240 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



thing was a comb of brood better pro- 

 tected with bees than any other part of 

 the hive. The result was, that although 

 robbers still hovered around, yet not one 

 colony when fixed in this way, has 

 allowed a robber to obtain a load of 

 honey, if there was sufficient bees to be 

 called a colony or nucleus. Ever since 

 this I have made the entrance to all 

 weak colonies at one side of the hive, 

 and keep the brood next the entrance, as 

 previously spoken of, and to have a 

 colony robbed, unless in early Spring, 

 when there were so few bees and little 

 brood that the bees made no effort at 

 protecting the combs, has become a thing 

 of the past. 



Of course, if we persist in working 

 with the bees without a tent when there 

 is no honey in the field, and allow rob- 

 bers to fill themselves with honey from 

 the open hive, the bees may become so 

 demoralized that all precautions will 

 fail; but no one worthy of the name of 

 apiarist will do such a thing. The would- 

 be-robbers are unpleasant now, but I am 

 master of the situation. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Preseryins Quality in Lipeflefl Honey, 



PETER BOIS. 



Under the ordinary plan of liquefying 

 honey the product is sticky, somewhat 

 like molasses, having thickened in melt- 

 ing. But more than this, it has lost part 

 of that fragrant aroma and exquisite 

 taste which it before possessed. 



These important qualities can all be 

 retained, almost, if not altogether, by a 

 simple process ; its extreme simplicity is, 

 no doubt, one of the causes why it is not 

 found out and used by those who have to 

 re-liquefy honey. It consists in covering 

 the honey about to be subject to water 

 heat with half an inch of cold water. 

 The crust and the whole of the acid 

 portion, if any, on top of the granulated 

 honey, should be removed previous to 

 placing the cold water on. After melting 

 there appears about the same quantity 

 of water on top of the honey as when 

 placed on at first. 



When the honey is thoroughly melted, 

 and has been allowed to cool down to a 

 lukewarm condition, the water covering 

 should be poured off by partly inverting 

 the vessel. 



It may be useful to state that the 

 simple covering of water has no effect 

 whatever on granulated honey that has 

 already been melted without it. 



Honey that was originally clear, and 

 has become thick and cloudy by being 

 melted without the covering of water, 

 will not alter, if melted a second time 

 with it. 



Out of the several lots remelted for 

 bottling I occasionally forgot to place 

 the cold water covering on some, and as 

 a result they were unfit for placing in 

 the glass jars, for the reason previously 

 stated. I therefore warmed them over 

 again, previously adding the covering of 

 water, but without effect. It was then 

 that I seized the great importance of 

 placing the cold water on the granulated 

 honey previous to melting. — British Bee 

 Journal. 



Epiloliinm, or Fire-feed, 



JAMES HEDDOX. 



I note what Prof. Cook says regarding 

 epilobium, on page 171, but I cannot 

 see why it should ever be called "fire- 

 weed." I suppose the reason for naming 

 it fire- weed was because it grows almost 

 exclusively on ground that had burned 

 over the previous year. This is not at 

 all the case with the epilobium, surely, 

 for I find it plentiful all over Northern 

 Michigan — up on the hills and down in 

 the marshes and cedar swamps, where 

 there is no evidence of fire ever having 

 preceded it. 



Gray's Botany tells us that this plant 

 will not be found south of 43' to 44' 

 north latitude, and so I have ever found 

 it to be in this State until this year. A 

 few weeks ago, as I was riding along the 

 road a few miles northwest of this place, 

 I was simply amazed to behold a group 

 of these plants, all in bloom, a few rods 

 from the road. 



I called a halt, and picked one speci- 

 men, and, sure enough, it was the simon 

 pure epilobium, and no mistake. A feW 

 days later I found another and much 

 larger patch of this valuable honey-plant, 

 about six miles northeast of our city. 



Now, from whence did they come? 

 Why did this plant lately prove false to 

 Gray, and its old-time habits ? 



Do not forget that I am annually 

 familiar with all the honey-plants, for 

 miles in all directions, and, further, that 

 having been so much interested in the 

 epilobium, I would, and did surely dis- 

 cDverits advent here. Perhaps not the 

 first season of its existence in our county, 

 but surely before it had been with us 

 long. 



I always think of the immortal Darwin, 

 who said: "The more bees, the more 



