THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



439 



tically it might perhaps be decided by 

 ascertaining liow long the queen 

 lives in Australia, where she lays eggs 

 continuously, because nature produces 

 llowers there witliout interruption 

 throughout the year ; and how long 

 she lives in our own country, where 

 the at'tivity of the bees, and conse- 

 quently the activity of the queen, is 

 dormant for about live months of the 

 year. 



No bee-master is likely to think of 

 economising the strength of ordinary 

 queens. Every one is anxious that 

 me workers should be as industrious 

 and the <iueen as prolific as possible. 

 But if it is a matter of keeping some 

 especially valuable queens alive as 

 long as i)0ssible, and the question 

 arises as to whether it is possible to 

 prolong their life artiticially, we are 

 obliged to answer in the affirmative. 



Carlsmarkt, Germanv, Feb. 22, 1882. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How to Fasten Foundation, etc. 



J. V. C.\LDWELL. 



The utility of comb foundation de- 

 pends to a large degree on the way it 

 IS fastened in the frames and honey 

 boxes. 1 have not yet noticed any 

 plan I like as well as the one I have 

 been using the past two seasons, and 

 which, if the directions are followed 

 just as I give them, will be satisfac- 

 tory to the user. 



Go to your blacksmith and get him 

 to make you a pair of good strong 

 tongs, not too heavy or they will be 

 hard to handle, and yet heavy enough 

 to insure a good grip. The ends or 

 gripping part should be made in the 

 form of a T, and sliould be about four 

 inches long on the gripping end. I 

 have them made long enough to go 

 inside of the 1-lb section. They 

 should have on the ends two screw 

 holes, that is, two on each side to 

 take about -'g inch screws. These 

 tongs are to have wooden jaws. Take 

 two pieces of hard wood as long as 

 the jaws, and about Js inch thick, by 

 1,14 inches wide, and having made 

 them smooth screw them on the in- 

 side of tlie jaws of the tongs. Your 

 tongs must be made wide enough to 

 take these in and have them pinch 

 tight on the ends. The pincliing 

 parts sliould be rounded a little to 

 prevent cutting the wax. 



Now, then, to use, get out a block 

 as large as your section inside, and % 

 inch thick, this is supposing your sec- 

 tion is 2 inches wide, tack this block 

 on your bench, lay your section over 

 it, and you are ready to begin work. 

 Lay your section with top side to- 

 ward you, lay in your foundation with 

 the edge nex't to you turned up about 

 )4 inch ; it should be quite warm so it 

 will mash to the wood. Your tongs 

 must be kept setting in some soft 

 water to prevent them from sticking 

 and pulling the foundation loose. 



f>et your tongs in the section and 

 pinch hard and your work is done. I 

 should say also your block in the sec- 

 tion must be kept wet, but do not get 

 any water on the part of the section 

 you are fastening foundation to. I 



use tliese pincers to fasten the heavy 

 foundation in the brood frames ; in 

 this case have your board to go in- 

 side of the frame made as large as 

 the inside measure of the frame and 

 ji inch thick, or a little thicker if 

 your frame is a full inch wide. Fasten 

 the board down and lay your frame 

 over it ; lav in vour sheet of founda- 

 tion with the edge next you turned 

 up as before; the ends, also, should 

 be turned nn against the end bars of 

 the frame '4 inch ; press down neatly 

 all around, take one grasp with the 

 pincers on the middle of the top-bar, 

 then pinch on tlie end bars, then push 

 on top-bar, lift the frame out, audit 

 you have the job properly done, your 

 sheet will hang perfectly true and 

 straight, and cannot be pulled loose 

 without tearing the foundation. If 

 your pincers get sticky, use a little 

 lye in the water. 



Mr. Ileddon has seen fit to denomi- 

 nate the Dunham machine as one of 

 the difficult ones to use, claiming it 

 to be a very sticky machine. Well, I 

 must say he is either somewhat pre- 

 judiced, or does not quite understand 

 using it. I say the Dunham is as 

 easy to use as a common clothes 

 wringer, provided, of course, you 

 know how to make good foundation. 

 We think nothing of running all day 

 without spoiling a single sheet, and 

 all perfect, well printed sheets. I 

 think Mr. Heddon said about 75 lbs. 

 was all 2 hands could print on the 

 Dunham in one day. AVell, my part- 

 ner and myself ran through 150 lbs. 

 in one day, and I went to the village, 

 about a mile away, in the bargain. 



On the Vandervort machine, on ac- 

 count of the sheets being .narrower 

 and very thin, we consider 50 lbs. a 

 day's work. This of course, does not 

 include the dipping of tlie sheets, 

 which would make another article ; 

 but I will only say we dip by a plan 

 far more speedy than any of the plans 

 yet given. 



Cambridge, 111. 



Our Home Sciecce Gossip. 



The History and Antiquity of the Bee. 



A. F. MOON. 



The magnitude of scientific apicul- 

 ture possesses a national life. 



Were we to go back no further than 

 the last century and show the wonder- 

 ful developments made in this one 

 branch, its profits, incomes, and the 

 immense increase of colonies, and the 

 revenue that it brings to this country, 

 it would by far excel any other rural 

 branch in point of profit from the 

 cai)ital invested. 



The history and workings of the 

 honey-bee are wonderful indeed, af- 

 fording man a great and beautiful 

 study, as well as a good income for 

 the time and labor given. From his- 

 torical facts we are led to believe 

 that the honey-bee has been a com- 

 panion of man from the earliest civil- 

 ization. Ancient records speak of 

 them and their existence on the 

 islands and coasts of the Mediter- 

 ranean, also on the Black Seas. They 

 were kept largely in the interior of 



the continents of Europe, Asia, and 

 Africa. We learn from the military 

 expeditions of the ancients, that they 

 were by them kept, and extended into 

 Egypt,"Syria. Italy, Germany, Greece, 

 Sicily, and other countries. They are 

 spoken of as being indigenous to those 

 countries, and innoone instance have 

 we seen in the annals of antiquity 

 that the honey bee has been trans- 

 ferred from one country to another 

 by human intervention or instrumen- 

 tality. 



Scientists have given this one sub- 

 ject deep thought. They have been 

 able to trace the little busy bee far 

 back in the dim dawnings of history, 

 particularly in theeraof the " Sagas." 

 We are assured of the existence of 

 the honey bee and its fruit as being 

 so invigorating. The bee marked the 

 golden age in the mythology of the 

 Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and 

 not only with these did the honey bee 

 occupy a very distinguished place, but 

 it is significant of the intimate rela- 

 tions which must have existed at one 

 period between the earliest civilized 

 nations, and we find that it was the 

 common faith of these people that the 

 honey bee originated from the putre- 

 fying carcasses of oxen, and that the 

 name of the Sacred Bull of the Egyp- 

 tians is perpetuated in the Latin word 

 apis. 



The first traces of bee culture are 

 found almost everywhere back in the 

 Saga periods. Thus in Spain the 

 Curetes dwelling near Tartess as- 

 cribed the invention of the art of pro- 

 curing honey to their ancient fabulous 

 King Gargoris, while the Greeks and 

 Romans attributed this merit, as well 

 as that of first placing bees in pre- 

 pared habitations, and domesticating 

 them, to their gods or the descend- 

 ants of their fancied deities. 



Farther back in prehistoric times, 

 from which no written records, names 

 or dates survive, there remain wea- 

 pons, implements, and building ma- 

 terials, garments, and personal and 

 beautiful ornaments, human bones, 

 and many other things, all furnishing 

 proof of civilization among the in- 

 habitants, also unmistakable evi- 

 dences or indications that the honey 

 bee was largely cultivated. It is 

 claimed that further back In the 

 abyss of time, in those remote ei-as 

 in the progress of the development of 

 the earth, which preceded the eleva- 

 tion of the Alps, the various remains 

 of fossil organisms, demonstrate the 

 fact that a tropical climate once pre- 

 vailed in what is now called Switzer- 

 land. „ . , ^ 

 Petrified remains of various plants 

 and insects, the enemies of bees and 

 other things belonging to the animal 

 kingdom, also a fossil honey was 

 found. This occurred in the insect 

 bearing stratum of the quarries of 

 Oeningen : it was recognized by some 

 of the professors as an apis, establish- 

 ing the fact that the honey bee ex- 

 isted geologically as an inhabitant of 

 our earth ages before the appearance 

 of man, no doubt living in peace and 

 harmony with their mother queen, 

 guarding and protecting their stores, 

 laying up their food for a time when 

 needed. Unlike many other things, 



