THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



201 



For the American Apiculturist. 



A WOMAN'S EXPERIENCE 

 WITH BEES. 



BEES AFFLICTED WITH SHAKING 

 PALSY. 



I have had a little experience 

 with the "nameless disease," which 

 I call "shaking palsy." Last sea- 

 son, probably in August, I had a 

 colony thus afflicted. Examining 

 it, I found a little bubbling, un- 

 sealed honey, in the centre of the 

 hive ; outside of that, good seale(?l 

 honey. Determined to make sure 

 work, I gave them fall combs of best 

 sealed spring-stores, in an entirel}'' 

 new hive. The cure appeared to be 

 almost instantaneous, taking away, 

 as I did, of course, what little 

 brood they had. They built up 

 wonderfully, and this season, the 

 colony promised to be one of my 

 best ; and being fine Italians, I 

 recklessly, when a swarm issued, 

 gave two of the queen cells to other 

 colonies. Before long, I was much 

 chagrined to find the disease fully 

 developed at the old stand ; of 

 course, among the brood of the 

 old queen. I at once destroyed 

 all the young queens, but deter- 

 mined to keep the old queen, and 

 note results. The disease soon 

 disappeared, and I have seen noth- 

 ing of it since, in the apiary. 



Marketing honey has been an 

 absorbing topic here for a few 

 weeks past. But in close connec- 

 tion with this, and far more impor- 

 tant, is the question of winter stores 

 for bees. My best market, like 

 charitj^, begins at home. Deter- 

 mining to try the experiment of 

 wintering on natural stores, an 

 abundant supply of the best combs 

 of sealed, white clover honey, is 

 reserved for the bees. This first : 

 next comes a supply'- of extracted 

 honej' for all household purposes, 

 for cooking, fruit-preserving, even 



for table use. No sugar is half as 

 fine, for fresh fruit, for coffee, even, 

 as our beautiful, pure, extracted 

 honey. The very sight of its pure 

 beauty is an appetizer. Well, so 

 much hone}' has found an excellent 

 market. But there is plenty lel't ; 

 and our honey, having been all 

 tiered up on the hives, until every 

 cell was capped, is all of one qual- 

 ity, except, as it is gathered from 

 different sources. 



Prejmriiig the honey for market 

 is the next absorbing topic. To 

 vary the monotony of a retired life, 

 one may have dabbled with un- 

 speakable pleasure, in many studies 

 and employments. Attempting, 

 just for the pleasure of it, to ex- 

 press one's thoughts in strange 

 sounding words : creating, from 

 the flowers, the insects, the stones, 

 that meet one at every step, a new 

 world, replete with marvellous life 

 and beauty. The words "prepar- 

 ing honey for market," sound pro- 

 saic enough. But the employment 

 may possess a charm, which, for a 

 time, at least, may exclude every- 

 thing else. Let us see. First, be 

 sure that the honey, both comb 

 and extracted, is perfection itself; 

 then, a beautiful, plate-glass show- 

 case, with name, etc., in bronze ; 

 then the pearly combs, beautiful 

 as in the olden days, in far-off 

 lands ; then the liquid gold and 

 silver, in glasses pure as crystal, — 

 and the marketing is alread}' done. 



Sheboygan Falls, Wis. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



HOW TO GET WAX OUT OF 

 OLD COMBS. 



Ira Barber. 



The best way to get wax out of 

 old combs that I have ever found, 

 and one that gets it out the clean- 

 est and with the least labor, is to 



