THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



September, 



To avoid stings and to keep the bees in 

 an amiable condition, Wurth gives tlie fol- 

 lowing good advice in Die Biene: Never 

 stand in front of a hive or in the way of 

 the flying bees; perform all operations quiet- 

 ly and without haste; do not approach the 

 bees when sweaty; select a time to work 

 with bees when the weather is fair and the 

 bees freely at work; use smoke moderately, 

 but always use it. Wear a light bee-veil 

 but no gloves; have clean hands; brush no 

 bees; when stung brush away the bee and 

 remove the sting; do not breathe on the bee; 

 especially vicious colonies feed before and 

 after any operation. When these rules are 

 followed and' a colony can not be controlled 

 easily supplant the queen with a better 

 one." 



syrup fed to a colony of young bees that 

 did not fly for eight days, was found to con- 

 tain, when capped, as much formic acid as 

 sealed hone.v. 



Dickel is opposed to any foul- brood law. 

 He claims that it is impossible to enforce 

 any such law. 



LARGE AND SMALL HIVES. 



J. B. Chardin, in experimenting with dif 

 ferent sizes of hives, says that small hives 

 are usidesirable on account of excessive 

 swarming and subsequent starvation, very 

 large ones, objectionable from the large 

 amount of brood reared, which consumes 

 the little amount gathered. Medium brood 

 nests with sufficient surplus room gave the 

 best results. The year in which these ex- 

 periments were made was a very poor one 

 in his locality. In a good season, larger 

 hives would likely have been the best. 



(It may be observed that the European 

 apiarists use larger brood nests than we 

 do. We would probably call a large hive 

 what they consider only medium.) 



To keep down grass in bee yards and 

 walks, Centralblatt says that the residue 

 of calcium carbide will do it. Where acety- 

 lene gas is made, this substance accumulates 

 in large quantities and, as it has no value, 

 may be easily obtained. 



HONEY VS. LUMBER. 

 A correspondent calculates that a linden 

 tree produces during its lifetime $7ii worth 

 of honey and $10 worth of lumber. 



The writer has sent honey to Germany a 

 few times to private friends. Their verdict 

 was that the honey produced in Germany is 

 of better flavor and aroma than the American 

 honey. 



SUMATRA. 



The hunting of bees or rather the taking 

 possession of the combs of the big bee is 

 a profession among the natives of the island. 

 The secret of how to avoid stings and 

 conquer the bees is carefuUy guarded by 

 certain families and communicated from fa- 

 ther to son. It would seem a most dangerous 

 piece of business to climb a tall tree with a 

 smooth, limbless body a hundred feet high. 

 But it is accomplished without a ladder, only 

 a piece of rope reaching around the tree and 

 some wooden pegs are brought into requisi- 

 tion. — Leipz. Bztg. 



FRANCE. 



FORMIC ACID IN HONEY. 

 Concerning the, theory advanced long ago 

 by Mullendorf that the formic acid of honey 

 is deposited in the cells by the bees sting- 

 ing through the cappings, the analysis and 

 experiments of von rianta are recalled. The 

 amount of formic acid deposited, or rather 

 ejected, when a bee stings is about 200 

 times greater than what is found In one cell 

 of honey. Sugar syrup, suspended in a wire 

 cage placed in a strong colony acquired a 

 distinct taste of formic aeid but far less 

 than the honey found in the cells. Sugar 



BEES IN THE HOME. 

 Mb. A. Filet transferred a colony from a 

 house to his apiary. He could not secure all 

 the brood and bees. The space occupied by 

 the colony was about six cubic feet between 

 the chimney and a cupboard. The space 

 was nearly full of combs, the largest being 

 four feet and seven inches. They were 

 about a foot wide, this being the width 

 of the cavi>ty. — Revue Internationale. 



NAPHTALINE AND FOUL-BROOD. 

 Francoi? Coquet keeps naphtaline con- 

 stantly in his hives and has so far escaped 

 foul -brood, though it has nearly destroyed 

 most of the apiaries in his neighborhood. — 

 La Revue Internationale. 



FEEDING OUT OF DOORS. 

 Mr. Hantor Beck has practiced out-of-doors 

 feeding for several years with success. He 

 simply uncaps the combs of honey to be 

 fed, puts them near the hives and spreads 

 them over the yard when they are covered 

 with bees. When too many bees are on one 

 comb, he shakes them off and moves the 

 comb to some distance. He does not begin 

 until one and a half or two hours before 

 sun down. When nearly dark, empty dry 

 combs are put dowH in the place of the 

 honey combs not yet empty and there stored 

 away till next day. Only once robbing took 

 place, but was immediately stopped with 

 carbolic acid. He thinks a quarter of a 

 pound thus fed does more good than a 

 pound given inside, so far as brood rearing 



