■78 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



who asks about moving bees by rail 

 in winter. He says : 



I am going into Maryland in Feb- 

 ruary, a journey of 200 miles. My 14 

 colonies of bees are in double-walled 

 hives, with chaff cushions on top. 

 The question with me is, whether to 

 leave the cushions on, or to fasten 

 down the frames, take the cushions 

 off and give them the whole cap to 

 roam around in, with holes through 

 the cap, covered with wire cloth. 

 Which ? 



The answer given to the preceding 

 questions will apply to this. We do 

 not think it reasonable to expect 

 weather warm enough to prepare bees 

 for shipment during this month. If 

 the weather was warm enough not to 

 chill the brood, if they have it, it 

 would be best to give the bees the cap 

 to cluster in ; especially would it be 

 desirable, if the combs should break 

 down, to give them space to cluster 

 in, and thus, perhaps, save the entire 

 colony. 



The Sting of the Honey Bee. 



A correspondent has sent us the 

 following descriptive article on the 

 above subject, takei>-from an English 

 periodical entitled Oood Words : 



If we press the abdomen of a bee, 

 so as to cause the sting to protrude, 

 we should naturally think that the 

 sharp, dark-colored instrument was 



The Sting of the Bee. 



the sting itself. This, however, is not 

 the case. The real sting is a very 

 Blender instrument, nearly transpar- 

 ent, keenly pointed, and armed on one 

 edge with a row of barbs. 8o exactly 

 does the sting resemble the many- 

 barbed arrow of certain savage tribes 



that, if the savages had possessed mi- 

 croscopes, we should certainly have 

 thought that they borrowed the idea 

 of the barb from the insect. What 

 we see with the unaided eye is simply 

 the sheath of the sting. Many savages 

 poison their spears and arrows, and 

 here also they have been anticipated 

 by the insect. But the sting is infi- 

 nitely superior to the arrow poison. 

 No poison that has yet been made, 

 not even the terrible wourali, or cu- 

 rare, as it is sometimes called, can re- 

 tain its strength after long exposure 

 to air. The upas poison of Borneo, 

 for example, loses its potency in two 

 or three hours. But the venom of the 

 sting is never exposed to the air at all. 

 It is secreted by two long, thread-like 

 glands, not nearly so thick as a human 

 hair, and is then received into a little 

 bag at the base of the sting. When 

 the insect uses its weapon it contracts 

 tlie abdomen, thereby forcing the 

 sting out and compressing the venom- 

 bag. 



By the force of the stroke which 

 drives the sting into the foe, its base 

 is pressed against the venom-bag and 

 a small amount of poison driven into 

 the wound. The barbed weapon can- 

 not be withdrawn, and the whole ap- 

 paratus of sting, poison-bag and 

 glands is torn out of the insect,thereby 

 causing its ultimate death. 



The Honey Market in England. 



The following letter will be very 

 interesting to our readers : 



There is not much English honey 

 to be found on the market, even the 

 largest producers, the most promi- 

 nent bee-keepers, have had none to 

 sell this winter. Mr. Cowan wrote 

 me the other day, saying he had some 

 in 1 lb. jars to offer at Is. 3d. (30 cts.) 

 per pound. English comb honey in 

 sections of 1 lb. to 2 ib., bring from Is. 

 6d. (36 cts.) to 2s. (48 cts.) per pound ; 

 but, even at these prices, it is very 

 seldom 1,000 lbs. can be found in one 

 parcel, or in even one neighborhood, 

 so that if a Arm contine themselves 

 to English honey alone, they must, of 

 necessity, be content with very small 

 operations. 



West India, Mexican, Chilian, etc., 

 honey, in barrels containing from 250 

 lbs. and upwards to 600 lbs., have 

 been selling at auction, upon Mincing 

 Lane, at from 28s. per 112 lbs. (6 cts. 

 per pound) to 46s. 8d. (10 cts. per 

 pound). A parcel of 73 barrels of 

 about 600 lbs. each, were shipped 

 from Tuxpam, Mexico, to New Or- 

 leans, thence to Liverpool, and from 

 Liverpool to London, by rail,consigued 

 to Messrs. Geo. Hooper &Co., upon 

 whom the shipper drew a 90 diiys 

 draft through Messrs. Baring Bros., 

 at the rate of 2.5s. per cwt., about 5% 

 cts. per pound, but the honey was 

 simply lilthy with dead bees, etc., so 

 that Messrs. Hooper very properly 

 declined to accept the draft. Messrs. 

 Baring Bros, have, through their 

 brokers, been hawking this honey 

 about, and would, I think, be glad to 

 close it out at 5 cts. This class of 

 cheap, foreign honey has rather im- 



proved the market for finer grades, 

 because buyers are getting so that 

 they will not have the poor grades, at 

 any price. 



California honey has been in good 

 demand ; one sale, a large one, of 

 Wilkins' honey, sold in Liverpool at 

 18 cts. per pound. There never was 

 but one parcel of California comb 

 honey brought over here, and that 

 was a parcel of 100 cases by Messrs. 

 Thurber & Co., but they sent it all 

 back to New York two years ago, be- 

 cause it was badly broken, and had to 

 be repacked, which only could be done 

 there. We would gladly pay cash for 

 the grade known in California as 

 " Extra C," 20 cts. per pound, net 

 here. California strained, in 5-quart 

 tins, and barrels of about 250 pounds, 

 bring from 10 to 18 cts. per pound. 



There has been but very little 

 Western honey imported here, as yet. 

 Nor has there been any honey without 

 comb imported from the Eastern 

 States. Before Christmas, we had 

 about 1,200 cases in all ; 700 from 

 Boston, at 23 cts. per pound ; 450 from 

 Philadelphia, at 22 cts. per pound ; 

 and 50 from New York at 21 cts. per 

 pound. It was all very satisfactory, 

 and arrived safe and sound. We are 

 now entirely out of the glass-sided 

 boxes, and could sell many more cases, 

 at from 28 to 30 cts. per pound, if they 

 were to be had. We have been obliged 

 to go to Hamburg, and buy from those 

 fellows you have seen go around with 

 a wooden tray upon their head, sell- 

 ing honey. We buy it from them in 

 straw supei-s, and cut out the combs, 

 for repacking in jars. 



I wish you would come over next 

 summer. We are to have the Interna- 

 tional Fisheries Exhibition here un- 

 der the patronage of the Queen and 

 the presidency ot the Prince of Wales, 

 and at Amsterdam, they will have a 

 great International Exhibition under 

 the patronage of the King of the 

 Netherlands. At the latter there is 

 to be a great honey show from all 

 parts of Europe. You must come ; 

 you have been appointed one of the 

 judges, Mr. Editor. 



Now when you come, this time, 

 you can arrange it to make some 

 money. Bring over a consignment 

 of comb honey, any shape, so it is 

 white and nice. I will sell it all for 

 you, so that you can take the money 

 back in your pocket, and at a good 

 profit. W. M. HoGE. 



London, England, Jan. 11, 1883. 



We should be delighted to do as 

 Mr. Hoge suggests, but with a Weekly 

 Bee Paper on our hands, it is impos- 

 sible. Our last visit cost us over a 

 thousand dollars, in money, besides 

 months of valuable time, but we have 

 the consolation of knowing that it 

 was well spent in developing the mar- 

 ket for American honey ; now, some 

 one else may go and reap the harvest. 

 We would, were it possible. 



i^" Attention is called to our Jiew 

 and liberal advertising rates for 1883. 



