230 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



thing that can be tortured aud twisted 

 into a germ of his new idea, and pos- 

 sibly he will be accused of trying to 

 deprive comb foundation men of their 

 legitimate profits, or even of their 

 livelihood. But the great mass of 

 intelligent bee-keepers will recognize 

 in this brochure a modest, honest, 

 earnest attempt to help those who, as 

 the dedication says, " are getting 

 their bread and butter by producing 

 honey to spread on the bread and 

 butter of others." It will help them 

 too. because whether they adopt the 

 author's methods or not, it will make 

 them more observant of results, more 

 studious of nature's laws, and more 

 intelligent in their management of 

 the " little, busy bee." 



I am particularly pleased with the 

 chapter on " The secretion and utili- 

 zation of wax." Short though it is, 

 it lays down principles that are not 

 only of great importance to the mat- 

 ter specially in hand, but to bee-keep- 

 ing generally. There has been, in 

 my opinion, far too much done in the 

 way of trying to revolutionize the bee. 

 The bee is peculiar, and its value 

 largely depends upon its peculiarities. 

 We must utilize these, not fight 

 them. I heard Sam Jones the other 

 day. Among other things, he said, 

 " I am objected to because of my 

 peculiarities. These are what make 

 me Sam Jones. Take these away, 

 and I should not be myself at all, but 

 somebody else, and probably some- 

 body of no account." "We have tried 

 to make the bee breed in public by an 

 everlasting opening out of the brood- 

 nest, when like all other creatures, its 

 instinct teaches it to breed in seclu- 

 sion ; we have tried to prevent it from 

 swarming ; we have turned its house 

 and home upside down ; and we have 

 tried to make it cease wax-making 

 and comb-building, and devote itself 

 as exclusively as possible to honey 

 gathering. If we could have made 

 comb walls as well as foundation, we 

 should have done it. " Every fool 

 will be meddling," and there is some 

 fool about the wisest of mankind. 

 Xow let us stop trying to re-make or 

 re-model the bee, and take it as it 

 came from the Creator's hand. The 

 bee is a wax-maker and comb- builder, 

 as well as a honey-gatherer and storer. 



Who knows but there is a waxy ele- 

 ment in the honey that needs to be 

 abstracted before it goes into the 

 cells y At any rate, while we appre- 

 ciate and admire the assiduity of the 

 bee in the honey line, let us not forget 

 that there is, no doubt, a sphere tor 

 the exercise of the other function that 

 will cause mankind, down to the end 

 of time to note, 



"How skillfully she builds her cell, 

 How neat she spreads her wax." 



With these fraternal words, I cor- 

 dially welcome Mr. Hutchinson to the 

 noble army of authors ! 



Guelph, Ont. 



Tlie Convention History of America 



with a full report of the proceedings ef the 

 Detroit and Indianapolis conventions, and 

 the American Bee Journal for one year, 

 will be clubbed for J1.25. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



A Lady's ExBerience litli Bees. 



MRS. H. HIXLS. 



Dear Editor :— I have had a gen- 

 eral clearing up of letters, catalogues, 

 etc., which have accumulated since 1 

 began bee-keeping, three years ago ; 

 and thus all the courteous and kindly 

 replies which you have so generously 

 giveu to the seemingly unimportant 

 questions of a novice, have been 

 brought again to mind. 1 can no 

 longer delay the attempt to express 

 my thanks. In no single instance 

 have you failed to give close attention 

 to every question, and you have un- 

 stintedly given your time and results 

 of your experience to a beginner, and 

 always in such a manner that the re- 

 ceipt of a postal or letter from you 

 has been a pleasant incident in bee- 

 keeping life. 



Thus far I have written no report 

 of my apiary to the American Bee 

 Journal, preferring to wait until 

 definite ground might be reached. 

 Three years of close attention to bees 

 and bee-literature ought to bring the 

 novice to such point. 



During the winter of 1883-84, long- 

 continued ill-health and anindetinabie 

 longing for some out-of-doors pursuit, 

 led to a general search for some path 

 into such vocations. Silk-culture was 

 at first decided upon, and corres- 

 pondence opened in that direction. It 

 was decided finally that in planting 

 the mulberry trees, it would be safer 

 and better to raise them from the 

 the seed. A quantity of this, both 

 Chinese and Kussian, was obtained ; 

 and I may add, that I have now sev- 

 seral hundred of these trees set for a 

 hedge around the apiary. 



Meanwhile another member of the 

 household became interested in bees, 

 and on April 10, 1884, brought home 2 

 colonies in box-hives ; also borrowed 

 Quinby's book, and begun to study 

 bee-keeping, ordering me also to do 

 the same. How mysterious are the 

 secrets of bee-keeping to the novice ! 

 I shall never forget how impossible it 

 then seemed, to gain a clear knowl- 

 edge of the many "ways that are 

 dark " connected with the pursuit. 



But soon the weather admitted of 

 frequent visits to those box-hives, 

 with glass under the doors, at the 

 back. Hour after hour was spent in 

 watching the movements— apparently 

 tending " no whither "—of the busy 

 little elves ; and when one day after 

 long waiting, so much patience was 

 rewarded by seeing a veritable drone, 

 it was recorded in the note-book as a 

 great event. 



It did not take many weeks to con- 

 vince me that bee-keeping was the 

 desirable avocation, provided that it 

 could possibly be carried out by a 

 woman. Correspondence was opened 

 with two successful lady apiarists, 

 who at once responded with the nec- 

 essary encouragement and advice. If 

 Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Gould should 

 notice this report, they will doubtless 

 call to mind the ludicrously anxious 

 missives which they at that time re- 

 ceived from a stranger. Their kind- 



ness carried the novice through the 

 initiation ceremonies of the never-to- 

 be forgotten day— May 30— when both 

 colonies cast immense swarms within 

 two hours of each other ; and I be- 

 came the happy possessor of 4 fine 

 colonies of bees. 



Since that day I have had what cer- 

 tainly might be called uninterrupted 

 success. On Sept. 1, 1886, the apiary 

 numbered 41 fine colonies, all from 

 those 2 colonies in box-hives. I have 

 never lost a colony from any cause 

 whatever, and the surplus honey dur- 

 ing the three years, as nearly as I can 

 calculate, ^as 82 pounds per colony, 

 spring count, after deducting the cost 

 of wintering all colonies. 



Sheboygan Falls, o* Wis. 



For Uie American Bee JonmaU 



Analyzing anil Riiienins Honey. 



SAMUEL CUSHMAN. 



A close reader of our bee-periodi- 

 cals for the past two years might have 

 gathered together from the various 

 articles the following ideas : The 

 nectar of flowers is not honey until 

 changed or ripened by the bees. It is 

 natural sugar, water," a small quantity 

 of albumen, gum and essential oil or 

 flavoring. Bees are able to abstract 

 much of this water, absorb and dis- 

 charge it before the nectar is deposited 

 in the hive. Formic acid, the active 

 principle of bee-poison, is frequently 

 added to this nectar, a large amount 

 being required by new honey, and but 

 little to preserve ripened honey. This 

 acid is a preservative, also chemically 

 changes the natural sugar to its in- 

 verted form — a change that the chem- 

 ists are familiar with. This change 

 gives honey that smooth, mellow 

 taste for which honey from the old 

 box-hives is celebrated. The heat of 

 the bees causes the excess of water to 

 evaporate, and favors or is necessary 

 for this chemical change. Bees treat 

 capped honey with this acid, which is 

 absorbed by the porous capping. The 

 cappiugs of honey are porous until 

 varnished or gummed over by the 

 bees. 



The legitimate purpose of the sting 

 is to insert this acid into uncapped 

 honey, and to pierce the cappings of 

 sealed honey ; stinging is but a side 

 issue This view seems to be sup- 

 ported by the fact that when bees are 

 not gathering honey, a sting causes 

 much more effect, supposed to be 

 caused by the .accumulated poison ; 

 and that stingless bees from South 

 America store little honey, as they 

 are unable to preserve it. Hybrids, 

 which are the worst stingers when 

 there is no honey to be gathered, are 

 the best honey-gatherers. 



Some think that the "crop," or 

 honey-bag of the bee is where this 

 acid is secreted and added to the 

 honey. It is said that a normal col- 

 ony with plenty of this secretion may 

 prevent and cure foul brood. Formic 

 acid is similar in its nature to phenol 

 (carbolic acid) and salicylic acid — 

 agents used bv bee-keepers to cure 

 foul brood. They are all preserva- 



