THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



11 



held, increasing the dampness, and in 

 turn conducting the heat of the cluster 

 away faster. Lowry Johnson. 



Ma so n tcnvn , Pa . 



HOW TO DESTROY ANTS. 



I'hose who are annoyed with ants 

 about their hives and honey should re- 

 member that they may be gotten rid of 

 by the free use of salt, says the Indiana 

 Farmer. In the spring of the year, es- 

 pecially, ants will often be found in im- 

 mense numbers above the brood cham- 

 bers of the hives, between and over the 

 honey sections. We are not conscious 

 of ever having seen a colony of bees 

 that we thought were harmed by the 

 ants, but certainly no one wants them 

 about when it can be prevented. 



If the bees are of any strength, they 

 will keep them away from the honey ; it 

 is the heat coming from the colony of . 

 bees that the ants are after, as this is a 

 great help in hatching out their eggs. 

 Although we have never known the idea 

 to be advanced, we are inclined to the 

 belief that the main reason wh}' ants 

 dislike salt, is because it is a preserva- 

 tive, and would prevent the hatching of 

 their eggs. 



Whether this theory is correct or not, 

 it is a fact that salt plentifully used in a 

 hive where they have taken up their res- 

 idence will cause them to disappear. 

 Crates of honey may be piled on the 

 floor in a convenient place, and be in no 

 danger from these pests, if salt is first 

 sprinkled freely on the floor. 



(Am. Bee .Journal.) 

 KENDEUING WAX FROM OLD COMBS. 



S. H. HARUISON. 



I have tried various methods and 

 contrivances for rendering wax from old 

 combs, and the best thing I have tried 

 until now is Doolittle's solar wax ex- 

 tractor, which I tried last summer in 

 Colorado ; but having a small quantity 

 of combs and fragments here that I 

 did not wish to throw away, I began to 



think how I could do it best, and with 

 the least cost. 



One night after going to bed, the 

 matter of a cheap wax extractor came 

 into my mind («; la Dooliltle), and the 

 thought struck me. Why not have a tin 

 spout made the shape of the tin part 

 of Doolittle's extractor, only not so large, 

 but perhaps a little longer, with a solid 

 head at one end, and a bar of tin across 

 near the other to hold it in shape ; then 

 take a piece of tin about li inches wide 

 double over both edges, leaving the bar 

 about f of an inch wide, and long enough 

 to bend in proper shape to form two legs, 

 raising the end with the head in about 

 2 inches, and spread enough to keep 

 the spout right side up. 



I'hen take a piece of wire cloth, 

 place it in the spout, pressing it to the 

 bottom, but let one end rest on and over 

 the bar across the lower or front end. 



Put the combs or wax in the spout, 

 or above the wire cloth, and (if the 

 ''better half" is good natured) set the 

 whole in the oven of the cook-stove, 

 placing a dish under the lower end of 

 the sjjout, which projects a little from 

 the oven, to catch the wax as it runs out. 

 It works all right. 1 Venty-five cents is 

 the expense of mine. 



Mankato, Kan. 



(Am. Bee Journal.) 

 BLACK BEES vs. THE ITALIANS. 



IRVIN .GROVER. 



Statements like those of John H. 

 Blanken, on page 253, hardly need a 

 reply, but for those who are unacquaint- 

 ed with other races of bees, something 

 more may be said. I am not a queen- 

 breeder, but keep bees for pleasure and 

 profit — the more profit the more pleas- 

 ure to me. I have tested the blacks by 

 the side of the Italians, and have found 

 the Italians superior in every point men- 

 tioned by Mr. Blanken. 



Last season I arranged two hives sirle 

 by side for extracting ; one colony was 

 blacks, the other Italians ; very nearly 

 alike in strength when the honey harvest 

 came, but at each extracting I got more 



