568 



necessary to get rid of the field bees first, 

 then put them in a demoralized condition, 

 after which they can be picked up by the 

 handful, and thrown on the bare head or 

 body without fear of stinging. 



Dr. Surface spoke on the equipment for 

 an amateur. A beginner should start with 

 only three or five colonies, and the increase 

 of his apiary should be in comparison with 

 his knowledge of bee-keeping. There is no 

 better strain than the Italian. He prefers 

 the eight-frame hive for a quick flow, and 

 the ten-frame for a continued flow. 



Mr. Selser gave an illustrated lecture on 

 late developments in apiculture which was 

 a treat. 



The subject of foul brood was taken up 

 by Messrs. Ilea and Selzer. It was shown 

 how to detect it, how to distinguish between 

 American and European foul brood, and 

 how to cure it. This subject caused quite a 

 discussion. A number of those present had 

 had experience with it. One member said 

 his yard was infected with Euroj^ean foul 

 brood, and it cured itself by the introduc- 

 tion of vigorous Italian queens. The differ- 

 ent methods of eradicating the disease were 

 fully discussed. 



S. P. Christian spoke on improving stock, 

 following a paper on the same subject by 

 Penn G. Snyder. 



A demonstration of transferring was giv- 

 en by Dr. Surface and the secretary. A 

 colony in a store-box was brought in, and 

 the bees (combs and all) were transferred 

 to a movable-frame hive. With one excep- 

 tion there were no stings received in all the 

 demonstrations, although they were made 

 without gloves or veil. 



In one of the resolutions of the conven- 

 tion the members refer to the former editor 

 of The Bee-keepers' Revieiv, Mr. W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, as an indefatigable worker, 

 and speak of his services to mankind, and 

 especially to the bee-keeping world. They 

 sincerely regret his loss, and extend their 

 sympathy to Mrs. Hutchinson. Mr. Hutch- 

 inson had been invited to this meeting, and 

 the letter from the secretary reached his 

 home a few hours after his death. He had 

 answered the call to a greater meeting. 



Liverpool, Pa. 



PROPOLIS; ITS ORIGIN AND USE, 



An Extract and Translation of Dr. M. Kuesten- 

 macher's Work on Propolis. 



BY F. GREINER. 



The ancient writers of Greece and Rome 

 knew about as much about propolis in their 

 times as we do to-day, and it must, there- 

 fore, be hailed with satisfaction that, in an 

 attempt to bring order and light out of cha- 

 os. Dr. M. Kuestenmacher has made of late 

 some scientific investigations, and his con- 

 clusions seem to upset all old-time theories. 



Before entering upon the subject proper, 

 let us stop a moment at the word "propo- 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



lis " and see what the word implies and 

 where it originates. Pro means before, and 

 polh means city — both Greek words — a city 

 before a city, a bulwark, or something to 

 fortify the treasure within. The ancients 

 thought that the whole bee-orgauization was 

 surrounded by a coating of propolis. They 

 even distinguished between three distinct 

 and different layers. Their mistaken idea 

 was that a new swarm would first coat the 

 inner surface of their hive or habitation with 

 propolis before building any comb. 



Without dwelling upon what Dr. Kuesten- 

 macher has to say about wax and honey I 

 will try to give in plain language, omitting 

 all scientific terms, etc., which would not 

 convey much if any meaning to many of us 

 who are neither chemists nor naturalists, 

 what this distinguished gentleman says 

 about propolis. 



Ever since the ages of antiquity, both nat- 

 uralists and piofessional bee-keepers have 

 held that propolis is gathered direct from 

 certain buds by the bees, and carried to the 

 hive in their pollen-baskets like the pollen. 

 Modern bee-journals give us lists containing 

 the names of different plants furnishing pol- 

 len, honey, and propolis in their respective 

 amounts. Dr. K. has come to conclusions 

 altogether different. He says propolis is the 

 oil or balsam covering all pollen-grains, but 

 intermingled with other substances such as 

 wax, old worthless pollen, and refuse gen- 

 erally on hand in the hive. This balsam is 

 of a yellow to red color, seldom colorless or 

 of an odd color The pollen grains are thin- 

 ly covered with this balsam, and thereby 

 slightly protected against moisture. The 

 sticky nature of the covering favors the pol- 

 len-grains adhering to insects for the purpose 

 of distribution as well as their taking a 

 lodging upon the stigma of some other bios- 

 som. Large quantities of pollen are gather- 

 ed by the bees, and used for preparing food 

 for larvie. They collect them as follows: 

 The bee uses alternately first one fore leg 

 and then the other, brushing the rii)e i)ollen 

 from the anthers against the under side of 

 her body where they lodge in the covering 

 of hair. This process can easily be observed 

 on blossoms with prominent stamens. 

 When it is not possible to dislodge the pol- 

 len in this manner, the bee resorts to harsh- 

 er treatment, using her mandibles first, to 

 tear the i)ollen masses apart. Tlie bee then 

 moistens the brushes of her anterior legs 

 with saliva, passes them over head and 

 thorax, and brushes what pollen adheretl 

 here downward. The combs and brushes of 

 the middle legs mass the brushed-together 

 pollen into flakes, and finally pack them in- 

 to the jmllen-baskets of the ])Osterior legs. 

 The abdomen is cleaned by the brushes of 

 the tarsus of the posterior legs; and what is 

 collected by one is always pressed into the 

 basket of the other. When a load has been 

 collected the bee returns to the hive, backs 

 into a pollen-storing cell, and ])ushes the 

 pollen into it, using her middle legs for that 

 purpose. In the combs the pollen of differ- 

 ent colors are mixed indiscriminately, ak 



