AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



171 



Making: Honey- Vinegar out 



of much that is usually wasted in cap- 

 pings, pieces of comb, etc., is a splendid 

 way to economize in the apiary, and at 

 the same time have something really 

 valuable after the work is done. Bro. 

 Hutchinson, in a recent number of the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review, in his terse and 

 thoroughly practical way, remarks thus 

 on this matter of making honey-vinegar: 



In the close times that bee-keepers 

 are now having, it is well to look after 

 all the odds and ends ; to see that no 

 scraps of comb are thrown away, and 

 that the rinsings from the cappings, or 

 utensils that have contained honey, are 

 not wasted. In many an apiary I pre- 

 sume that enough of these rinsings are 

 thrown away in a year to make a barrel 

 of vinegar. 



On page 146, Messrs. Dadant & Son, 

 tell just how to make honey-vinegar — 

 they tell it in such a plain way that all 

 can understand it, and profit by it. 



An Experience with Funics 



— On page 14, we published Father 

 Langstroth's impressions of the Punic 

 bee — impressions which he received 

 while on a visit to the apiary of Bro. A. 

 I. Root, editor of Gleanings. In the 

 number of that paper for July 15, just 

 received, we find the following interest- 

 ing editorial experience, which we re- 

 print for the benefit of those who are 

 anxious to hear of reports concerning 

 the so-called Punic bees : 



Our Punics are doing no better in 

 honey — indeed, we doubt whether they 

 are doing as well — as the average colony 

 of Italians of equal strength ; and, with 

 the exception of the Cyprians, they are 

 the meanest bees we ever brought into 

 the apiary. 



July 4 we wanted to show A. I. Root 

 the new race. He at once suggested 

 that we open the hive without smoke, 

 which we did, perhaps a little uncere- 

 moniously. The air was immediately 

 filled with hundreds of mad bees ; and 

 so persistent were they that we gladly 

 ran for a veil and smoker, although Mr. 

 R., true to his aversion for bee-veils, 

 crouched down under a sheltering grape- 

 vine with his hands up to his face. 



We then smoked the bees, but they 

 boiled all over, about as bad as black 

 bees ; and, like black bees, they would 

 hold themselves suspended on the wing, 

 perfectly motionless, apparently, with 

 the exception of the wings, right before 

 the eyes, in a tantalizing way. By the 

 way, we would prefer to be stung, and 

 done with it, then to be held in constant 

 fear of it. 



The next day one of our boys attempt- 

 ed to run a lawn-mower some few rods 

 away from the Punic colony ; but he 

 was very glad to put on a veil, and even 

 then the little scamps pestered his 

 hands. 



When Mr. Langstroth was here, and 

 shortly after, we took every precaution 

 to keep the bees quiet, or at least not 

 to arouse them unnecessarily, for we 

 did not wish to test the temper of a new 

 race of bees in the presence of one 

 whom, at his advanced age, stings might 

 be next thing to serious. The bees were 

 also younger when he was here, and, of 

 course, gentler. Now that they are two 

 or three weeks older, they are regular 

 little demons, unless handled carefully. 

 We should state this, however, that 

 they delight more in bluster and angry 

 buzzing than in actual stings. 



In our last issue, we stated that they 

 were the worst bees for depositing pro- 

 polis we ever saw. For example, we 

 have a crate of sections on their hive ; 

 and even before there was an ounce of 

 honey put in them (there is not more 

 than a few ounces now in the whole 

 crate) these Punics besmeared the sec- 

 tions all around the edges in six days, in 

 a way that is worse than any hybrids 

 ever thought of doing in six months. 



If our Punics are a fair sample, we 

 do not see how any one can regard them 

 as gentle ; and more and more they are 

 beginning to show the regular character- 

 istics of the common black bee. 



Bee Journal Posters, printed 

 in two colors, will be mailed free upon 

 application. They may be used to ad- 

 vantage at Fairs over Bee and Honey 

 Exhibits. We will send sample copies 

 of the Bee Journal to be used in con- 

 nection with the Posters in securing 

 subscribers. Write a week before the 

 Fair, telling us where to send them. We 

 would like to have a good agent at every 

 Fair to be held this year. Here is a 

 chance for a live man — or woman. 



