56 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



March 1 



A certain well known comb founda- 

 tion manufacturer in Germany has 

 been heavily fined for selling founda- 

 tion as pure when it was made of a 

 mixture of 75 per cent, parraffine and 

 25 per cent, of beeswax. — ^Deuche 

 Bienenzucht. 



A wax-trust has been formed in Ger- 

 many. The members have agreed 

 upon a certain price to be paid for 

 beeswax (what this price is the writer 

 does not know but he observes that 

 wax is high compared with American 

 prices. Some producers received 70 

 cents per pound.) 



Darlf colored grape wines are used 

 in Germany to give color to rum and 

 whisky, and I. M. Gosch says in 

 Schlesw. Hoist. Bztg. that mitheglin 

 answers the same purpose and advises 

 beekeepers to bring this to the notice 

 of distilleries. 



There seems to be a difference of 

 ouinion whether bees should be winter- 

 ed warm or cold. Rundschauer Go-sch. 

 claims the difference is principally in 

 not having the same conception of the 

 term, "warm." — Schle-sw. Hoist. Bztg. 



A reader of the same bee journal 

 wants to know what he can do to 

 make his honey granulate quickly. He 

 is advised to put his honey into a bar- 

 rel and cover it tightly; every second 

 or third day give the honey a good -stir- 

 ring. So treated, honey will nicely 

 cryc^talize uniformly all the way 

 through. When granulation has well 

 begun, draw off and fill in cans and 

 glasses. 



Grapes become as sweet as the besi 

 raisins, Dates and figs grow abun 

 dantly. Just thinks he has evidence 

 that his bees went eight miles aftej 

 honey at certain times, when there was 

 nothing to be obtained near by.— 

 Deutsche Imker. 



SWITZERLAND. 



Queen breeders in Switzerland havf 

 practically given up the Doolittle metlj 

 od. Only two use the Doolittle ceHi 

 cups, but have queenless colonies real 

 the queens. 



Dr. Brunnich, claims in Schwei? 

 Bztg., that his late experiments provt 

 that drones from virgin queens ari 

 virile, in every way the equal of dron^ 

 from fertilized or normal mothers. Hj 

 describes the details of the experimeni 

 which, to the mind of the writer, faii 

 to bring the absolute proof. 



ASIA MINOR. 

 According to the "Bulletin de li 

 Chamber de Commerce de Smyrna) 

 beeswax is produced in considerabJ 

 quantities in Asia Minor and exportet 

 from Smyrna to dift'erent parts o 

 France, Italy, Austria and particulau 

 ly Russia. Many bees are kept in tht 

 calm valley of the interior, and a so* 

 of bee fever is raging among the ns) 

 fives. Acording to statistics of tU 

 last five year-s, over 400,000 pounds o 

 honey is exported yearly froD 

 Smyrna. It is said that the wax pro 

 dueed is of the very best quality, th) 

 bee-keepers taking great pains to pur) 

 fy it. It is exported packed in doubl 

 sacks of 20O pounds each. — Bienei 

 Yater. 



GERMAN SOUTHWEST AFRICA. 

 This part of the world is not the 

 most favored spot for growing crops 

 or beekeeping. However, irrigation can 

 make a garden of Eden out of it, as 

 is shown by missionaries, and when 

 this i'S accomplished bee-l^eeping can 

 be made to pay. F. Judt has establish- 

 ed an apiary in Hoaxanas which yields 

 good crops of fine honey. The hives 

 used by judt are of the German styles, 

 but it would seem that American hives 

 might be used to better advantage in 

 such a warm climate, of which Ernst 

 Zirrgiebel says that the days in winter 

 are as warm as summer days in Ger- 

 many. Irrigation makas it possible to 

 grow all tropical plants as well as 

 semi-tropical and vegetables of all de- 

 scription^s. In the line of frtiits, even 

 apples, pears and peaches are grown. 



FRANCE. 

 Mr. Moulin reports that in the pro 

 vince where he lives, most of the hivei 

 are yet straw. That is nothing new 

 but what might be worth noting is thi 

 fact that what we would call the sui 

 pers are often placed under the broot 

 nest rather than above. — L'Apiculteuii 



Mr. Brochet says that if sonu 

 bruised leaves of leek are rubbed oi 

 the hands the bees will not stinj 

 them. — L'ApicuIteur. 



Mr. Steigel advises apiculturists t( 

 use rain water when rendering wax 

 The spring or well water very oftei 

 contains some iron which will invari 

 ably darken the wax. — L'ApicuIteur. 



