For the American Bee Journal.
Remarkable Tardiness in Fecundity.
G. W. DEMAREE.
One of my Cyprian queens has upset an established doctrine in bee-science, set at naught all the bee-books, and reversed the old adage which says: “hope long deferred maketh the heart sick.” In the latter part of last season I reared some Cyprian queens from eggs and larvæ, obtained from Mr. Root; they were 7 in number, and were hatched on the 6th, 7th, and 8th days of Sept. The weather being warm and fair they were all fertilized (except one, which never returned from her bridal tour) by the 12th of the month, and a few days later they were all laying except one; that being the finest, brightest-looking queen of the lot, stubbornly refused to commence the duties of a good queen. She was in a strong nucleus which was fed regularly and bountifully, till the hive looked as though the occupants were enjoying a bountiful white clover harvest, but “nary an egg would she lay.”
She was provided with a clean empty comb, placed in the center of the colony, and the feeding kept up till winter set in, but no brood appeared. The hive was not opened from the time it was prepared for winter (say Nov. 15) till the middle of Dec., at which time there was not a sign of brood. Then came the long siege of snow and bitter winds which lasted till the 30th of Jan.; on that date our bees enjoyed a good, cleansing flight, and I remembered my non-laying queen and proceeded to look her combs over, and to my surprise, on one of the center combs I found a little patch of brood about half as large as a postal card, some of which was sealed over. It was genuine worker brood, and no mistake. Since which time she has been laying nicely, and now has a nice lot of brood for the time of year.
My bees, 30 colonies with selected queens, have come safely through the winter to the 1st of March, and there is really but little danger of losing bees in this climate after the 1st of this month, unless they are short of stores and shamefully neglected. The bee-man is aware, above all others, that there is “many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip,” however closely he may watch his business. On the 30th of Jan. last, when my bees were flying lively, I noticed that one large colony with a tested Cyprian queen, were not stirring like the others. I proceeded to open the hive and found the bees so nearly starved that they could only show signs of life by a feeble motion of their wings, which produced no sound whatever. Not a bee seemed able to change its position; the fore-runner of death was already present in the form of a cold, damp atmosphere in the brood chamber. I prepared some rich sweetened water, separated the frames gently, and sprinkled the bees thoroughly with the sweetened water, and poured some of it into the empty cells. The frames were then readjusted and a dry woolen quilt spread over the bees and the sun permitted to shine into the hive. In about an hour I raised the quilt and the inmates of the hive were stirring briskly, handing around the good cheer, while some of them showed fight in a most patriotic style. They were provided with stores, and are now a No. 1 colony. So much for bee-science.
What a lesson this teaches! Here was a large colony of bees perishing with famine, as one single individual; so unselfishly had they divided their family stores amongst themselves that when relief did come, though not till their dire extremity, there was no practical loss of life. Before I close I cannot resist the temptation to tell how my bees have been carrying in meal, and prancing gaily on the alighting boards with their white pellets exposed to the best advantage.
Christiansburg, Ky.
For the American Bee Journal.
Honey-Producing in California.
W. A. PRYAL.
No doubt but by this time many of the Eastern bee-keepers are looking to this far-off “land of milk and honey,” as of late years it has been called. Perhaps the reason is partly because here abundant warm rains have fallen all over the State, and the world-renowned honey region has received its complement of the down-pour; in fact, the inhabitants hardly ever saw so much rain visit that section at the right time.
There are now signs, however, that indicate the sun will shine with its usual brightness; that those delightful spring days, which are so peculiar to this fair land, are about to favor us. Let this be the case and the bees will soon be flying out by thousands, and the willow blossoms will each and all receive a welcome visit from those industrious insects. Their journeyings will not be confined to the banks of the creeks where the willows grow, but the woodland, where the Australian blue-gum (Eucalyptus globulus) has been planted by the hand of man, and which holds out its bounteous chalice for the busy bee to come and sip of nectar deep and sweet.
While the loss in bees will in all probability be great in the States east of the Rocky Mountains, here the loss, if any, will not be quite as bad as it has been other years. Thus it will be seen that our eastern brethren will have to commence the season with greatly reduced forces, while the apiarists in this State will commence operations with more colonies, and, consequently, with more bees. Last season was a good one, and the bees went into winter quarters with abundant stores, which have carried them through the mild winter safely. The bee flora having had ample rains to insure a most thrifty growth, will bloom for a longer period than it has heretofore, and, of course, will insure an enormous yield of honey.
On account of the long continuance of the rain, but few flowers have commenced to bloom. Still the plants are growing, and when they do commence, they will be able to do so in a vigorous manner. A few of those now blooming are the willows in variety, Eucalyptus globulus, and it is unusually covered with flowers; wild currant, a pretty fair honey plant, but scarce; wild gooseberry; wild blackberry, just beginning; raspberry, ditto; almond; pear and peach; mignonette; horehound, and a few others. All of which give the bees more than they can do to gather the nectar and pollen.
North Temescal, Cal., Feb. 17, 1881.
For the American Bee Journal.
A. W. FISK.
The present may be called “trying times” to bee-keepers of America. Poor honey seasons, hard winters, and the nefarious warfare against the honey producers of this country in the vile adulteration of honey, is indeed trying, discouraging and diabolical. It appears, by the papers, that these glucose scoundrels are not satisfied with adulterating extracted honey, but according to this article that I clip from one of our papers, The Bushnell Record, they are manufacturing comb honey. It reads as follows:
Many singular discoveries have been made among manufacturers by the census enumerators in the course of their investigations. For instance, it has long been known that dealers are in the habit of adulterating honey with glucose on the plea of thus improving its keeping qualities. In Boston, however, there is a firm doing a large business in making honey entirely from glucose much in the same way as manufacturers elsewhere make butter from suine and oleo-margarine. The comb is molded out of paraffine in excellent imitation of the work of bees; then the cells are filled with clear glucose and sealed by passing a hot iron over them, and the product is sent to Europe as our best honey. The busiest Italian bees couldn't compete with this firm in turning out honey, any more than could a Eurotas-like Jersey breed compete in butter-making with our deft manipulators of lard and tallow.
Now, brother bee-men, I believe the time has arrived when this honey counterfeiting should be stopped; I therefore suggest that the bee-men of this country come up in solid phalanx “to the front,” and with Pres. N. P. Allen and the bee-paper editors as leaders, let us agitate the question, educate the people, stir up the press, wake up the country, and vote or petition to Congress until we secure the passage of a law by Congress against the adulteration of honey, sugar, syrup, or food of any kind. Many of the leading journals of our land are battling for the right in this matter. The Burlington (Iowa) Hawkeye last week expressed itself as follows:
It is time that stringent legislative enactments are passed, making the adulteration of so many articles of food a criminal offense, punishable by severe penalties. If these things must be done to gratify the inordinate greed of some men, let it be made obligatory on them that the packages containing spurious products so proclaim them, under penalty of confiscation when detected, and the fraud further punishable by heavy penalty. No man has any right to sell a compound of honey and glucose as pure honey, nor has he any right, either moral or legal, to place a compound of butter and lard, still further “doctored” with drugs, upon the market as pure butter. If adulterations of food are allowed to go on in this way, unrebuked, there is not an article of food known that will not be counterfeited, and oftentimes with substances very hurtful in character.
I am thankful so many are lending their aid and influence in the cause of justice and humanity, but we want the united efforts of honest bee-keepers, and consumers, and fair dealers, to make a bold front against every adulterator, and to expose him to the world. In this way I believe the problem can be solved and the evil remedied.
Bushnell, Ill.
Many singular discoveries have been made among manufacturers by the census enumerators in the course of their investigations. For instance, it has long been known that dealers are in the habit of adulterating honey with glucose on the plea of thus improving its keeping qualities. In Boston, however, there is a firm doing a large business in making honey entirely from glucose much in the same way as manufacturers elsewhere make butter from suine and oleo-margarine. The comb is molded out of paraffine in excellent imitation of the work of bees; then the cells are filled with clear glucose and sealed by passing a hot iron over them, and the product is sent to Europe as our best honey. The busiest Italian bees couldn't compete with this firm in turning out honey, any more than could a Eurotas-like Jersey breed compete in butter-making with our deft manipulators of lard and tallow.
It is time that stringent legislative enactments are passed, making the adulteration of so many articles of food a criminal offense, punishable by severe penalties. If these things must be done to gratify the inordinate greed of some men, let it be made obligatory on them that the packages containing spurious products so proclaim them, under penalty of confiscation when detected, and the fraud further punishable by heavy penalty. No man has any right to sell a compound of honey and glucose as pure honey, nor has he any right, either moral or legal, to place a compound of butter and lard, still further “doctored” with drugs, upon the market as pure butter. If adulterations of food are allowed to go on in this way, unrebuked, there is not an article of food known that will not be counterfeited, and oftentimes with substances very hurtful in character.
[So far as it refers to the adulteration of comb honey, it is a false alarm; all bosh! We alluded to this subject more at length on page 44 of the Bee Journal for Feb. 9th. We are glad, however, to see the interest being awakened on the subject of food adulterations, and bee-keepers as well as all other honest producers, cannot be too out-spoken in denouncing it.—Ed.]