1904 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



193 



9. The report lias a chiirt in eulcn's 

 showing the amount of nectar brouglit 

 daily bj' several colonies on scales, and 

 also the amounts consumed, taken out. 



The best colony of the 29 stations 

 gave a surplus of 122 pounds. During 

 only 21 days, the daily amount brought 

 in amounted to four pounds or over. 

 The remainder of the season it was 

 much lower. 



Another colony on scales gave only 

 33 pounds of surplus. Dut'ing only lu 

 days the daily amount brought in (as 

 sliown by the sea lei reached between 

 two and three pounds. All this shows 

 how few are the days during which 

 the bees can gather large amounts of 

 nectar, and how necessary it is to 

 have the strongest possible colonies 

 Avhen such days happen. 



10. The atmospheric electricity has 

 an influence on tlie jiroduction of the 

 nectar. During the stofmy or threat- 

 ening days, the positive electricity of 

 the atmosphere is constantly passing 

 in the ground and accelerates the 

 movement of the sap, the growth of 

 the plants and the other features of 

 vegetation. If, now, tlie ground is rich 

 and sufficiently wet, the production of 

 nectar will be increased. If the op- 

 posite conditions prevail, the flow of 

 nectac will be diminished. Sometimes 

 in dry weather, a stormy condition of 

 the atmosphere can cut ofE the flow 

 entirely. That this double action ex- 

 ists has been shown by sulimittlng 

 plants cultivated in pots to an electric 

 current. 



11. To cufe foul brood, it is recom- 

 mended to take away the combs, shut 

 the bees in a box without food during 

 two days and return them after hav- 

 ing disinfected the hive thoroughly. If 

 tlie apiary has been badly diseased, the 

 advice is given to move it elsewhere. 

 Weak colonies should be united. 



12. In most localities (in Switzer- 

 land) the main honey flow is during 

 the last half of May. 



In one of the bulletins of the Suisse 

 Romande Society is an interesting 

 work on lioney, by Prof. F. Seller. The 

 only part really new is on the produc- 

 tion of the different kinds of honey 

 dew. Here is what he says: 



"The bees also gather honey dew 

 chiefly at the base of the leaf stems. 

 The honey from that source is of a 

 greenish-brown colcf, very thick, and 

 of a peculiar strong taste. It is not ob- 

 tained every ,vear. It is found on fruit 

 trees only when the crop of fruit will 

 be absent or very short. This honey 



dew is formed )iy tlie materials which 

 ouglit to liave fiUed the fruits, ^^■hen 

 tliere is no ffuit to till, these materials 

 exude chiefly at the base of tlie leaf 

 stems. The.v contain a small i^rojtor- 

 tion of sugar, but are chiefly formed of 

 dextrine. The dextrine is a gum verj' 

 similar, cliemically speaking, to the 

 different fruit sugars. The bees gather 

 it and transform it into honey in the 

 same manner in wliicli tliey transform 

 tlie nectar of tlie blossoms. However, 

 the transformation is not complete. 

 A portion of it remains unchanged, and 

 it is that portion which gives the hon- 

 ey dew its particular consistency." — 

 Le Rucher Beige. 



FRANCE. 

 A discussion on the use of colonies 

 on scales, and the meaning of the fig- 

 ures in regard to the evaporation of 

 nectar, consumption of the bees for 

 living, ixoducing wax, raising brood, 

 etc., is going on in the Apiculteur be- 

 tween Messrs. Sylviac and Boris 

 Spoerer. The whole thing does not 

 seem very clear except one point. Up 

 to this day it has l>een admitted that 

 the amount of nectar gathered by the 

 bees amounts to the difference in 

 weight of the hive between early in 

 the morning and late at night. But it 

 is more than that. The honey or nee- 

 tar evaporates during the day as well 

 as dux'ing the night; the bees eat, se- 

 crete wax and feed the brood as well 

 during the day as during the night. 

 So the difference in weight between 

 morning and niglit does not show the 

 whole amount lirought in. but only 

 that amount less what is consumed or 

 evaporated. Now suppose a hive 

 weighs 40 pounds in the morning and 

 .")0 in the evening and 45 the next 

 morning. Five pounds will have been 

 consumed and evaporated dtiring the 

 night. Certainly something like five 

 pounds must also have been used up 

 during the day. So the l>ees must 

 have lirought in not only the 10 pounds 

 shown by the scale (the difference be- 

 tween .">0 and 40) but also five pounds 

 consumed ducing the day, that is 15 

 pounds in all. — L'Apiculteur. 



To prepare l>arrels for honey Mr. 

 Bourgeois gives the following: Use 

 barrels with iron hoops. Thoroughly 

 dry them in tlie sun before using. 

 Drive the iiooiis as tight as possible 

 and put in a few nails to keep them 

 from slipping. Coat the inside with 

 glue or gelatin. — L'Apiculteur. 



