1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



157 



beekeeper friends. The editor of the 

 "Rucher Beige," a publication of 25 

 years standing and one of the most 

 advanced in Europe, disappeared in 

 the abyss of the German invasion at 

 the very beginning of the war. His 

 home and the Association which his 

 magazine represented, the "Society 

 of Apiculture of the Basin of the 

 Meuse," were at the very spot of the 

 opening of hostilities, in the vicinity 

 of Liege, where the atrocities of the 

 invaders were most marked. 



Letters to them brought back no 

 replies, and we thought them dead. 

 Imagine our pleasure in receiving the 

 following a few days ago, from this 

 same editor, Mr. A. Wathelet : 



Prayon-Trooz, Jan. 2, 1919. 



Dear Mr. Dadant : We are at last 

 freed of the bandits. In April, 1915, 

 I received your excellent letter of 

 August, 1914. The sentiments which 

 you expressed in this letter gave us 

 the hope that the noble Republic of 

 the United States would do what she 

 actually did — save us from starvation 

 and deliver us, as well as the rest of 

 Europe, from the Huns. 



I cannot clearly express the grati- 

 tude which we feel towards the 

 United States for this. It is also im- 

 possible to describe our sufferings 

 during those 4 years. 



My family is in good health. Two 

 of my three sons served in the army 

 and are also safe, as well as my 

 nephews. We are now better nour- 

 ished, we have bread in sufficiency 

 and are no longer compelled to eat 

 turnips, beets and rutabagas. But 

 clothing, footwear, etc., are still at 

 unapproachable prices. Let us hope 

 that within a few months everything 

 will become normal. 



None of our bee magazines have 

 appeared during the war. Even now 

 print paper is scarce and out of 

 reach. We do not know when we 

 may again begin the publication of 

 the "Rucher Beige" (Belgian Apiary.) 



If you can spare me the missing 

 numbers of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, you will please me greatly, for I 

 have received none since August, 

 1914. 



You should be proud, dear Mr. Da- 

 dant, of your native country, as well 

 as of your adopted country. You can- 

 not have an adequate idea of the en- 

 thusiasm with which the Allies are 

 welcomed here, as they pass through 

 to occupy the country of our invad- 

 ers. 



Accept my best wishes for you and 

 all your people. 



A. WATHELET. 



Does the Jellow Jasmine 

 Poison Bees? 



On page 500 of the American Bee 

 Journal for November, 1879, Mr. J. H. 

 Brown, of Augusta, Ga., makes the 

 following report : 



"In some sections of the South, par- 



ticularly on light, sandy soils, there 

 may be found some Yellow Jasmine 



I gelseminum sempervirens I As its 



flowers possess very decided toxical 

 properties, it is not a very desirable 

 plant to have within the range of 

 bees. It blooms after the alder. 

 While our native black bees are very 

 seldom seen working upon it, the 

 Italians, in some seasons, will work 

 upon it quite briskly. I am inclined 

 to think, from close observation, that 

 it is mostly pollen they gather from 

 it, though in some seasons it does 

 yield some honey. 



"I have more particularly named 

 this plant because of its poisonous ef- 

 fects upon young Italian bees imme- 

 diately after taking their first meal. 

 For the past nine years I have ob- 

 served, commencing with the opening 

 of the Yellow Jasmine flowers, a very 

 fatal disease attacking the young 

 bees and continuing until the cessa- 

 tion of the bloom. The malady would 

 then cease as quickly as it came. The 

 symptoms of the poisoning are: the 

 abdomen becomes very much dis- 

 tended, and the bee acts as though 

 intoxicated. There is great loss of 

 muscular power. The bee, unless too 

 far gone, slowly crawls out of the 

 hive and very soon expires. When 

 examined, the abdomen seems to be 

 distended with a sort of serous look- 

 ing fluid. The deaths in twenty-four 

 hours, in strong stocks with much 

 hatching brood, may amount to one- 

 half pint, often much more. 



We are much interested in know- 

 ing whether the nectar gathered from 

 this plant is really the cause of this 

 disorder. We wrote to Mr. T. W. 

 Livingston, of Norman Park, Ga., 

 and asked his opinion. His reply 

 follows : 



"I have for many years noticed the 

 bee disease described, and was out 

 among the bees yesterday where 

 there was much Yellow Jasmine in 

 bloom. I saw a very few bees work- 

 ing on the bloom, more bumblebees 

 than honeybees, and saw several col- 

 onies affected slightly with the dis- 

 ease peculiar to this time of the year. 

 In some cases the bees do not swell 

 up and in others they do. Some have 

 a trembling motion, and others are 

 stupid and can scarcely move. I have 

 seen the same disease where there 

 was no Yellow Jasmine that I know 

 of, but much more of it where that 

 plant was plentiful. It may be caused 

 by it. I was told several years ago 

 by the Florida State Chemist, who 

 had analyzed a sample of honey that 



had poisoned some people, that the 

 honey contained pollen from the Yel- 

 low Jasmine, in which he found the 

 poison that had done the damage." 



We would be very glad if readers 

 living where this plant is common, 

 would write us whether they have 

 made similar observations. We are 

 anxious to secure some further infor- 

 mation regarding the possible poison- 

 ous properties of the Yellow Jasmine 

 to the bees. 



Texas to Experiment 



We are much pleased to announce 

 to our readers that the Texas Legis- 

 lature has made a liberal appropria- 

 tion for the establishment of experi- 

 mental apiaries, under the direction 

 of Prof. F. B. Paddock, State Ento- 

 mologist, of College Station. A 

 trained man will be placed in charge, 

 and extended work will be under- 

 taken looking toward the solving of 

 the special problems of beekeeping 

 in the Lone Star State. Beekeeping 

 is very highly specialized in Texas, 

 and we look for some most excellent 

 results to come from this experimen- 

 tal work. We would like to see ex- 

 perimental apiaries in charge of 

 capable men established in every 

 State where beekeeping is an import- 

 ant industry, and hope that the time 

 will not be long until such a result 

 is achieved. 



Honey Prices 



Just now, when the market prices 

 for all commodities are rapidly fall- 

 ing, it is well for the beekeeper to 

 bear in mind the importance of de- 

 veloping the home market to the 

 limit of its capacity. During recent 

 months, because of the restrictions 

 of the food administration on the 

 sugar supply, many new uses have 

 been found for honey, and many peo- 

 ple have become accustomed to its 

 use who have not previously been in 

 the habit of buying this particular 

 product. The removing of the re- 

 strictions of the food administration, 

 again places honey in direct competi- 

 tion with sugar and other sweet 

 products. It will be necessary for 

 beekeepers to resort to active meas- 

 ures to advertise honey, and stimu- 

 late its use in every possible way, if 

 good prices are to continue. 



If every beekeeper will cultivate 

 the home market to the limit of his 

 ability, prices will be stabilized. War 

 time prices cannot be expected to 

 continue, neither should prices drop 

 to the low levels of recent years. 



