the art of this ancient place.' Thousands of 

 olive-trees on the surrounding mountains make 

 the sceneiT more beautiful. 



The Tunisians keep numbers of bees out in 

 the country, and they themselves also consume 

 a good deal of honey, as the Mohammedans do 

 not use any alcohol noi' any preserved fruits in 

 tins. They are fond of dark honey, and do not 

 take very much to white oi' light-colored honey. 



All over Algiers and Tunis the bees are kept 

 in hives made of wickerwork. where willows, 

 pomegranates, and such trees abound. The 

 hives are long and square, made out of fennel- 

 stems where those abound. These fennel-stems 

 are about ten inches long, fastened tog(>ther by 

 passing a stick the whole length of the stems, 

 placed sidewise together, and thus the four 

 sides are again fastened together, the hive being 

 about 3 feet long. They place them on a log of 

 wood to keep them from the immediate damp- 

 ness of the soil. The hives are smeared over 

 with manure and sand, only one i-ow at a time 

 being placed beside another. Th(» hives are 

 again covered with stra\\'. to keep them fi-om 

 the heat and the rain. The next row is placed 

 in front, a few feet apart. They have general- 

 ly one or two swarms from a good hive in April 

 and May. and thev take out the first honev 



chiefly from wild clover, etc. Later on. in fa- 

 vorable places they have a second cropof carob. 

 thyme, and other ai'omatic plants. In some re- 

 gions the roscMuaiy abounds. There are also 

 orange-groves: but up to this time they know 

 nothing about oi'ange-blossom honey, as the 

 greater pait of the apiarists are Arabs, going on 

 iu their primitive fasiiion. In Algeria they sel- 

 dom or never mov(» their hives expressly for 

 pasture: but as the country people are all no- 

 mads they now and then are obliged to move 

 the hives with the general move of the tribe. 



The North African bee is about the same in 

 color as the Maltese — black, with yellow fuzz. 

 They seem to be a good honey-gathei'ing bee, 

 very prolific, and less inclined to sting than the 

 Eastern bees. They are great I'obbers. but, as 

 a rule, are not so active as the Easterns in at- 

 tacking, and defending themselves and hives 

 both against men and bees. We were transfer- 

 ring some hives a few days ago fi'om a box hive 

 into the bar frame: but no sooner had the bees 

 smelled the honey than on they came, rushing, 

 robbing away, and beginning to sting a little 

 bit too. We could transfer only two hives at a 

 time. The Palestines. though fierce ix)bbers, 

 would have left us in peace for at least four or 

 five hives, but woukj have then been very ugly 

 toward us too. The queens of this black race 

 are not so easily found as our Easterns, as they 

 differ much less in color. This queen is dark 

 brown, and at this time of the year a good deal 

 smallei- than she is in spring when she is laying 

 away with all lu'r might. 



Like all the Eastern nations they know very 

 little about queens, drones, and workers. They 

 believe that the bees gather the eggs from the 

 flowers to produce young bees: or. again, that 

 the queen is simply ieigning and giving orders 

 while the workers are really the mothers. They 

 have a great veneration for bees, as the Koran 

 tells tiiem they are holy animals. On this be- 

 lief a certain tradition is current among the Al- 

 gerians. A young barbarian. Joussef Ben- 

 Taschefin. succeeded, in 10.3(). to the throne of 

 the last fatimite khalif of the Maghreb Abu 

 Bekr. This Joussef was the founder of the Al- 

 moravid(^s (European corruption of the word 

 ^?)«o)Y(7>i(?i— the iiriests — now corrupted into 

 French as Marabnt.) The father of Joussef 

 was a potter, and \\ as wandering about in the 

 gorges of the Atlas Mountains to sell his wares. 

 His wife followed him eveiywhere, carrying 

 Joussef on her shoulder, as is the custom. A 

 swarm of bees settled on the head of the boy. 

 Astonished at this, the parents set to counting 

 the bees, and found a hundred. They immedi- 

 ately knew it was some extraordinary event, 

 and asked a d'wim^ (tnlehu) of great renown. 

 The divine now explained to them that the will 

 of God very clearly manifested itself, and that 

 this child would become great, and i-eign from 

 the Occident to the Levant: that he would 

 have a glorious and long reign, and that each 

 bee represented a people, and the swai'm the 

 whole of the nations united into one under his 

 hand to form one large empire. He became 

 lieutenant of Al)u Bekr. who confided to him 

 the command of the Ldinptuncs. a mighty 

 ti'ibe. Joussef took Fez and Mequinaz. the 

 khalifat of the Edrissites. at the head of 80.()0() 

 horsemen, then marched toward Themcen, and 

 subdued all to Beni-Mezegrena. in Algeria. 

 After his return he founded Maraquesh (Mo- 

 rocco), and was thus prince of ^Morocco and the 

 greater part of Algeria: but, unsatisfied with 

 this, lie succe(^ded in subduing all the north of 

 Africa to Egyj)!. He then took the title of 

 •• Prince of the Musselmansand Defender of the 

 Religion. ■■ Arab chroniclers say he built a 

 vast bridge fr.wn Africa to Europe across Gib- 

 raltar, and took Mohammed-ben-Abd, ruler of 



