THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



79 



Bee-Keeping in Egypt. 



During the past year Egypt has 

 been brought into prominent notice 

 by the events of the war. It is one 

 of the oldest countries, and is the 

 " bridge " of three continents, Asia 

 and Africa it links by land, and by the 

 Suez Canal it lets European com- 

 merce through to the Indies and Aus- 

 tralia. In it, the haughty Pharaohs 

 have erected proud structures to per- 

 petuate their names and deeds 

 throughout all ages. 



But what a sad contrast, between 

 the land in its era of monuments, and 

 Egypt of to-day ! How fallen, since 

 the time that Joseph sat on its throne 

 next to Pharaoh. What shadows 

 have cast their gloom over the land 

 since that time ! Perpetually under 

 the domination of foreigners : the 

 Assyrian, the Persian, the Mace- 

 donian, the Roman, the Arabian, the 

 Georgian and Tartar slaves, and the 

 indolent Turk. But its fertilizing 

 waters still are pouring into the many 

 tributaries of the White and the Blue 

 rivers, to be wafted down and de- 

 posited by the Nile, in Lower Egypt. 

 The once fertile valley of the Phara- 

 ohs, with its 4,000 towns and cities, 

 can yet produce as perfect a flora, 

 ■when properly irrigated. It is still 

 the Eden of flowers. A correspondent, 

 who has visited that country, says: 



As a commercial country, it pos- 

 sesses many advantages : bees and 

 honey still forming an important arti- 

 cle of trade. The verdure of Upper 

 Egypt generally withers at the end of 

 four or five months, and commences 

 earlier than in Lower Egypt. In con- 

 sequence of this, the Lower Egyptians 

 collect the bees of several villages, in 

 large boats ; each hive having a mark 

 by which the owner recognizes it, they 

 commence the gradual ascent of the 

 Nile, stopping whenever they come to 

 a region of herbage and flowers. At 

 break of day the bees issue in thou- 

 sands ; and busily collect the sweets 

 of the flowers, which are spread in 

 luxuriant profusion around them, re- 

 turning to their hives laden with 

 honey, and issuing forth again in 

 quest of more, several times during 

 the course of a day. Thus, for three 

 or four months, they travel in a land 

 of flowers, and are brought back to 

 the place whence they started, with 

 the delicious product of the sweet 

 orange-flowers, which perfume the 

 Said, the roses of Eaioum, and the 

 jessamines of Arabia. 



Nature still possesses her charms in 

 the historic Valley of the Nile, which 

 has always been the great magnet of 

 the human race, as the land of nat- 

 ural resources. But the inhabitants 

 are poor indeed— no better than slaves. 

 The correspondent adds : 



They not allowed to make use of 

 corn and rice for food, since all that 

 they can raise is demanded by their 

 masters. Indian millet, forming a 

 coarse bread, water, raw onions, some- 

 times a little honey, cheese, dates, and 

 sour milk, form "their constant, and 

 only food. A shirt of coarse linen, 

 dyed blue, and a black cloak, a cloth 

 bonnet, with a long red handkerchief 

 rolled around it, form their costume. 



Such a population, dwelling in mis- 

 erable hovels, moving among the 

 monuments of ancient grandeur, 

 awaken in the mind of the stranger 

 a painful interest. The bees and 

 their owners, like the pyramids, defy 

 modern civilization, and, for manage- 

 ment, as relentlessly point us back 

 three thousand years ago. With their 

 clay cylinders for hives, their keepers 

 but mock at modern bee culture, and 

 laugh to scorn the progressive ideas 

 of the nineteenth century. 



Judicious Use of Comb Foundation. 



Mr. Sylvester Marshall, of Pratts' 

 Fork., O., propounds the following 

 questions : 



Which is the best kind of comb 

 foundation to use for getting extracted 

 honey — drone or worker ? How thick 

 should it be to obtain the best results V 



Drone comb foundation has been 

 used, to some extent, but now it is 

 entirely discarded ; the worker-cell 

 comb foundation answers every pur- 

 pose, and as drone cells in a hive is a 

 temptation to drone-rearing when 

 such are not wanted, it is preferable 

 not to have it there for any purpose. 



Experience has demonstrated that 

 comb foundation, for the brood cham- 

 ber and extracting, should be about 

 43^ feet to the pound, with a thin base 

 and heavy side walls. This is the most 

 desirable for economy in the use of 

 wax and rapidity of comb building by 

 the bees. 



Considering the start given to a col- 

 ony of bees, by a j udicious use of comb 

 foundation, the certainty of having 

 the combs all built straight, the ease 

 with which the number of drones pro- 

 duced by a colony may be controlled, 

 no one can justly intimate that we are 

 not making prodigious strides in plac- 

 ing bee-culture among the scientific 

 and profitable occupations of the pres- 

 ent progressive age. 



Sample Copies of theAMERicAN Bee 

 Journal will be sent free to any per- 

 son. Any one intending to get up a 

 club can have sample copies sent to 

 the persons they desire to interview, 

 by sending the names to this oftice. 



Letter from Switzerland. 



The talented and gentlemanly edi- 

 itor of tlie Bulletin D^Apiculteur, pub- 

 lished at Nyon, Switzerland, Mons. 

 Bertrand, writes us as follows : 



I have sown at Nyon, on some land 

 I purchased, 2J^ acres of Bokhara 

 clover seed, and nearly as much at my 

 Mountain Apiary ; so you see that I 

 am following your advice in the edito- 

 rial articles in the Bee Journal. We 

 could not do without your able Jour- 

 nal, and this is the universal opinion. 



We are sorry to learn that our friend 

 and co-laborer has been unwell from 

 excessive labor and cares, and hope he 

 may speedily be restored to his accus- 

 tomed vigor and health. 



1^ We have received the initial 

 copy of the New England Apiarian, 

 published by W. W. Merrill, Mechanic 

 Falls, Maine. In it we are assured 

 tliat the publisher " is in no way con- 

 nected with a former short-lived jour- 

 nal published in that place." Had 

 this announcement not been made, it 

 would generally have been considered 

 but a revival of that paper which a year 

 ago issued one number, but never suc- 

 ceeded in publishing another. As 

 several of the Maine bee-keepers seem 

 to be giving it their influence, we hope 

 it may succeed. It seems to have pro- 

 gressive ideas, and the Bee Journal 

 wishes it prosperity, and extends its 

 1^" of welcome to the infant. 



1^ The January number of the 

 Kansas Bee-Keeper is on our desk, in 

 an enlarged form. The "Question 

 Department " is in charge of Mr. 

 James Heddon, of Michigan, and Dr. 

 Howard, of Texas, has become as- 

 sistant editor. 



How Birds are Deceived.— The 



woodpeckers in Norway bore into tele- 

 graph posts, being misled by the 

 humming sound, to the belief that 

 there are insects in the wood. The 

 bears sometimes scratch away the 

 heaps of stones put to support the 

 pole, thinking that the noise proceeds 

 from a nest of bees. 



^f May we ask you, dear reader, to 

 speak a good word for the Bee Jour- 

 nal to neighbors who keep bees, and 

 send on at hast one ?)€m subscription 

 with your own y Our premium," Bees 

 and Honey," in cloth, for one )i«o sub- 

 scriber to the Weekly, or two for the 

 Monthly, besides your own subscrip- 

 tion to either edition, will pay you for 

 your trouble, besides having the satis- 

 faction of knowing that you have 

 aided the Bee Journal to a new 

 subscriber, and progressive apiculture 

 to another devotee. 



