244 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



of the year.' Let us reiterate thR,t remark. 

 Our experience shows that of all the mouths 

 iu the year when it is the leist beneficial 

 to advertise, April, May and -June, (the 

 best selling months,) are the least. We are 

 without doubt by far tlie larj^est advertisers 

 iu our line in the world, aud we find first, 

 that it pays best to advertise all tVie time, 

 and secondly, that the best results are ob- 

 tained by advertisitig from three to six 

 mouths before the class of goods advertised 

 will be iu demand. Coutrary to what uaight 

 be supposed, we are receiving at present 

 more iiKjuiries for catalogues aud ijrice lists 

 than for several weeks past. In fact, during 

 the present week we have received more in- 

 (juiries than in any week since March." 



Yellow Carniolans are Never Pure. 



In the C. H. ./. for Aug. IHth its editor has 

 tlie following to say concerning the so-called 

 '' yellow Carniolans: " 



" A lady bee keeper has just written ns 

 asking which wo prefer, dark or yellow Car- 

 niolans. We kuow of no {>ure Carniolan 

 bees which are yellow. Mr. Frank Benton, 

 who has been among the Carniolans, in their 

 home in Carniola, and examined them, 

 should be undoubted authority on that point. 

 He says there are no yellow Caruiolaus. We 

 liave bred them for years on our isolated 

 islands in the Georgian Bay, and there were 

 no traces of yellow, so long as they were 

 kei)t isolated, V)ut wheu bred in our own 

 apiary, or in the most isolated places we 

 could find on land, we were unable to breed 

 pure ones, aud traces of the yellow race 

 could fre(|uently be found, proving that they 

 were hybrids. While some of our Carniolans 

 give consideraVjJe promise, we do not think 

 that they in their purity, are equal in all 

 points to our best Italians, or the liest yellow 

 races, as tliere has been so much Cyprian 

 and Syrian blood scattered through our 

 country, also through Italy, the home of the 

 Italians, that we believe there are very few 

 pure Italians, altliough called pure Italians 

 from their general appearance. It is easily 

 seen how difficult it is to keep a race of bees 

 pure, when there are unquestionable cases 

 of mating between different races, for ten 

 or tifteen miles apart, but the crossing is no 

 detriment so far as honey-gathering and 

 dollars and cents are concerned. Hybrid 

 l)ees of the best strains give as good or better 

 results as the pure bees of any strain." 



Clarifying Small ftuantities of Wax With 

 Sulphuric Acid. 



J. A. Green, in Uh'animjH, tells how sul- 

 phuric acid may be used in clarifying oven 

 small quantities of wax. Here is what he 

 says: — 



'"I'he articles on this sul)ject, while very 

 valuable to those handling large (piantities 

 of wax, have been, as some one has com- 

 plained, of very little use to the average bee 

 keeptir, because they conveyed the idea that 

 exi)ensive apparatus, and esjiecially steam 

 under pressure, was necessary. Small quan- 



tities of wax can be clarified in this way 

 just as well as large ones, aud by the simplest 

 means, though of course with a little more 

 trouble and labor, proportionately. 



Take the ordinary earthenware milk-crock 

 or stew-pan, such as are found in most 

 households. Put into this about a quart of 

 water, and add a dram or two of sulphuric 

 acid. Put in wax enough to fill within an 

 \w\\ or two of the top, and bring to a boil. 

 Care must be taken not to heat the crocks 

 too rapidly, or to have the stove too hot 

 where they are. You will save time by heat- 

 ing the water, crocks, and wax, separately, 

 but great care is necessary in uniting sul- 

 phuric acid aud water. The union of sul- 

 phuric acid and water, even cold water — 

 generates a large amount of heat: and if the 

 water is already hot there may be an explo- 

 sion, which might be dangerous. Let it boil 

 gently for fifteen or twenty minutes, stirring 

 it well meanwhile. Watch it very carefully, 

 that it does not boil over. Kee]) a dipperfnl 

 of cold water in oi e liand, while you stir 

 with the other, and add a little whenever 

 there is any sign of boiling over. Let it cool 

 in the crocks; or, the top may be carefully 

 dipped or poured off into moulds. You will 

 be surprised to see what nice yellow wax you 

 can make from the blackest and dirtiest 

 scrapings. With crocks enough, a great 

 deal of wax may be clarified in this simple 

 way without much labor, though if you have 

 much to refine you will want something less 

 fussy and more expeditious. 



Packages for Shipping Extracted Horn y. 



I have used barrels, half barrels, kegs, and 

 the (iO-lb. square, jacketed tin cans for ship- 

 ping extracted honey, and it has always been 

 a puzzle to me how (iiiyhndy could prefer 

 anything except the last mentioned. GU'ayi- 

 iiiijs for Sei)t. 1 has the following upon the 

 subject, and it is reproduced with pleasure: 



" From our experience, we say emphati- 

 cally, (10-lb. S(iuare cans, not kegs or barrels. 

 Several years ago, when the square cans 

 were first brought i)rominently before bee 

 keepers as a convenient package in which to 

 ship extracted lioney, we were continually 

 having trouble by the barrels and kegs 

 springing a leak; and before we knew it the 

 bees would find it out and be set to robbing. 

 We had so much of this that we well nigh 

 made up our minds that we would not buy 

 honey in kegs or barrels at all, or, if we did, 

 we would transfer it into cans as soon as it 

 arrived. About a year ago. inquiries were 

 sent to the commission men to find out what 

 kind of packages they preferred for honey, 

 both comb aud extracted. Sonu^ few favored 

 the cans; but the majority said that, while 

 tliey preferred cans for California honey (be- 

 cause they could not get it in any other way) 

 they would rather have extracted honey, so 

 far as possible, in kegs and barrels. From 

 tiiese reports we concluded that, maybe, we 

 were prejudiced, and have gone so far as to 

 offer honey-kegs for sale. This year we 

 have .eceived five or six lots of honey in 



