304 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



paralysis theory given last month, a failure 

 to explain why one colony should have it 

 and another not when sitting beside one 

 another. It is just possible that the indi- 

 viduality of colonies may be more marked 

 than we suppose. Two years ago at a ses- 

 sion of the Colorado convention a member 

 reported that two colonies on scales in the 

 same locality repeatedly failed to agree 

 with each other in indicating the progress 

 of the daily How. Another member said he 

 had had the same experience. For exam- 

 ple, A might show a gain of 12 lbs. and B 

 of 7 lbs. on one day, while on the next day 

 A would gain 7 lbs. and B 12. The explana- 

 tion given at that time was that, each colony 

 may have had favorite spots for forage, to 

 which it resorted day after day. This to- 

 gether with the differences of flow from 

 such spots, arising from differences of soil, 

 time of cutting, previous irrigation, etc., 

 would explain the difference of results. In 

 like manner the yield of pollen and the 

 dewfall in spring may vary in different 

 parts of the same locality. Moreover, 

 several colonies which were weak last spring 

 when the dwindling commenced, were the 

 strongest when it was over, apparently in- 

 dicating that they were healthier because 

 they did not get so much fresh forage. 



Pastor Schoenfeld says not more than 2 

 lbs. of feed composed of sugar should be 

 given at one time. He proves that the true 

 stomach of the bee performs only the last 

 process of digestion, thus corresponding to 

 the chyle intestines of higher animals, and 

 infers that none but predigested food can 

 enter it without harm to the bee. This pre- 

 vious digestion is or should be accomplished 

 by the glands of the head and the honey- 

 stomach before the honey or syrup is sealed. 

 A queen would have to lay not quite three 

 eggs a minnute, day and night, in order to 

 lay 3900 eggs a day as stated by Dr. Dubini 

 and Chas. Dadant. This impresses Pastor 

 Fleischmann as being very exhausting work, 

 who bases his ideas of the endurance of a 

 queen on the rate at which queens are 

 usually observed to lay, which, he says, is 

 not like that of an English race-horse, but 

 leisurely. According to Dadant's Langs- 

 troth, however, queens have repeatedly betn 

 observed to lay at the rate of six eggs a 

 minnute. 



A. Lading recommends brushing sheets of 

 foundation with honey when the bees are 

 not inclinded to work on them at once. 



MuENOHEK BiENENZEiTUNG.— Parchment 

 paper, of the cheap yellow sort, has been 

 found by N. Ludwig to be the best material 

 for tieiug over the mouths of fruit-cans 

 etc. when used as feeders by inverting over 

 the bees. The paper should be previously 

 moistened so as to fit tightly. The flow 

 admits of being regulated by punching holes 

 of various sizes, according to the density of 

 the liquid. It is better to make a number 

 of small holes than a few large ones. 



In certain districts of Hungary agates are 

 soaked for several weeks in honey and 

 water. The honey absorbed is then car- 

 bonized by sulphuric acid, causing hand- 

 some streaks of black and brown to appear. 

 L'Apiculteuk.— From careful observa- 

 tions of a thermometer placed in a hive in 

 winter, Abb'e Voirnot concludes that the 

 cluster always increases in warmth, the 

 colder the outside temperature is. In get- 

 ting the temperature of the cluster, its cen- 

 ter should be found by moving the thermom- 

 eter up and down and takiug its highest 

 temperature. 



A colony in an observatory hive changed 

 its position on receiving a shock, but a 

 string of bees which had been unable to 

 keep up with the cluster perished with cold. 

 In contracting swarms to five frames for 

 the purpose of getting combs built to the 

 bottom, Abb'e Pincot has for the last two 

 years dispensed with the division-hoard. 

 ( He does not say how he got along without 

 using a dummy. ) A few hours after the 

 swarm is hived he drives the bees with 

 smoke to the side where the frames are, 

 and outside of them places a frame with a 

 full sheet of foundation. This has t!;e effect 

 of a division-board. 



He asserts that every case of fighting 

 . may be checked by giving the bees such a 

 violent smoking that they are obliged to go 

 outside. They quickly return, but by that 

 time the scent of all isalike, from the smoke. 

 "Bee-lover" states that a pulled queen 

 will not be accepted if the bees already have 

 queen cells. 



There seems to be some uncertainty as to 

 what the " cedro " ( citrus medica ) really is, 

 which Dr. Metelli recommended for hiv- 

 ing swarms. "Bee lover" calls it the 

 lemon-tree, but Alois Alsonsus. in the 

 Bienen-Vater, says it is to be distinguished 

 from the lemon-tree. Will some botainst 

 tell us what a cirus meclsca is ? 



