• AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



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one. This being the case, we believe 

 young queens can be easily introduced in 

 some sly, unnoticeable way without much 

 trouble. If shfe enters the hive thus and 

 is allowed her freedom, she is very much 

 the same as a queen Just hatclied in the 

 hive, strong and vigorous. — Canadian 

 Bee Journal. 



Bee-Culture in Eg-ypt. 



The Egyptians exhibit great skill in 

 their manner of cultivating the bee. 

 The ilowers and the harvest are much 

 earlier in upper Egypt than in lower, 

 and the inhabitants profit by this cir- 

 cumstance in regard to their bees. They 

 collect the hives of different villages on 

 large barks, and every proprietor 

 attaches a peculiar mark to his hive ; 

 when the boat is loaded, the conductors 

 descend the river slowly, stopping at all 

 places where they can find pasturage for 

 their bees. 



After having thus spent three months 

 on the Nile, the hives are returned to 

 the proprietor, and after deducting a 

 small sum due to the boatman for having 

 conducted his hives from one end of Egypt 

 to the other, he finds himself suddenly 

 enriched with a quantity of honey and 

 wax, which is immediately sent to the 

 market. This species of industry pro- 

 cures for the Egyptians an abundance 

 of wax and honey, which they export in 

 large quantities to foreign countries. — 

 Exchange. 



Immense Labor Performed by Bees. 



Nectar is the term applied by botanists 

 to the sweet tasting fluid which is 

 secreted within the cups of flowers, and 

 the object gained to plants by its pres- 

 ence is that insects, induced to visit 

 flowers for its sake, are useful to the 

 plants by effecting a cross fertilization, 

 an additional amount of vigor being thus 

 conferred on the seeds which subse- 

 quently result, in contrast with the evil 

 results of "breeding in and in." 



The formation of nectar is observed to 

 take place most freely in hot weather, 

 and to be prevented by cold or wet. So 

 great economy is exercised by the plant 

 that it is only formed at the time when 

 insect's visits would be beneficial, that is 

 when the anthers are ripe and shedding 

 their pollen, or when the stigma is 

 mature and ready to receive pollen. By 

 biologists the visits of bees, butterflies 

 and other insects are believed to have 

 exercised, in past time, an important 

 influence in modifying the shape, size, 

 color, etc., of flowers, 



Nectar is, of course, the source whence 

 bees derive honey, but it also affords 

 food to many kinds of insects which do 

 not possess the same habit as the former 

 of storing it up. 



Prof. Alexanders. Wilson, of Glasgow, 

 has recently investigated the amounts of 

 sugar contained in the nectar of various 

 flowers, and laid the result of his labors 

 before the British Associations. He 

 shows that 2>2 pounds of honey are 

 equivalent to the supply obtained from 

 five millions of flowers, or about two and 

 a half millions of visits for one pound of 

 honey. 



This shows what an amazing amount 

 of labor the bees must perform, for their 

 industry would thus appear to be indis- 

 pensable to their very existence. — Mich- 

 igan Farmer. . 



Comb-Foundation. 



The use of comb-foundation is a sub- 

 ject of importance. Its value in the 

 heat of the busy season can hardly be 

 estimated. It is enough tp say, however, 

 that it requires twelve pounds of honey 

 to make one of comb, which at 15 cents 

 a pound is worth $1.80, besides the time 

 required to make the comb ; on the other 

 hand a pound of brood-foundation costs 

 45 cents, a saving of $1.35 on the 

 pound ; besides you have it just where 

 you want it, straight and true, no extra 

 drone-comb, etc. Therefore, I can, with 

 a hearty conscience, say, you make no 

 mistake in using it, even in full sheets. 

 It may seem a little expensive, but when 

 you come to figuring it you will be sur- 

 prised. One pound of medium brood- 

 foundation will furnish full sheets for 

 six Langstroth brood-frames, or about 

 7 cents per frame, or 50 cents to fill the 

 brood-chamber of a dove-tailed hive. 

 Now, instead of using full sheets of 

 foundation I cut the sheets bias — that is, 

 cut them diagonally across from one cor- 

 ner to the one opposite. This makes a 

 wedge-shaped piece of comb and serves 

 the purpose about as well as the full 

 ones. In hiving a swarm on empty 

 frames, you will notice the bees begin at 

 one end of the frame and build down to 

 the bottom and then bias shape to the 

 upper corner, hence, I am inclined to 

 believe that cutting the foundation in 

 the shape above described is just the 

 thing. — H. F. Petts, in Farm, Field and 

 StocUman. 



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