666 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



straight worker comb,no matter if they 

 are pretty black ; they are just as 

 good, if clean. If you have lumber to 

 spare (or can get a large box), make a 

 box of any size that will suit your con- 

 venience, and pile up the combs, not 

 too tightly, in it till the box is full, 

 standing the combs on each other, 

 like bricks on end, just as they stood 

 in the hive. Leave one corner open 

 so you can place in an old tin can, in 

 which place a few whittlings, or very 

 rotten wood, sprinkled with a little 

 kerosene ; light this, and then pour 

 on a couple of table-spoonfuls of sul- 

 phur, meanwhile holdmg your breath, 

 or you will get a foretaste of purga- 

 tory not relishable. 



You should place a board or two 

 between the fire and the combs, to 

 prevent the first combs getting too 

 hot. Cover the box with boards, but 

 leave a little ventilation both at the 

 top and bottom or the sulphur will 

 soon choke out. If the sulphur burns 

 well, this will kill every moth-worm 

 in the cooabs, but mind that it does 

 not touch the eggs ; give them a week 

 to hatch, then fumigate again, and to 

 be sure you have them all, give the 

 combs a third dose. Those combs 

 containing pollen you will find in- 

 fested the worse. 



If you have no box, and cannot 

 spare the lumber or the money, use 

 the empty hives, placing one of those 

 lath division-boards between the out- 

 side comb and the can of sulphur. 

 After each fumigation close up every 

 crack and cranny tight, so that no 

 moth can get in to lay her eggs. Do 

 not say, ■'• I guess it is all right;" 

 know that it is. 



Keep the moth at bay till freezing 

 cold weather comes, and it will take 

 care of the combs most effectually if 

 left where they will freeze hard. But 

 look sharp for next spring, for moths 

 will winter through in other places, 

 and be on the watch for empty combs. 

 " Eternal vigilance is the price of " 

 combs. 



Now, see those old combs that have 

 been discarded, thrown into a pile 

 behind the shed ; that will never do, 

 that is like fencing out the old hog, 

 and leaving a hole for the pigs to get 

 into the garden. Just gather them 

 up (the combs, not the pigs), hunt 

 around the premises for all the little 

 scraps of comb that can be found, so 

 as to have all done in one job. 



THE MAKING OF WAX. 



If you have no wax-extractor, bor- 

 row the wife's boiler ; pour in a couple 

 ofpailfulsof water, and place on the 

 stove. Then put in the combs till the 

 boiler is full, and it will soon melt 

 down, so that you can put in more ; 

 keep punching and stirring it till you 

 are sure that it is all melted, theu 

 take it from the fire. 



Take a piece of fine wire-cloth or 

 mosquito- bar, and push it down on 

 the melted mass, letting the edges 

 hang over the boiler. Now you can 

 dip out the wax with a small dipper, 

 through the wire-cloth which strains 

 out the coarse dross, into a wet or 

 greased pan. Tou can get one or two 

 panfuls of clear wax, then use pans 

 of cold water, so as to cool the wax 



as soon as dipped off, and cause it to 

 float. You will need to move the 

 dipping spot all around the inside of 

 the boiler to get all of the wax. The 

 fine dross will gather on the bottom 

 of the cakes, and can be scraped off. 



If you want the cakes to cool with- 

 out cracking, place them in a rather 

 warm room, where there is little jar, 

 and cover the pans with a board. The 

 wax being made, now clean off the 

 boiler and the pans, or woe unto you 

 when the next wash-day comes. 

 There will be a little wax sticking to 

 the tin, and the best and surest way I 

 know (yes, I tried kerosene), is to 

 wash it off with a wet rag, sand, and 

 lots of elbow-grease. But those nice 

 cakes of wax will pay for all the 

 trouble, and if the good wife scolds 

 about a few spots of wax on her clean 

 floor, just give her one of the biggest 

 cakes for " pin-money." 



Oquawka,*© Ills. 



Essex Record. 



Ancient anfl Modern Honey, 



A. B. WEED. 



Honey is one of the oldest luxuries. 

 We find it mentioned as early as 1707 

 B. C, when we read in Genesis 43, 11, 

 that it is classed with the " best fruits 

 of the land." It always seems to have 

 been highly esteemed and regarded 

 as a luxury. In the Bible it is used 

 as a symbol of the agricultural wealth 

 of a country ; the expression, " a land 

 flowing with milk and honey," is used 

 to indicate an exceedingly desirable 

 country. The expression is well con- 

 sidered, as the amount of honey and 

 the variety of kinds gathered, is in- 

 dicative of the flora of a country. 

 Honey is gathered from all sources. 

 Nature's cornucopia is tributary to 

 the bee-hive. Honey is the pure nec- 

 tar of plants ; it is not altered in any 

 way by the bees, except that they 

 ripen it by evaporating the water 

 from it, as the maple-sugar maker 

 does the sap. 



Until modem times, honey seems to 

 have been regarded much as a special 

 gift of nature, and but slightly con- 

 sequent upon man's efforts to obtain 

 it, further than the robbing of the 

 bees. This is probably accounted for 

 by the fact that bees were commonly 

 regarded with fear, which amounted 

 in some people to terror ; and until 

 the invention of modern hives and 

 apiarian implements, there has been 

 no way of controlling bees or obtain- 

 ing their honey in a marketable state. 

 Now that bee-keeping has become 

 systematized, and has taken its place 

 among other active pursuits, one of 

 the first things that the honey-pro- 

 ducer finds necessary, is to prepare 

 his wares for the market in attractive 

 style. 



Honey, years ago, was obtainable 

 only in large, rough boxes containing 

 large amounts ; the price has also 

 been very high. Now that the de- 

 mands of the market are studied, we 

 find it offered in packages of conven- 

 ient size, and of such attractive ap- 

 pearance that it readily finds its way 

 to the table. Its present price puts it 



within the reach of all, and when its 

 healthf ulness is considered, it is seen 

 to be the cheapest sweet known. 



Honey should be kept in the dark, 

 and in a temperature not lower than 

 70° ; this is its condition in the hive. 

 If it is exposed to cold and light, it 

 will crystallize or candy. Many peo- 

 ple, seeing it in this state, and not 

 knowing the cause, believe that they 

 have discovered sugar in it; on the 

 contrary, this candying is trustworthy 

 evidence of purity. If it is warmed — 

 not heated— if resumes its original 

 appearance. 



If buyers insist on having an article 

 that is not affected by circumstances, 

 they will probably get it ; but it will 

 not be pure honey. Dealers who have 

 it for sale should understand its 

 peculiarities. Honey is one of the 

 purest sweets used, and when its 

 healthfulness is considered, one of 

 the cheapest. 



Detroit,o^ Mich. 



The Bees of Mexico. 



It is always interesting and profit- 

 able to the thoroughly earnest apicul- 

 tural student, to learn all that is 

 known about the various races of 

 bees, and especially concerning the 

 bees of the different parts of the par- 

 ticular continent upon which one 

 lives. Hence, we believe that the 

 following article from the British Bee 

 Journal, regarding the bees of our 

 sister republic, Mexico, will be read 

 with no little interest, and will con- 

 tribute somewhat to the ever-increas- 

 ing fund of knowledge already pos- 

 sessed about these wonderful little 

 insects— the treasurers of that sweet- 

 est of all sweets — pure honey. The 

 article is as follows : 



There is not so much known about 

 the different bees in the American 

 Continent as might be expected. In 

 these days, when there is a g^eat 

 tendency to obtain everything new 

 and novel, and when there is such a 

 great desire to introduce new races, 

 it cannot be unprofitable to glean 

 what information we cm of the 

 numerous varieties. 



By the Mexican bee many have 

 thought that there is only one va- 

 riety, " the stingless bee ;" but be- 

 sides this we are assured there are 

 many other kinds domesticated in 

 that country. We doubt but that 

 many of the species which are said 

 to be without stings do in fact pos- 

 sess that organ, though often a feeble 

 one, and are not readily provoked to 

 use it. Great attention is paid to the 

 Mexican bees by the natives, not so 

 much on account of their honey, 

 although remarkably rich and deli- 

 cate, as for the sale of the wax. In 

 Yucatan there are colonies of them 

 domesticated, consisting of five or six 

 hundred. 



Hernandez describes several kinds 

 of the insect in Mexico— one resemb- 



