=Bees Robbing.=—Here in Texas we have had a severe winter, but not much snow. The thermometer went down to 20° above zero. Last season was a poor one for honey; we had a cold spell in Nov.; then had warm weather for 2 weeks, and my hybrid bees began to rob. The pure Italians behaved well, neither robbed nor let the others rob them. I used water and kerosene oil, but it was of no use; at last I hit upon a remedy. My hives have the bottom boards projecting in front. I ripped out one-inch square pieces 5 inches long, cut coarse wire cloth 2x6, bent it lengthwise in the middle, tacked on 2 sides of each block, leaving wire about 5 inches to give them air; I drove a nail through each end and nailed it in front of each hive. Every 10 or 15 days when the weather was fine, an hour before night, I let them out to have a fly. We have had fine weather for the last 2 weeks. I let the bees out on Jan 30; they have been busy carrying in pollen from elm since Jan. 31, and have forgotten their stealing propensities. I opened some hives this evening and found plenty of sealed brood, and will have drones flying by Feb. 24.
=Chloroform.=—About 10 years ago I used chloroform in handling bees, after the following plan: I provided myself with a tin slide about 5 inches long and 2 wide; punched a few holes in it, and stitched on one side of it a pad of 3 or 4 thicknesses of cotton cloth. Then after closing all ventilators and entrances except the lower one, I turned about one teaspoonful of chloroform on the pad and slipped it through the entrance, and immediately closed the hive with a wad of cloth, I then listened carefully until the bees had nearly ceased humming (or about 1 or 2 minutes) and then opened the hive and withdrew the slide. They were cross hybrid Italians.
=Test for Honey.=—Bee-keepers need a good honey test, to expose the “rag syrup,” an admixture of honey and glucose, with which the New York market is flooded. In every grocery, meat market and drug store there, can be found cans of “Walker’s best honey,” labeled “Greenpoint, N. Y.,” but there is not much honey in it. Last fall I went into a drug store there with 4 samples of my best honey. They tested it, and what they used turned it perfectly black. I saw one of Walker’s cans of honey there, and asked them to test that; they did so, but the same drugs had no effect whatever on that. They would not tell me what they used to test it; but I would like to have a good and simple test given in the BEE JOURNAL.