THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



133 



Our ranch is seven thousand feet 

 above the level of the sea, but it 

 seems to be very healthy here for 

 bees and poultry. Cattle, horses 

 and sheep grow fat on the all-the- 

 year-round grazing lands. 



We live beside a clear cool moun- 

 tain stream in a pleasant valley sur- 

 rounded on all sides by grand 

 scenery. In the mountains are found 

 all kinds of minerals, gold, silver, 

 copper, lead and iron ores. My pa 

 has a large collection of minerals, 

 precious stones, relics, fossils, petri- 

 fications and other curiosities found 

 in this great Rocky Mountain region. 

 Wyoming is about the best place for 

 large game in the United States. It 

 is visited every year by wealthy tour- 

 ists and hunters from the eastern 

 cities. 



Oh, I forgot to inform you that 

 we have a live elk and antelope, very 

 tame and interesting pets, will eat 

 grain, vegetables or bread out of our 

 hands, and never leave the premises. 

 They were caught while young and 

 raised on cows' milk. We have be- 

 come so fond of them that we have 

 refused good offers for them. 



Tcrris, IVyoming^ 1886. 



FOREIGN NOTES. 



Bv Arthur Todd. 



The use of the vapor of carbolic 

 acid as a substitute for smoke, in 

 controlling bees, making them vacate 

 any particular part of a hive, etc., 

 seems to be gaining ground in the 

 old country. A writer in the British 

 Bee Journal depicts a form of blower 

 containing a sponge dipped in di- 

 luted acid. I; is no more nor less 

 than a modification of Mr. Jones' 

 (Canada), and my own practice, in 

 using a sponge dampened Avith chlo- 

 roform inserted in the tube of any 

 ordinary smoker. The great advan- 

 16 



tage I have found in using chloro- 

 form is the getting rid of tlie lighting 

 up and occasional burning of one's 

 fingers. 



A new race of bees, viz., " South 

 Africans " is likely some day to be 

 put on this market. Dr. Stroud of 

 Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony, writes, 

 "As to the race itself I regard it as 

 the outcome mainly of the old Egyp- 

 tian bee crossed by some grayer 

 variety, probably the Cyprian, and 

 finally by the black bee. The spe- 

 cial features and characteristics of all 

 these, the "Africans " in a more or 

 less degree retain. 



In this their native country, they 

 undoubtedly exhibit all the fine 

 traits and reputed excellences of 

 the much lauded " Ligurian " and 

 " Carniolan " with none, or traces 

 only, of their recorded drawbacks. 

 After fifteen years' experience of 

 " Africans " against ten years of 

 closest intimacy with ordinary Euro- 

 pean bees, I can safely say that 

 under existing conditions their ex- 

 cellence is of a very much higher 

 order, and this without disparage- 

 ment of my old friends. Dr. Stroud 

 reports this race as very healthy and 

 very prolific, the weight of bees in 

 an ordinary stock averaging ten to 

 twelve pounds. Working capabili- 

 ties high, early and late at work if 

 any honey to be had, even working 

 by moonlight. 



From the description I should say 

 the bee is practically the same as 

 that in the north of Africa, and 

 worked by me in Algeria. The same 

 bee in fact, that has been dubbed by 

 Frank Benton as the " Tunisian 

 Bee." 



" Coffee " as an antiseptic medi- 

 cine to cure foul brood is recom- 

 mended by Dr. Dennler the editor 

 of the Alsace Bee Journal. The 

 remedy is certainly very simple, and 

 found in most households. Dr. Denn- 

 ler recommends dusting all the in- 



