1892 



liLEANlNUS IN KEE CULTURE. 



(>45 



siisriir syrup, but iiK'losod in wire cloth. TIumi 

 h(> ft'd this colony the Siiim^ kind of thin syiuj). 

 At the ciui of seven diiys the fed and stored 

 syrup was compared with the screen-inclosed 

 syrup, and only an insifjjnilicant tliU'eicnce was 

 ascertained in favoi' of the lirst named. The 

 syrup in the inclosed comb had not soured, and 

 was so nearly of the same consistency that v. 

 rianta. who made the analysis, thinks it (pies- 

 liiMialile whether, in this process of concentra- 

 tion, the orsj.mizatioii of the l)ee plays any pii't 

 at all. 



.Vccordins to an article by F. Kuehne, of 

 (ierniany. appearing in No. 5 of the Bknenzclt- 

 Kiiij. the bee has two sets of eyes — two conspic- 

 uous and complicated ones at the sides of the 

 head, for use near by. and three small eyes (in 

 their relative position forming a triangle) in tiie 

 center of the head— these to se(> at a distance. 



A certain tierman writer announces tlie dis- 

 covery that the laying of the ([iieen is periodi- 

 cal, with resting-spells of three or four days in- 

 tervening. We have not noticed any such 

 thing: and the best of German authorities ridi- 

 cule and disprove the assertion. 



Experiments made years ago in Geiraany have 

 shown that drones can not withstand as strong 

 a current of electricity as workers. Would it 

 not be simpler and cheaper, by means of an 

 electrical batUM'y constructed in such a manner 

 that the strength of the current could be chang- 

 ed ad libitum, to kill all drones of a colony in- 

 stantly, than to use drone-traps for the pur- 

 po.se ? 



The mother colonies having .swarmed late in 

 the season can not be counted on for storing any 

 more in sections ; but one can make good use of 

 such by dividing, allowing each to raise its own 

 queen. If combs or foundation-tilled frames 

 can be given, they will build up and store sufli- 

 cient honey for winter, providing there is a flow 

 from buckwheat. I always increase my stock 

 this way to some extent. 



The best time to put foundation starters into 

 sections is in the morning, before you need 

 them. The best time to give sections to your 

 colonies is the minute they are ready for them 

 and hor.ey is coming in; but the best time to 

 make up your sections is in the winter, when 

 there is plenty of spare time. I use section- 

 holders or broad frames, and handle the sec- 

 tions, after they are made. up, in fours. 



We can rejoice over a fair honey season in 

 this location — the first one in a number of years. 



Naples, N. Y., Aug. 8. F. Gkeiner. 



FEOM THE HOLY LAND. 



>ME i.\tp;ke.stixg item.s fkom the land of 



KIJ.JAH, AHAB, AND JONAH. 



De<ir Mr. Editor:— '-Ji'dhr in-Jadeed " means 

 •■ New .Sea." an old Turkish steamer on board 

 of which I look my family over the old Medi- 

 terranean. The agent madi- us hurry on board 

 amid<t a tempestuous sea, the steamer lying 

 half a mile off the shore. lie said it would 

 leave at three o'clock in the afternoon. I'er- 

 haps he didn't mean to say it was on that self- 

 s .me afternoon: but, be tliat as it may, we had 

 the pleasure of being in sight of Jalfa for the 

 next twenty-four hours. Finally we left the 

 very rough harbor. The passengers were all 

 kinds of Orientals — Palestim- recruits, Armeni- 

 ans, Turks. .lews, and some muriierers with 

 heavy chains around their waists and feet, com- 

 ing from Asia Minor to the prison of Acre, 

 whither our steamer was going. The criminals 

 offered different articles for sale: among others 

 a good revolver and a Damascene yatagan. He 

 took out the weapon, and, with the motion of 



stabbing, showed the passengtirs how well it 

 would work (if he were' able to). .lust at sun- 

 set the prisoners and ourselves, the only passen- 

 gers for Acre, were landed, and we were glad to 

 step aslioic again. This forlicss, defended by 

 bastions and ditches, has been famcjus tor its 

 sieges from time imiiKMnorial. Tln^ Crusaders 

 were there, and, at tlu! end of th<' last century, 

 it was the place where Napoleon Bonaparte 

 met the resistance of Djez/.ar I'asha, assisted by 

 Sir Sidney Smith. It is still considered to be ah 

 impregnable place; but its fortification toward 

 the sea could not resist the slightest attack; but 

 not so the landward buildings. This is a great 

 cereal markcst; aTid the Bedouins of Bashan. 

 the Hauran, and all (ralilei^. come iiere with 

 their produce, whence it is shipped to Europe 

 and Egypt. 



We started for Haifa, about eight miles away, 

 at the foot of Mount Carmel. Hundreds of sea- 

 gulls were busy gathering the grain with which 

 the seashore all along the eight miles was liter- 

 ally covered. A ship loaded with wheat was 

 ready to start for Egypt a few weeks ago, and 

 suddenly a tempest arose and drove it against 

 the rocks. We now crossed the mouth of the 

 celebrated river Bellis, on the shores of which 

 the Phoenicians are said to have invented glass 

 by doing their cooking in the sand. Soon after 

 this we crossed that '' ancient river, the river 

 Kishon," of .Judges .5: 21, spoken of by Deborah 

 in her song, and where the prophets of Baal 

 were slaughtered— see I. Kings 18:40. I send 

 you a photograph of the mouth of the river. It 

 is stagnant water. The banks are covered with 

 rushes, and in the background are i)alm-trees. 

 The mountain back of it 'S old Carmel. 



We soon came through the town and took our 

 lodgings with the (rerman colony, established 

 here in 18(39 by Wurttemberg farmers, under 

 the auspices of two leaders whose aim was to 

 take them out of the corrupt evangelical church 

 and await the kingdom of God in Palestine. 

 They have been struggling very hard for their 

 living during the past twenty years, and many 

 of them were wholly broken up, both in body 

 and mind. They have changed and rechanged 

 ideas, so that, from the one original sect of 

 " Templars," as they were to rebuild the temple 

 spiritually, they are now divided into four di- 

 visions or denominations. 



Bee-keeping, new and old. is also flourishing 

 to some extent, from the native clay cylinder to 

 the bar-frame hive in different stages of perfec- 

 tion. One man has about twenty box hives. He 

 cuts out the honey once a year, and never looKS 

 after them. He has no time, because he has a 

 farm to attend to; and. besides this, Haifa isn't 

 the place to keep bees. A near neighbor, a lit- 

 tle more " enlightened." has a number of home- 

 made German hives with movable combs stuck 

 fast in the hives. He has also an extractor, and 

 extracts honey once or twice a year when he is 

 not hard pressed making shoes. His bees gath- 

 er honey from the flowers " they like best " — he 

 doesn't know and doesn't care from which. The 

 honey has a tine aromatic taste. I supposed it 

 to be sage honi^y. with which Carmel abounds. 

 Another man. th(> schoolmaster, Mr. Lange, 

 keeps some thirty well made hives on Roth- 

 schiitz's system. He has an extractor in fine 

 order, on account of its being used very seldom, 

 as his lessofH and amateur pfiotographing leave 

 him but little time to hxik for his bi^es. ■■ Be- 

 sides," said he, " this is not the proper place for 

 taking honey." though he has taken a good deal 

 of it in past years. 



The last but not least fin knowledge) is an 

 English bee-keeper, a Mr. (Jee. who came out 

 here for the late Mr. Oliphtint. M. P.. who lived 

 here many years, and brought with him a num- 

 ber of empty bee-hives, and worked them with 



