Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1891 — THE APIARY. [ARTICLE]

THE APIARY.

Some kinds of very thick honey wi not granulate. It looks now as though alfalfa honey Is to lead the world. Mick will eat bees and pollen and when they get Into a hive they usually keep tho colony in an uproar and may even eventually cause their death. The Convention of tho Eastern lowa Bee-Keepers, will be held in tho Dobson Town Clock Building, Maquokota, lowa, Fob. li, 12. Frank Coverdale, Sec., Welton, lowa. In painting hives do not use dark colors for In extreme hot weather the combsin dark colored hives will molt down, while in a hive which is painted white, no damage will be done.

Do not be alarmed if you find a number of dead bees about tho entrance of tho hive. In summer time you do not notice so many because the colony carry their dead away in their daily flight. The bees will take earo of the empty brood combs in the summer season better than you can do it. In winter they should bo boxed up tightly, after being thoroughly fumigated with sulphur, if they have any moth-germs in them. In all largo apiaries a record of each colony should be kept in a book, as well as ou the piece of section undor the hivo, cover. The book may be studied evenings or whon It rains and tho neeossary work systematically planned. It seems as If a successful boo keeper must be a very careful, thoughtful man. Ills constant attention to little things must discipline his mind aud make him auseful member of society. It seems also as if his experiences should lead him to communicate with the papers frequently in a generous manner, feeling that ho would have others learn at little expense what has cost himself so much effort. Temperature or Bee Cell lira. It is Important that tho temperature or the cellars should bo looked after carefully. Tho temperaturo of the bee cellars bears such an important relation to the health of tho bees that it must bo* kept in mind constantly. In the Journals the advice )s continually given to beware of the moisture in the cellars. This has been counted as one of tho most fatal conditions of such a cellar. Tho moisture of tho air bears an Important, relation to tho temperature, and if thelatter Is kept right no danger may bo expected from the former. Moisture, of course, is continually passing off from the bees, the same as from humAn bodies, and this must bo absorbed by the air. Should the air be saturated with moisture, so that it can contain no more, then this avenue of escape of moisture from the bees will be closed. Tho air of a beo cellar that is warm and damp would be* just as injurious as a moist air without, the warmth. A warm air does not thusanswer the purpose. The degree of moisture in the air should be ascertained, and a complete record of It kept every day. A wet bulb thermometer can be obtained for a small sum, and one should be kept In the bee collar all of the time.. It Is not so much, then, the temperature of the cellar as It Is tho degree of saturation. A large colony, well protected and in good condition, can stand*-, more moisture than a small, sickly ones. Mold In the cellar Is a pretty sure Indication of a moisture-laden atmosphere. Its presence may not be Injurious to the bees, but It Indicates tho beginning of' conditions which may result unfavorably.. But damp cellars need not be the rule,, for there are easy methods to preventsucitcondltlons. One bushel of unslaked lime wfUabsorb twenty-eight pounds of watef \fiNjtjc'process of slaking. If a quantity of unslaked lime Is thus kept, in the cellar continually. It will absorb’ the moisture and create a dry atmosphere.—Annie V. Webster, in American. CultlvaUir.

Mr. Richard A. Proctor, the wellknown lecturer on astronomy, oncotried the experiment of wearing a corset, and thus describes the result:: “When the subject of corset-wearing" was under discussion in the pages of the Enylink Mechanic, I was struck,* he says, “with the apparent weight of evidence in favor of tight lacing. I was in particular struck by the evidence of some as to its use in reducing corpulence. I was corpulent.’ I also wa® disposed, as I am still, to take an interest in scientific experiment. I thought I would give this matter a fair trial. I read all the instructions, carefully followed them, and varied thglime of applying pressure with that ‘ perfectly stiff busk ’ about which correspondent* were so enthusiastic. I was foolish enough to try the thing for a matter of four weeks. Then I laughed at myself as a hopeless idiot, and determined to give up the attempt to reduce by articial means that superabundance of fat on which only starvation and much exercise, or the air of America, has ever had any real reducing influence. BntT was reckoning without my host. As tbo Chinese lady suffers, I am told, when her feet-bin dings are taken off, and a* the fiat-headed baby howls when his head-boards are removed, so for a while was it with me. I found myself manifestly better in stays. I laughed at myself no longer. I was too angry with myself to laugh. I would as soon have condemned myself to using crutches all the time as to wearing always a busk. But for my one month of folly I had to endure three months of discomfort. At the end of about time I was my own mac again.”