D4 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
A simple remedy to prevent the king from leav- 
ing his admiring subjects is to clip his wings. 
It not unfrequently happens, however, that 
when the swarm issues there are two rival kings, 
each followed by his respective partisans. In 
such case a tremendous commotion ensues, and 
each side prepares for battle : the pigmy war- 
riors brandish their wings, and whet their stings 
upon their beaks. Suddenly they charge, and, 
locked in deadly embrace, they fall down head- 
long, thick as hail or acorns from a shaken 
oak. A little dust throw n into the air will put 
an end to the combat, and then the wary master 
will select the best of the rival kings and kill the 
other. He will have no difficulty in discerning 
which to choose, for one has a b ight burnished 
appearance, the other lias a bloat,* d form, 
hideous to behold. 
The subject bees too differ in appearance. 
The best kind for making honey have a brig’ t 
golden sheen, and are equally spotted. The 
other kind are unpleasant and rough-looking, 
like thirsty tramps who have been trudging 
along a dui-ty road on a hot summer day. 
Directly the swarm is fairly established work 
is commenced in earnest* for the common weal. 
Some bees are told off’ to gather honey in the 
fields, others are appointed to guard the hive, 
observe the weather, and receive the burdens 
from the comers-in. Some look after the rising 
generation, and a band is enrolled to expel the 
drones. The work goes briskly on till night, 
when the hive is hushed in repose. Next 
morning all is life and energy again ; the stores 
are redolent with thyme, Honey may be taken 
twice during the year in early summer and 
autumn. The bees work all the harder where 
the honey is taken. Th se should be well 
smoked in order to quiet them when these hives 
are opened, for on such occasions they are very 
ready with their stings. Superfluous wax should 
be cut out of the hives before winter comes, as it 
would harbour drones, the wax-moth, and other 
vermin ; the hives should also be well fumigated. 
Unfortunately bees, like human beings, are 
subject to sickness and famine, and when these 
fall on the hive, the bees change color, become 
emaciated, hang about the mouth of the hive, 
and, faint with cold and hunger, bring out their 
dead ; an ominous 1mm is heard inside, and then 
it is full time for the owner to fumigate with 
the gum-resin, called galbanum, and introduce 
food in the shape of honey through reed pipes. 
It is not a bad plan to add a pinch of pounded 
galls. Dried rose-leaves, boiled wine, raisins, 
thyme, and strong-smelling centaury, are all 
good additions to the honey. Another capital 
plan for feeding the bees is to procure a basket- 
full of Astei - Amelins root, boil them in good 
fruity wine, and then place them in front of the 
hives. 
Bees, as a rule, are produced by spontaneous 
generation, people will be pleased to hear, but 
not invariably, as an old Cilieian, a thrifty ac- 
quaintance, has bees which appear to produce 
their kind in the usual manner. 
A shepherd, one Aristeus, had the honour of 
first illustrating the spontaneous theory. His 
stock of bees having perished by famine ami 
disease, caused him to complain to his mother, 
who was a kind of water fairy or mermaid. 
She introduced him to a cunning man. a sort of 
magician, passing by the name of Old Proteus ; 
but he had many disguises ; and this person in 
a very prolix fashion, and then only under com- 
pulsion, pointed out to the shepherd— who. by. 
the-bye, showed far greater energy during the 
interview than lie showed in the management of 
his hives — how he could produce a new stock 
from the dead bodies of cattle. — -L. -British 
Bee Jiiii mill. 
CANDIED HONEY. 
If the honey turns to candy, it is a true sign 
that it is not adulterated. Watered honey will 
not candy. If a hollow is made in a lot of candied 
honey, the liquid portion will continue to drain 
out, until a hard mass remains on the outside 
core, which can ultimately be handled like sugar 
candy. 
BEE FLOWERS. 
All kinds of fruit trees, the sycamore, lime, 
berberis, lilac, raspberry, honeysuckle, beans, 
clovers, turnips, mustard, lucerne, mignonette, 
borage, mellilotus, cornflowers, sunflowers, buck- 
wheat. Limnanthes, Ambrosia Mexicana* Phlox, 
Whitlavia, Calliopsis, and a hundred sorts of 
annuals, all culinary herbs, lupins, tares, most of 
the culinary vegetables are valuable plants for 
beekeepers. 
SPURIOUS HONEY. 
American Bee Journals have persistently con- 
tended no adulteration of of honey is carried on 
among them. We in Australia know better. It 
is probable our cousins are too sharp to put it on 
the American market, and so send it to the gentle 
confiding Australians ! We see now, however, 
from some of the American papers that efforts 
are being made to obtain federal legislation after 
the patera of the Butterine law to prevent 
adulteration by levying a prohibitive tax on 
Spurious honey ! There are some philanthropists 
amongst us who have imported this honest and 
thriving enterprize into Australia, as the Americans 
are not sufficiently enlightened to prefer that 
superior article corn syrup and gum to pure 
honey. 
REMEDIES AND PALLIATIONS FOR 
STING. 
A correspondent to the British Bee fourual 
of Dec 20 recommends a teaspoonful of powdered 
alum and a teaspoonful of powdered ammonia 
put into a 4-oz. of a pint) bottle and filled with 
warm water, loosely corking only to allow the 
first evolution of the gas to escape. Applying 
some of this fluid immediately after being stung 
will it is stated relieve the pain and swelling atonce. 
Another writer advises a drop of diluted phenyl 
(that is a mixture of one part of pure carbolic 
acid and 5 parts water) to be placed on the parts 
stung and then rub it gently into the skin with a 
piece of alum. 
