THE AMERICA^^ BEE JOURNAL. 



649 



For the American Bee .louraBl. 



Apiiiriaii 8aliiiag:uudi. 



A. B. SICLAVY. 



Complying with Mr. Todd's request, 

 I will siiy thai in the early spring 1 

 frequently lind scorpions in my hives 

 over the mats. 1 have seen them of 

 almost all ages, to judge by their size. 

 I think their business end, or tail, is 

 either born with them, or develops 

 very soon after birth, for I liave never 

 seen one too young to have it ap- 

 pended. I suppose they seek the 

 warmth above the cluster, as I have 

 never been able to see any other ob- 

 ject they souglit. 



Let me add a mite to the drone sub- 

 ject, seemingly in conflict with the 

 generally accepted version of their 

 usefulness, except for fecundating 

 queens. Early in August I observed 

 in all of my large colonies a great 

 quantity of drone brood, often in the 

 1st and 2d stories. In the present 

 month the drones seemed to me to be 

 in the majority over the workers, but 

 at the same time the combs were full 

 of worker brood, and the drones were 

 clustered thick over the brood. At 

 this writing the colonies are full of 

 workers, and they are killing otf the 

 drones, and that, too, when the honey 

 flow from fall tlowers is as tine as it 

 can be. My liees are storing more 

 honey now than in the spring. 



Now, does not this argue some other 

 use for drones 'i There are no cells, 

 as in swarming season ; the honey 

 flow is line and promises to be excel- 

 lent, yet in the face of the glowing 

 prospects, the poor drones seemingly 

 having served their purpose, are being 

 sacrificed. 



I cannot fully accept the commonly- 

 taught adaptation of the drones, aiid 

 nothing more. The view I take is, 

 that the prospects being bright, the 

 bees bred the drones so as to take ad- 

 vantage of their corpulency (animal 

 heat) in breeding up ; that being ac- 

 complished, they are useless now, as 

 an examination of my colonies will 

 show, for they are "busters," 



What is the future of wax 'i With- 

 outaii ideaeitherto '"bull "' or'' bear" 

 the price of wax. I make this inquiry. 

 To my mind, the price of wax now is 

 too low. and for the same reason tliat 

 applies to any other commodity — tlie 

 same inexorable law of supply and 

 demand. The same remark applies 

 to any one else that it does to myself. 

 I use" ten pounds and produce' two. 

 As a support to my position, I am in- 

 formed that in Mexico the demand 

 exceeds the supply, and that, too, 

 when tiO cents is paid for it. 



I think a remedy can be found by 

 some enterprising Yankee liee-keeper, 

 and I suggest it. It occurs to me that 

 paper can be rolled out upon founda- 

 tion rollers, the paper being wetted 

 and the rollers heated, leaving tlie 

 side walls on the paper. Now dip the 



paper in a hot bath of wax. so as to 

 give lis the foundation both stronger 

 and lighter, and using perhaps fiO or 

 7-5 per cent, less wax tfiaii at present. 

 This has reference to foundation for 

 extiacting only. If this is worth any- 

 thing, I clieerfully offer it to the fra- 

 ternity. 



Yoiir appended remarks upon a 

 clipping in No. 37, do not present the 

 facts fairly regarding negroes as bee- 

 keepers. While but few of them are 

 progressive bee-keepers, yet when 

 they are property-holders, they are 

 very apt to keep bees, I think that 

 probably 150 or liOO colonies of bees in 

 this country are owned by negroes, 

 and I find quite a number of them are 

 valuable assistants at swarming time, 

 and at other times, too, " Don"! you 

 forget it." they keep bees; they get 

 the honey ; they get stung, liut they 

 keep them "alle samee." My man 

 Jerry handles a swarm just as well as 

 any one. 



Bastrop, Tex., Sept. 2.5, 1882. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Poisouoiis Gases around Bee Hives. 



R. F. HOLTERMAN. 



Upon my return from the Toronto 

 Industrial Exhibition. I find the Bee 

 Journal, with an article on page582, 

 by Mr. Ed. Moore, in which he ex- 

 presses a desire that some scientist 

 enlighten him. Now I liave no pre- 

 tensions to so elevated a position, but 

 I believe that I can throwalittle light 

 on the matter. 



The freely circulating atmosphere 

 has no such impure atmosphere next 

 to the earth, provision for this has 

 been made in the following manner : 

 The animal world takes in oxygen and 

 gives out water and carbonic acid gas, 

 and to prevent too much of this being 

 generated, it is taking uyi water, lime, 

 and other substances; the plant life 

 takes it up through these and other 

 mediums, and gives off more or less 

 pure oxygen. In this way the animal 

 and plant kingdoms balance one 

 another. 



In the Viilley of Death, in Java, 

 where carbonic acid gas exudes from 

 the caves in the earth, and the atmos- 

 phere is this gas in almost a pure 

 state, no animal life exists, and on the 

 other hand plant life is luxuriant. 

 Scientists ascribe the great growth of 

 vegetation (shown by coal-beds and 

 other traces) in antediluvian times to 

 the predominance of the carbonic acid 

 gas. Tlien the winds and radiation 

 from the earth's surface through the 

 rising and setting of the sun. Keeps 

 the atmosphere in motion, thus keep- 

 ing the gases of ilifferent weiglits con- 

 stantly mixed. If it were not for this, 

 the fish and all animal life would per- 

 ish in the sea for want of oxygen, and 

 cities would be visited by pestilence, 

 but the gentle motion of the atmos- 

 pliere, assisted by rain and windstorms 

 keeps the whole in circulation. 



I nave tried different elevations for 

 l)ee-liives. and prefer about three 

 inches, with a board slanting from the 

 entrance to the ground. If lower, the 

 bottom board is too damp, causing 

 bees to draw upon the combs more 



easily ; if higher, when loaded with 

 honey they often drop to tlie ground 

 before reaching the hive, especially in 

 the spring of the year when cold 

 They are less exposed nearer the 

 ground. They are better higher up 

 as regards toads, but I have never 

 found tliese latter very destructive, 

 risherville, Ont., Sept. 21, 1882. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



(lilr.cose Detective. 



T. MAHER. 



Allow me to correct a little tlie ac- 

 count of our trials at your othee last 

 week, by chloride of barium, to detect 

 free sulphuric acid in the glucose used 

 for mixing with sugar, syrups and 

 honey. 



The first experiment was upon a so- 

 called pure article of " golden syrup," 

 about one ounce of which was poured 

 in a glass to which was added about 2 

 ounces of water, this was thoroughly 

 mixed by stirring till a very clear 

 solution was obtained; after it had 

 rested awhile, a few drops of the 

 chloride solution were added care- 

 f ullv ; a small white cloud of sulphate 

 of "baryta immediately appeared, 

 showing the presence of not a very 

 large percentum of free sulphuric 

 acid, but of a sufficient quantity to 

 form a light deposit, after a few hours, 

 of this sulphate of baryta. 



Test No. 2 consisted of a very small 

 quantity, about lialf a small teaspoon- 

 fiil of Davenport "grape sugar," 

 scraped with a pocket knife from a 

 sample lump as large as an English 

 walnut; this small quantity was also 

 dissolved by carefully stirring it in 

 4 or 5 ounces of water, till another 

 clear solution was obtained; it was 

 also rested awhile, after which a few 

 more drops of the chloride were added, 

 when another cloud appeared thicker 

 this time than on the first trial, which, 

 as you say. did produce, after a few 

 hours, a perceptible precipitate, not, 

 however, of insoluble glucose, but of 

 sulphate of baryta. 



As for test No. 3 of the carefully 

 corked sample phial of honey sent to 

 you about two years ago. and wliicli 

 showed some thick fluid above the 

 granulated portion in the bottom, the 

 clear solution of it in the glass did 

 not show any cloud on the addition of 

 the few drops of chloride, hence no 

 precipitate did take place, there being 

 no free sulphuric acid in it to decom- 

 pose the soluble chloride into an in- 

 soluble sulphate. 



Let me add that any one can pur- 

 chase for a dime or a nickel, an ounce 

 of chloride of barium in crystal from 

 a respectable drug store, dissolve it in 

 a tumbler in 6 ounces of pure water, 

 stirring with a teaspoon till a clear 

 solution is obtained, after which it 

 should be set by to settle well in a 

 small bottle for about 12 hours; some 

 light earthy sediment may then ap- 

 pear in the bottom of the bottle, from 

 which the clear solution above it may 

 be separated by pouring it carefully 

 into another clear bottle, to be thus 

 kept for use. carefully corked. 



Chicago. Sept. 2i). 1882. 



