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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 9, ltfl. 
< j — 
for illuminating purposes. The peasants produce wax 
so cheaply that, notwithstanding the consumption of this 
article has greatly diminished abroad, it still continues 
to form an important item of the commerce of the 
country; hut the exportation of honey has considerably 
increased in consequence of the extended use of potato- 
syrup, which has also injured the honey trade in the 
interior. The rearing of bees is now almost exclusively 
dependent on the manufacture of candles for religious 
ceremonies, and on the consumption of honey during 
Lent, it being then used instead of sugar by the strict 
observers of the fasts. 
The Government encourages this branch of rural in¬ 
dustry, as affording to the peasant an extra, source of 
income, and has adopted various measures for the accom¬ 
plishment of this end. With the view of diffusing the 
requisite knowledge among the people of the public 
domains, bee-hives, and a course of practical instruction 
upon the subject of bee culture, have been established 
at several of the Crown farms, and pupils are sent every 
year, at the expense of the government, to the special 
school in Tschernigow, founded for the purpose in 1828. 
After having finished their studies, the pupils quitting 
this establishment may become teachers in the schools 
dependent on the Ministry of Domains, or carry on the 
business of teaching on their own account. They enjoy 
a temporary exemption from military service, and such 
of them as wish to establish hives for themselves obtain 
loans for the purpose from the Department of Rural 
Economy. By way of further encouragement, the Mi¬ 
nistry of Domains has granted permission to the peasants 
to establish hives in the Crown forests, under the pre¬ 
cautions necessary to prevent the occurrence of confla¬ 
grations. 
The total production of wax in Russia was estimated, 
ten or twelve years ago, at 5,412,000 pounds per annum; 
and, as the usual calculation is three pounds of honey to 
one of wax, this supposes a production of 16,230,000 
pounds of honey, the whole being valued at £450,000. 
The Cossacks keep large stocks of bees; the number of 
apiaries is upwards of 1500, containing more than 31,000 
hives, and producing annually about 300,000 pounds 
weight of honey and wax. 
_ A large quantity of honey is obtained in various pro¬ 
vinces. of Italy, such as Valtelina, Lombardy and Yol- 
terra, in. Tuscany, in Sicily and in Sardinia, where it has 
an exquisite flavour, for which it enjoys a high reputa¬ 
tion. This production amounts to about 3,750,000 
pounds.. The bitter honey is a peculiar kind, which is 
found in Sardinia. It has no unpleasant property. It 
appears to derive its character from the heaths, which in 
certain localities seem to support exclusively the bees. 
.The sweet and aromatic nature of the plants of Greece 
gives to the honey produced there peculiar qualities, 
which have been celebrated by her poets. The honey of 
Hymettus has always been the most distinguished, ac¬ 
cording to the testimony of Theophrastus and Diosco- 
rides, who say “ The best honey is that of Attica, and 
of that the most excellent is from Hymettus, and the 
honey of Xanysto, which is called rose honey ; the latter 
kind is produced only at Xanysto, and it takes its odour 
from the wild rose, which furnishes the food of the bees.” 
But this sort of honey is not produced every year, as it 
is influenced by the growth of the wild rose, and is hence 
called rhodomele. Honey is gathered at two different 
seasons, viz. May and June, and August; the first pro¬ 
duced is the best. Some years ago the annual quantity 
exported from the ports of the Pirmus, Gythion, Cala- 
mas, and Chalcidia, exceeded 300,000 pounds weight. 
In the five years ending 1864 the average quantity of 
honey produced in the island of Porto Rico was 4,000,000 
gallons a year. 
The honey of Spain is abundant and of excellent qua¬ 
lity. The variety of aromatic plants of the family of 
Zahacece (thyme) furnishes abundant food to the bees. 
The honey called azalar, because it is furnished by the 
bees who take the pollen and the sweet sap of the nec¬ 
tars of the orange blossoms, is renowned in Seville and 
Cordova. The price of the honey of the latter locality 
is, however, more than double that of the former. The 
honey of Huelva, obtained in the village of Hinoiosa, is 
the principal product of the district. 
About ten years ago an extensive traffic was carried 
on in the transit of quantities of hives of bees from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific States of America. Many hun¬ 
dreds of hives were brought down by the Hudson River 
railroad to New York, and shipped there by steamer and 
rail to Panama, and then sent on to California, where 
they were sold to great pecuniary advantage within a 
few days. For some reason, apparently not very well 
understood, the bees do not thrive in California with¬ 
out artificial aid, although the country seems to afford 
abundant means of sustenance. One lot of hives which 
cost 14 dollars each were sold for 75 dollars each hive. 
Another venture resulted still more successfully. The 
bees were transported in the hives they had filled. One 
side of each hive had a wire gauze, which admitted air 
freely; and, on board the cars and steamers, they were 
stored so as to secure good ventilation. This trade was 
carried on for several years. Some information concern¬ 
ing the honey trade in the United States has recently 
been printod in this Journal.* 
It has been estimated that the pasture of Scotland 
could maintain as many bees as would, on an average, 
produce 80,000,000 quarts of honey, and 1,000,000 
pounds of wax. Were this quantity tripled for England 
and Ireland, the produce of the kingdom would be 
240,000,000 quarts of honey, and 3,000,000 pounds of 
wax annually. The income that would thus arise from 
honey, at the very moderate price of 2s. 6 d. per quart, 
would amount to £3,000,000 sterling, and the wax, at 
Is. 6d. per pound, would produce £225,000 sterling. 
Endeavours should always be made to have beds of 
the earliest spring flowers cared for by bees near the 
hives. Winter aconite (. Eranthis kyemalis ) is their ear¬ 
liest friend, and, growing only about four inches high, 
does well below and about the hives. Then comes their 
dearly loved crocus, single Hepatica , coltsfoot ( Tmsilago 
Petasites ), the invaluable palm-willow, and then turnip 
and cabbage flowers. Buckwheat is advised by some 
bee authors ; but I have not found they cared much for 
it. Mignonette should be grown largely for them, but 
their chief food in summer consists of white clover and 
common heather or “ling” (Cattuna vulgaris)', and in 
most places in Scotland one or both these flowers are so 
plentiful till the middle of September, that garden flowers, 
except in early spring, are of little importance. Those 
who will calculate the time lost by a bee flying many 
times a day, sometimes miles, to a heather moor and 
back again to its hive with his drop of honey, and will 
multiply that time by the crowd of workers sent out 
daily, will easily understand the immense importance ot 
having their hives shifted to a heather moor in August, 
if at all possible—the great bulk of honey made in Scot¬ 
land being derived from heather. This is so well under¬ 
stood in some parts, that I have seen several hundred 
hives sent in August to shepherds’ houses in a moor, 
nearly all of which had come from the low country, 
many from twenty miles’ distance. I have known such 
hives going to the moor nine pounds weight, and return¬ 
ing, five weeks afterwards, weighing sixty pounds; and 
unless the season is very wet, all do well when planted 
among the heather bloom. In fact, one bee thus situated 
does as much work as a dozen who have to fly many 
miles for their drop of honey. In Belgium I have seen 
spring-carts fitted nicely with shelves for hives, and 
crowded with them on their way to the heather moors of 
the Ardennes.— Journal of Applied Science. 
* SeePnAKii. Journ. 3rd series, Yol. I. p. 806. 
