1S07 



(;livaxix(;s in ri-:iv crLTrRic. 



IMPORTANT ITEMS. 



Pcttit's System of Prodiiciiiji Comb Honey ; Mon- 

 nier's Cure for Hec-p;ir;ilysis a Success. 



HV i:.\Ri, C. W.M.KKR. 



Duriiiij: the honey season which is just draw- 

 ing to a close I have ,y;iven Pcllifs jilan of tak- 

 ing comb honey a trial, in ])art. I consider the 

 sclienie of placing wedge-shaped pieces of wood 

 under the sides of the hive, thus causing the 

 bees to distribute themselves to the sides and 

 back end of the hive, the most valuable fea- 

 ture of the .sy.stem. By this means the bees 

 with their loads of honey are sent directly to 

 the outside sections, which will be filled as 

 soon as those in the center of the super. In- 

 stead of .sawing out wedge-shaped pieces of 

 pine, as described, by :\Ir. Pettit, I simply get 

 some ordinary .shingles, which taper down to 

 a thin edge, and split them up into strips V% 

 inch wide. These are placed under the sides 

 of the hives, as directed by :Mr. Pettit. This 

 not only causes the bees to fill the outside sec- 

 tions, but gives abundant ventilation, which is 

 so necessary in the hot summer months. I 

 had several colonies that seemed determined 

 to hang out and loaf. I placed the strips of 

 shingles under the edges of the hives, and the 

 bees quit loafing, and went to work in the 

 sections. One of these gave a surplus of 72 

 lbs. of comb honey. I will keep the strips un- 

 der the hives until winter, for ventilation. 



MOXXIER'S cure for BEE-P.A.R.\IvYSIS. 



I have cured several cases of bee-paralysis 

 this season by running healthy swanns into 

 hives containing affected colonies. The heal- 

 tliy bees would at once attack the diseased 

 ones, and carry them off. In most cases I let 

 the diseased bees swann, and then the next 

 healthy swarm that issued I ran into the hive 

 out of which the diseased swarm came. The 

 disea.sed swarm I ran into a hive out of which 

 a healthy swarm had issued. The disease has 

 entirely disappeared. All that seems to be 

 necessary is to mix a diseased and a healthy 

 colony together, and the bees do the rest. The 

 scheme of uniting diseased colonies to cure pa- 

 ralysis was given in Gle.-\.nixos on page 447, 

 and I used the above method of putting it into 

 practice. All bee-men should try this cure, 

 and re]5ort the result. Mr. Monnier, who dis- 

 covered this, deserves a vote of thanks from 

 all bee-keepers. When I read his article, I, 

 like you, Mr. Editor, had my doubts about its 

 being a certain cure. But I have tested it for 

 myself, and am positive that it is a sure cure. 

 Try it and see. 



A COMMON MISTAKE IN TRANSFERRING. 



A great many bee-books, in giving direc- 

 tions for transferring, advise the use of a driv- 

 ing-box of the same size as the box hive to be 

 transferred. For example, Mr. F. Benton, in 

 The Ho7iey-bee, p. 72, says, " Invert the hive, 

 and place over the open end an empty box, or 

 the frame hive itself, making whichever is used 

 fit closely on the hive (Fig. 08). He empha- 

 sizes the importance of having the driving-box 

 fit closely, by a half-tone engraving. Now, I 

 have transferred a great manj' bees, and I be- 



lieve it is entirely unnecessary to have the 

 driving-box fit snugly over the end of the box 

 hive ; in fact, if the weather is at all warm it 

 is (|uite an advantage to have the driving-box 

 some larger than the box hive. The bees run 

 up into the driving-box more readily if it is 

 large enough to jiroject a few inches over the 

 sides of the hive, thus giving plenty of venti- 

 lation. 



THE HIGGINSVII,I.E COVER. 



The Higginsville cover has not proven as 

 .satisfactory with me as the old flat cover used 

 on the Dovetailed hive a few years ago. It 

 warps, leaving a crack along the top edge of 

 the hive where the cover and the hive-wall 

 meet. Besides, it is too thin for winter where 

 the bees are wintered in single-walled hives. 

 The space left by the cover warping allows the 

 escape of heat from the cluster, and this causes 

 a draft through the hive. I have been testing 

 the new gable cover, and so far find no fault 

 wdth it. By using it, shade-boards can ])e dis- 

 pensed with ; and in the winter the .space can 

 be closed, thus making an air-space above the 

 cluster. 



New Albany, Ind. 



[I wish others would try this new cure for 

 bee-paralysis. The fact that it has worked 

 .successfullv in two cases is very encouraging. 

 —Ed.] 



REPORT OX TUNIS AS A HONEY-PRODUCING 

 COUNTRY. 



BY THOMAS B. BLOW. 



[We take pleasure in pre.senting to our readers a 

 portion of the report of Mr. Thomas B. Blow, of Eng- 

 land, made to the Tunisian government. North Afi ica. 

 The parts omitted lefer to the size of frame best suited 

 to that country, and the probable profits of the in- 

 dustrj'. — Ed.] 



To the Department of Agriculture, Rcgeticy 

 of Tunis: — I have the honor to report that, 

 during the past two months, I have given 

 great attention to the question of apiculture 

 in Tunis. So far as I have seen, there are 

 certain parts of Tunis that are, in my opinion, 

 absolutely without equal in any part of the 

 world for their capacity to produce large quan- 

 tities of honey. These districts are the hills, 

 on which grow vast quantities of rosemary 

 {Rosmarinus officinalis), heath {Erica niulti- 

 Jlora], and many other honey -producing 

 plants. Of such districts I imagine Tunis pos- 

 ses.ses some n.iillions of hectan s, and in the 

 gi-eater portion the honey is absolutely wast( d 

 for want of bees to colkct it. Not only can 

 honey be produced here in great quantity, but 

 the quality is also si.perb; in fact, there can be 

 no finer honey than that produced during the 

 winter and spring months from the heath and 

 the rosemary. The climate is well suited for 

 apiculture, for the bees are able to work a 

 great portion of the time that these plants are 

 in flower (there being no winter in the serse 

 we tinderstand it in Europe). The heath and 

 rosemary conmience to bloom in November 

 and December, and continue till March or 

 April, and during these months the bee-keeper 

 is assured of an ample harvest. Later comes 



