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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



in suspension, and makes a clear solu- 

 tion. The mixture is applied with an 

 ordinary atomizer, such as is used for 

 spraying perfumery. 



When wishing to unite two or more 

 colonies, I spray the entrances of the 

 hives, say 24 hours before uniting, and 

 the travel of the bees to and from the 

 hives during this time gives all the bees 

 the same odor. I have for three seasons 

 been practicing this mode of uniting, 

 and have yet to see the first quarrel. 



My former method of uniting was to 

 place one body containing the bees over 

 another with a sheet of wire screen be- 

 tween, leaving the bees in this shape 

 say 24 hours, when they would all be 

 scented alike, then removing the screen. 

 This plan worked well, but the trouble 

 was that when the weather was hot a 

 great many bees would worry themselves 

 to death ; besides, it is more work than 

 the spraying plan. 



In cases of robbing I have broken 

 them up almost instantaneously by use 

 of the same application. I generally 

 place some straw or grass over the en- 

 trances, and thoroughly spray the same; 

 also the sides of the hive. This com- 

 pletely changes the odor, and has had 

 the effect of baffling the robbers. — J. F. 

 Shirk, in B.-K. R. 



"Who'll Accept this Challenge P 



Dr. Edward Everett Hale, who has 

 lived in Boston all his life, says : 



" I like to put myself on record also as 

 saying that all the poverty, all the 

 crime, and all the vice which attract 

 public attention in Boston, among what 

 we call ' the poorer classes,' may be 

 ascribed to the free use of intoxicating 

 liquors. I have said a hundred times, 

 and I am willing to say it again, that if 

 anybody will take charge of all the pov- 

 erty and crime which result from drunk- 

 enness, the South Congregational Church, 

 of which I have the honor to be the 

 minister, will alone take charge of all 

 the rest of the poverty which needs 

 ' out-door relief ' in the city of Boston." 



The Change of Nectar to Honey. 



The experiment of Schonfeld, in Ger- 

 many, seems to prove that the ripening 

 of honey, or the change from nectar to 

 honey, is a process of evaporation only. 

 Dzierzon, however, thinks that this con- 

 densing process is performed by the 

 direct action of the bees. He says : "It 

 seems we can reasonably suppose that 



the honey-stomach of the bee is like a 

 filter, allowing the water to pass 

 through its walls. I believe nectar 

 would much sooner turn sour than 

 thicken to the consistency of honey in- 

 side of the hive." Schonfeld, in his ex- 

 periment, formed a colony of young 

 bees only, which he knew would not and 

 did not go out in search of food. To this 

 colony he introduced a comb filled with 

 sugar syrup, but inclosed in wire cloth. 

 Then he fed this colony the same kind 

 of thin syrup. At the end of seven days 

 the fed and stored syrup was compared 

 with the screen-inclosed syrup, and only 

 an insignicant difference was ascertained 

 in favor of the first named. The syrup 

 in the inclosed comb had not soured, 

 and was so nearly of the same consis- 

 tency that Von Planta, who made the 

 analysis, thinks it questionable whether, 

 in this process of concentration, the or- 

 ganization of the bee plays any part at 

 all. — F. Greiner, in Gleanings. 



Study of Honey-Producing Flowers. 



There is no subject of more impor- 

 tance to the bee-keeper, nor is there one 

 that gives him more pleasure, than the 

 study of honey-producing flowers. No 

 matter whether they bloom in the gar- 

 den, the field or forest, or perchance 

 along the roadsides, if bees gather honey 

 from them, they at once become an ob- 

 ject of much interest and special investi- 

 gation. The question of bee-forage is 

 one that every one engaged in bee-keep- 

 ing should investigate, for upon the 

 amount and duration of honey-produc- 

 ing plants in the vicinity of the apiary 

 depends the success or failure of the 

 enterprise. 



In locating an apiary for honey pro- 

 duction, one should have an eye to the 

 amount of bee-forage in reach of the 

 location, for no amount of labor and 

 skill in manipulation of our bees will 

 pay where it is wanting. If situated 

 in a poor location, and we wish to take up 

 bee-keeping, we can help much by sow- 

 ing buckwheat and Alsike clover, and 

 interesting our neighbors in this direc- 

 tion also. — G. M. Doolittle, in National 

 Stockman. 



"Why Not send us one new name, 

 with $1.00, and get Doolittle's book on 

 "Scientific Queen-Rearing" as a premi- 

 um ? Read the offer on page 447. 



Don't Fail to read all of page 421. 



