July 6, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



419 



expressions, and sometimes sa^' something' quite different 

 from what they mean. Careful a writer as you are, you 

 give an example of the same kind in your present article, 

 on pajfe 371, where you say, "The nucleus and new swarm 

 combined should be boxt." Of course you do not mean that 

 they should be put in a box, and the older readers will have 

 no difficulty in catching' your meaning'. 



It is by no means an uncommon thing to hear a colony 

 called a •' swarm," and I think that is the meaning " Iowa "' 

 attaches to the word when he says " hive the new swarms." 

 The very fact that he says " ?/£'2ii swarms " is pretty good 

 evidence that he thoug'ht of all his colonies as swarms, and 

 speaks of the nczu swarms in contradistinction to his 1+ old 

 "swarms." So I think he was referring to the nuclei or 

 new colonies that he intended to make, and not to natural 

 swarms that he expected to issue. One who commits the 

 inaccuracy of saying swarm for colony might easily be ex- 

 pected to say " hive " when speaking of putting bees in a 

 hive to form a nucleus. Indeed, it is not so glaring an error 

 as to say " swarm " for " colony," and I think it would not 

 be the first time if a man should say, " I took two frames of 

 brood and bees and hived them in a new hive." 



I said you must take all that is said. " Iowa " distinctly 

 and specifically sa^'s he intends to increase " by dividing'." 

 If he fonns nuclei and then puts natural swarms in with 

 the nuclei, that would not be " by dividing," as the term is 

 always understood. If he rears a queen in a nucleus, then 

 puts a natural swarm in the same hive with the nucleus, he 

 will lose a queen by the operation, and be none the better 

 off for having formed his nucleus. It is hardly supposable 

 that he is so lacking in intelligence as to propose anything 

 of the kind. So it seems tome your interpretation is hardU' 

 legitimate. 



You say, " I have concluded to answer the same lot of 

 questions mj-self, and then the readers of the American 

 Bee Journal, as well as the Doctor, can see how we ag-ree in 

 the matter," It hardly seems there can be any intelligent 

 comparison of views when we arc answering questions ma- 

 terially different, as the questions are made by our different 

 interpretations. 



In order that there may be any fair opportunity to see 

 how we agree, suppose we answer categorically the same 

 questions. I will send the editor a numbered list of the 

 questions I understood to be involved in the case, together 

 with a list of answers. He will send the questions to you, 

 then when he gets your replies, he can print at the same time 

 the questions and our replies. The questions I shall send 

 will be just the ones I understood "Iowa" to mean, and 

 just in the way I think he meant them. If 3'ou think it un- 

 fair for me to have the chance to formulate the questions, 

 you will please formulate another set to suit yourself, and 

 we will both reply to them. Then we can tell something 

 about how we ag'ree, for as the matter now stands it would 

 be impossible to tell just how far we agree by reading the 

 replies we have each made. McHenry Co., 111. 



Various Remedies Sug'g-ested for Bee-Sting's. 



BY C, P. D.^D.iNT. 



THERE is no end to the list of remedies offered for the 

 sting of a bee. That none of these are infallible prob- 

 ably depends upon the fact that the wound made is very 

 minute, the sting itself being' very much finer than the 

 point of the finest needle, which, when compared to it, 

 looks thru the microscope like a coarse bar of blunt iron. 

 So the remedies we apply have little if any chance of being 

 put where they will do good, as it is only thru the pores of 

 the skin that they can have any influence, while the poison, 

 forced under the skin, has been distributed into the bliiod 

 thru the minute veins and arteries. 



Owing to its great fluidity its distribution into the sys- 

 tem is about as prompt as that of a similar quantity of alco- 

 hol. For this reason the best remedies are perhaps ammo- 

 nia, or spirits of camphor, but writers also recommend car- 

 bolic or phenic acid, lime-water, salt-water, cold water, 

 yellow clay dissolved in saliva ", and among- vegetable reme- 

 dies, honey, oil, vinegar, mint, raw onions cut in two and 

 applied on the wound, bruised parsley, etc. Others advise 

 rubbing, or sucking the wound. Suction will help if done 

 at once, but after a few seconds the poison has dissolved 

 and spread into the blood. Cold water alleviates the irrita- 

 tion, and is good when the stinging is very painful, but it 

 does not cure it. Rubbing simply serves to spread the irri- 

 tation to a greater surface, and prevent local swelling. It 

 is not to be thought of in cases of severe stinging. 



It is very probable that of all these remedies the most 



practical is ammonia, if it can be used promptly on the 

 skin, as it will penetrate readilv, and, in cases of very 

 severe stinging, it has been recommended internall)' in 

 small doses mixt with water. It is quite likely that severe 

 cases of stinging may be treated successfully by the meth- 

 ods used in cases of snake-bites. Authorities seem to agree 

 on the bee-poison being a strong acid which can only be 

 neutralized by alkalis acting directly upon it. and it cannot 

 well be reacht when in the system, except by internal 

 remedies. 



The reason why .so many remedies are recommended, 

 each having its supporters, is made very plain by Reaumur. 

 He says that one of his friends, named Du Fay, having 

 been stung on the nose by a bee, tried olive-oil on the wound 

 and found that the pain was stopt in a few instants. 

 Reaumur then tried the same remedy on one of his servants 

 who had also been stung, and the result was the same, the 

 wound did not swell, and the pain disappeared promptly. 



This seemed to prove the remedy good, so he again 

 tried this method on the following- day on another person 

 who had been stung- on the forehead, but altho the man at 

 first imagined that this had cured him, a quarter of an hour 

 had scarcely elapst before his forehead was swollen so that 

 he could hardly open his e3'es. Other trials evidenced to 

 Reaumur that the more or less pain the greater or less 

 swelling- was due not to the remedy, but to the location of 

 the wound, to the g^reater or less amount of poison injected 

 into it, and above all to the physical condition of the person 

 stung, some persons being very sensitive to stings, and 

 suffering greatly from a small amount of venom, while 

 some others are almost entireh- immune, either from pre- 

 vious inoculation of the same kind of poison, or by their 

 peculiar and natural physical condition. So one person 

 will be able to withstand two dozen bee-stings about the 

 bodj- without apparent suffering, while another may be- 

 come very sick from a single sting. 



That inoculation of this poison is a help against further 

 suffering is evidenced hy hosts of apiarists. I have myself, 

 everv' spring, the evidence that the system becomes used to 

 the poison, for at the beginning of every season I suffer far 

 more from the first stings received than from others later. 

 It would seem that in all diseases Nature labors to furnish 

 an antidote. 



But to a novice it looks rather discouraging to have to be- 

 come inoculated by stings in order to become proof against 

 them. Many persons hesitate to work with the bees for 

 fear of the stings. Yet in the majority of cases it takes but 

 little firmness to overcome the first dread. The pain, like 

 many other nervous pains, is most excruciating- if you dread 

 it, but becomes slight when the first fright is over. 



Then with a little care and proper handling no one need 

 be stung' to any extent. We may be kickt by a horse, we 

 may be bitten by a dog, yet the fear of kicks or of dog-bites 

 will never prevent us from keeping and handling useful 

 animals. Hancock Co., 111. 



Apis Dorsata — Information About It. 



{Ertract from Dr. Wtitt~'<' Dictionary of thf Erononiic Prvdiu-ts of India, 

 republisM in Oieajtings in. Bee-Culture. ) 



DESCRIPTION. — The bees of this group differ from Apis 

 mellifica in being larg'er ; in building 4':; cells to the 

 inch ; in the shape of the abdomen ; in having 13 rows 

 of bristles forming the pollen-basket ; in the relative posi- 

 tions of the eyes and ocelli, and in a very slightly different 

 arrang'ement of nervures of the anterior wings. It would 

 seem that this bee does not build larger cells for drones 

 than for workers, and that the drone is similar in shape and 

 size to the worker, differing principally in the head, which 

 resembles the head of the drone of Apis mellifica. It builds 

 one large comb, 3 to 5 feet long, two or more deep. The ' 

 brood-comb is 1 '4 inches thick, and the store-comb much 

 thicker. Altho both Apis dorsata and Apis florea are nor- 

 mally single-comb bees, under exceptionalh' favorable cir- 

 cumstances they build a second comb, and their single 

 combs are built much larger than otherwise usual; e. ^., 

 Apis dorsata building' in rock cavities ; and a comb of Apis 

 florea built in a dwelling-house was found to be about S feet 

 in area, in addition to being' in some places double, the comb 

 of this bee being usually single, and perhaps less than one 

 foot in area. Probably in all these very large nests there 

 are several queens, and they are not comparable to single 

 colonies of Apis mellifica. The arrangement of the stores 

 and brood is the same as in other species. Apis dorsata, as 

 found in India, is exceedingly constant in size and color. It 

 is found in forests, but frequently builds in town. It is re- 



