GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



we have a letter from him dated December 

 28, and we hope nothing has happened to him 

 since. The latter, Mr. Kramer, was presi- 

 dent of the Eastern Switzerland Beekeep- 

 ers' Association. 



The three Italian bee journals are still 

 appearing regularly, and several of the 

 French, the the latter are less regular. 

 Among them we should name the Revue 

 Francaise d 'Apiculture, ' ' published in Mar- 

 seilles, and the Abeille Bourguignonne, pub- 

 lished in Joigny. The Swiss ' ' Bulletin ' ' has 

 not missed a number. Several of the Ger- 

 man magazines have also continued regular- 

 ly, tho there is no telling how soon they may 

 have to suspend. 



Some Russian bee journals are also com- 

 ing, and I have on my desk a publication 

 sent out from Tiflis, describing the Caucasian 

 bees and giving a map in three colors, to 

 show the distribution, between the Black 

 Sea and the Caspian Sea, of the Caucasian 

 gray bee and the Persian bee or bee of 

 Lenkaron, with a delineation of the districts 

 in which the two breeds are mixed. 



So, in spite of the wholesale massacres 

 caused by the olden-time spirit of conquest, 

 civilization is asserting itself in the countries 

 at war. We trust that, after a while, they may 

 be so sick of fighting that a general disar- 

 mament will ensue. Enough wealth has 

 probably been destroyed to feed the entire 

 world for a year or more. Famines may ulti- 

 mately result. 



Of course, the second quotation you make 

 is Tiot from L 'Apieulteur, published in Paris, 

 but from the Bulletin, of Switzerland, and 

 the words are correctly credited to good old 

 friend Gubler. But Mr. Gubler never wrote 

 a line for L 'Apieulteur. 



Hamilton, 111. C. P. Dadant. 



[Thanks, friend D., for your friendly cor- 

 rections. — Ed.] 



Bees and Bullets 



A few days ago a man who lives near one 

 of my outyards phoned me that a large giant 

 cactus which stood in one of his fields had 

 fallen down, and that a swarm of bees in it 

 was making things so hot for him that he 

 was unable to plow near it, much to his 

 discomfort and annoyance. He concluded 

 that, since the cactus was so near my bees, 

 and that mine were the only ones in the 

 country for some distance, they must be one 

 of my escaped flock, and that I ought, there- 

 fore, to come up and take them away. 

 Knowing that a friend near an outyard is a 

 priceless jewel to a beekeeper I immediately 

 went up, more to please him than to get the 

 bees, and found them truly fighting mad. 

 Calming them with a few puffs of smoke I 

 found they had taken up entirely within the 

 cactus, and had got there thru a very small 

 hole in one side. Taking my ax I chopped 

 away the fleshy parts, and there they were in 

 a nice, dry, snug home about two feet long 

 and one foot in diameter. I then broke 

 away the skeleton parts and soon hived them. 



I then wondered how they could have got 

 in there and what had originally made the 

 hole. Some birds may pierce the thorns and 

 thick flesh that covers the skeleton work 

 within, but they always choose to do it at 

 the more tender top, and therefore there 

 must be some other cause. My investigation, 

 however, soon dispelled all doubts, as, im- 

 bedded in the wall just opposite the en- 

 trance, was a bullet with its nose in the right 

 direction. This told the story. Some one 

 had, perhaps carelessly, shot into the cactus 

 years before, and, contrary to the general 

 rule of wantonness, had actually made a 

 home for a nice swarm of bees. 



Phoenix, Ariz. L. J. Holzworth. 



Putting Fresh Bees where Others have Died. 



I received a fine queen last year, but foul 

 brood got in the hive and all died. There 

 have not been any bees in the hive since last 

 December. Would it be safe to put new 

 bees in the hive with the old combs? 



Las Vegas, Nev. Philip Steinman. 



[It would hardly be safe to put any fresh 

 bees in a hive where bees had died of foul 

 brood; but are you sure they died of that 

 disease? We are sending you our little book, 

 ' ' Diseases of Bees, ' ' and suggest that you 

 look it over very carefully, especially the 

 symptoms of American and European foul 

 brood. If you find scales in the combs of 

 dead larvae it is probably American foul 

 brood, and it certainly would not be safe to 

 introduce any other bees into the hive; but 

 if they died of dysentery or from exposure 

 to cold weather you could put in a half- 

 pound of bees and make a very nice start. — 

 Ed.] 



Don't Get the Wrong Colored Paper. 



The article by Frank Coverdale, April 1, 

 page 284, is of great value; but his refer- 

 ence to litmus paper might confuse a great 

 many. There are two colors of litmus paper 

 ■ — blue and pink. The blue is for testing 

 soil or water for acid, and the pink is for 

 testing for alkali. 



Poplar Blufe, Mo. H. W. Peterson. 



A Love Limerick. 



A foolish young lover named Vawter 

 Fell in love with a beekeeper's daughter. 

 When his heart he had flung 

 At her feet, he was ' ' stung ' ' 

 And went away breathing out slaughter. 



Then came another and sought her 

 With jewels and gold, and he bought her; 



But his love she had not. 



And she never forgot 

 The unhappy lesson it taught her. 



For into a passion he wrought her 

 By drawing the marriage ties tauter; 



So she got a divorce, 



With a pension, of course. 

 And left him with jeering and laughter. 



^sop. 



