THE AMERICAJM BEE JOURNAL. 



551 



many experienced beekeepers. Re- 

 cords prove tills, and we will refer to 

 them hereafter. Lehzen wrote some 

 years ago in Centralblatt that in cer- 

 tain localities in North Germany foul 

 brood appeared from time to time, 

 but also again disappeared. If this 

 latter were not the case as Lehzen 

 affirms, nature would not be able to 

 battle with this great pest ; yes, more, 

 this creature, the bee, would long 

 have disappeared from the face of the 

 earth. After all this we therefore 

 stand aside from nature, pretty help- 

 less as to foul brood, and therefore 

 the more welcome must be the 

 following communicatiora by llerr 

 Wust, of St. Amarin (Oberelsasz), on 



" COFFEE AS AN ANTISEPTIC." 



On Sept. 1, 1S8-5, at the general 

 assembly in Colmer, all the remedies 

 for the cure of foul brood in general, 

 were too impracticable, too expensive, 

 too uncertain, and only flames and 

 fire were left as a radical remedy to 

 be recommended to the practical. I 

 consoled myself with the hope, that 

 our men of science would yet succeed 

 in finding a remedy. As it appears 

 to me now it had already been found 

 •on Alsacian ground through first staff 

 physician, Dr. Oppler, iu Strasburg, a 

 remedy convenient in every home ; 

 in short, coffee roasted and ground to 

 a fine powder. 



In the December number Deutchen 

 MilitararszUichcn Zeitschrift will be 

 found several uses and experiments 

 with coffee as an '' antiseptic," which 

 were conducted with blood, glue and 

 flesh, such substances as will easily 

 mix with coffee. In a glass 10 g. of 

 blood and 1 g. of coffee powder were 

 well mixed, and in a temperature of 

 16° there was for two days no percep- 

 tible odor. The prepared blood, 

 which had become putrid, was mixed 

 in a rain-glass with 1 g. of coffee 

 powder, and well shaken, which then 

 in half a minute before ceasing the 

 shaking had become odorless, and 

 remained so for m days. Ten g. of 

 a foul smelling solution of glue was 

 mixed with J.^ g. of coffee powder; iu 

 one-half minute it became odorless, 

 and continued to be so for 20 days, in 

 spite of its being in an open glass ex- 

 posed to the atmosphere. Twenty-live 

 g. of meat chopped small, impregnated 

 with 11 g. of coffee powder resulted 

 in the same manner. Fifty grains 

 of meat with 9 g. of coffee powder 

 mixed with it is, after three days, 

 without a trace of smell, and dried so 

 that it can be rubbed to a powder 

 with a loss in weight of 67 per cent. 



After it was proven indisputably 

 that coffee was effectual as a preven- 

 tive of decay, and also effectual to 

 arrest putrefaction, it was next nee 

 «ssary to test it for this purpose for 

 wounds. Two soldiers had, during a 

 fall down stairs, given themselves 

 severe wounds upon their heads. The 

 wounds of the one were already fes- 

 tering ; every time the wound was 

 treated with coffee powder it became 

 dry and coated, and the third day the 

 man was again tit for service. 



With such excellent results, the 

 remedy was used as a weapon against 

 bacteria in veterinary. It is well 



known that bacteria are tlie carriers 

 of tlie cause of the disease foul brood. 

 It seems hardly admissible that tliere 

 should be a doubt as to the success of 

 the bee-keeper to battle foul brood 

 with coffee powder. The advantages 

 are apparent to all. Tlie remedial 

 agent can be secured everywhere ; it 

 is cheap, can readily be applied, and 

 is harmless in even large doses. 



The best mode of applying the 

 remedy the unfortunate apiarist will 

 soon find out. As for myself T will 

 dust all suspected cells or till them. 

 Where colonies are affected badly, 

 dust all brood-cells, which, as they 

 will at least thoroughly dry out, can 

 be cleaned more readily. A very 

 lilieral application can hardly injure, 

 so it would in such cases not hurt to 

 dust the full and empty cells. 



Quite an evident advantage lies in 

 this, the remedy is applied dry ; it 

 soaks up all moisture, and by means 

 of this facilitates the cleansing of the 

 combs for the bees. Also as a pre- 

 ventive the addition of a little coffee 

 to the water for bees must be a real 

 advantage. I beg these words will be 

 taken as they are intended— an inci- 

 tation to use it as a remedial agent. 

 It is so cheap, so simple, that it would 

 be wrong without having tried it, to 

 consign our pets to the flames. 



Bee-keepers 1 coffee as a prevention 

 of putrefaction has drawn the atten- 

 tion of the scientific world to it. If 

 we follow the advice of Herr Wust, 

 we will try this simple antiseptic 

 whenever the appearance of foul 

 brood offers an opportunity ; it can 

 do no harm. We will not let this 

 question rest until we have found the 

 remedy and are able to free ourselves 

 of this foul pest whenever it appears, 

 or are able to totally prevent it. 



Enzheim, Germany. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Pumpkin Honey. 



A. J. KING. 



apart, leading to a littlecircular cavity 

 containing the nectar. I have fre- 

 quently observed three or four bees 

 on a single blossom, each with its 

 little tongue thrust into these open- 

 ings and " pumping " away for '' dear 

 life." The yield of puthpkins was 

 the largest and finest I saw on the 

 island, which, I infer, was due to the 

 frequent fertilizations performed by 

 the bees. 



Botanists tell us that the nectar 

 secreted by the flowers, contributes 

 in no way to their beauty or the 

 growtli of the stalk, but simply at- 

 tracts honey- loving insects which, in 

 flying from bloom to bloom, carry 

 with them on their hairy bodies the 

 pollen which cross-fertilizes all the 

 blossoms they enter, and produces 

 fruit, perfect in flavor, large in quan- 

 tity, and beautiful to the eye. If 

 fruit-growers and flower- gardeners 

 would more fullv recognize this beau- 

 tiful provision of an all-wise Provi- 

 dence, the world would be greatly 

 benefited and beautified. 



New York,o,]sr. Y. 



That certain flowers in one section 

 yield a bountiful supply of honey, 

 while in others they yield little or 

 none, is now a well-established fact 

 among practical apiarists. That 

 this is the case regarding numpkin 

 bloom, I am led to believe from the 

 very meager reports respecting it, 

 which we occasionally see in the bee- 

 periodicals. As a matter of fact, 

 where the proper atmospheric condi- 

 tions prevail, it has very few supe- 

 riors, producing a fine straw-colored 

 nectar of excellent flavor, and very 

 heavy body, weighing 12 pounds per 

 gallon. 



Our large apiary in Cuba was sur- 

 rounded on two sides by a corn field 

 of eight or ten acres, in which pump- 

 kin seeds had been " stuck " in every 

 third or fourth hill, producing vines 

 which completely covered the ground. 

 During the month of February we 

 took Ave tierces (6,000 pounds) of 

 honey from these blussoms alone. 



At the base of the blossom sur- 

 rounding the projecting centre, are 

 three little openings equally distant 



ror tne American Bee journal. 



A CliaDter of Lamentations. 



.TOE KING. 



When I read Dr. Miller's proposi- 

 tion, on page 44, to hire out to the 

 editor of the Bek Journal at a 

 salary, to look up and report the fail- 

 ures in bee-keeping, so that we mighb 

 have the failures as well as the suc- 

 cesses, it struck me very favorably, 

 and I thought of applying for the 

 second appointment, for it seemed to 

 me that I had experiences to qualify 

 me to understand that side of the 

 question, as I have been keeping bees 

 for 12 or 1.5 years, and my even toler- 

 able yields of honey were always in 

 next year's expectations ; but if I did 

 not produce what I wanted to eat, I 

 could buy it at the grocery, and I was 

 contented and happy. 



But in an evil hour something put 

 it into my bead to subscribe for the 

 American Bee Journal, and I did, 

 but then was where I made a mistake; 

 for last fall I put my bees into the 

 cellar as directed, leaving the caps on 

 the summer stands, and nothing over 

 the brood-frames but a piece of bur- 

 lap. I put a thermometer and a stove 

 into the cellar and used to watch the 

 bees so comfortably tucked up in 

 their little beds. I put them out in 

 the forepart of April, and I thought I 

 had "done it." 



All seemed to work nicely till the 

 white clover bloomed, and then the 

 eternal hum of those bees seemed to 

 be " more section cases," " more sec- 

 tions," " more room*" all the time. 

 Talk of your S hours for labor, 8 hours 

 for improvement, and 8 hours for 

 sleep, why, sir, I worked 18 hours out 

 of 24, and then could not keep up; 

 work all the time, only to fall asleep 

 to dream of bees buzzing around my 

 ears ; no picnics, no Fourth of Julys, 

 no Sundays, but work all the time I 



Well, there came a time when the 

 honey had to be taken off, and the 



