290 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



A NEW BEE DISEASE. 



OR, RATHER, AN OLD ONE REVIVED. 



fSEND by to-day's mail a small papei- box con- 

 taining some diseased bees. I would have sent 

 — ' in cage with food, but I am sure they would not 

 reach you alive any way. I send, and desire you, if 

 possible, to have them examined with a microscope, 

 in hope that some information may be arrived at 

 relative to the cause of their death. 



I will now proceed to tell you how they are af- 

 fected. 



Many of them are black and slick and shiny, like 

 old bees, or like bees that have been dipped in 

 honey and cleaned off. The bees become dissatis- 

 fied with these, and drag them out of the hive. They 

 are often found to be unable to fly, and crawl off in 

 front of the hive and die. The disease is not con- 

 fined to this class of bees, however. Many, apparent- 

 ly young bees, are dragged, and crawl out and tum- 

 ble off the alighting-board, and often fall on their 

 backs, and, being unable to turn, lie there and 

 " claw the air." They have an unsteady movement, 

 and a slight vibratory movement of the wings while 

 on the combs. The great majority of the diseased 

 bees contain honey in their sacks. Fifty per cent of 

 my stocks are diseased; some have lost thousands of 

 bees, and are really worthless for honey-storing. I 

 have just examined a neighbor's stock, and 80 per 

 cent of his hives are diseased. The bees seem to be 

 paralyzed; they can not fly, and they crawl with dif^ 

 ficulty. Some of my stocks were affected last sum- 

 mer, taut the disease is spreading rapidly. It it con- 

 tinues, we shall not get any surplus, and our apia- 

 ries will be worthless by fall. The queen does not 

 become affected, but they continue to lay till the 

 stocks grow weak from loss of bees. They are noiv 

 gathering from redbud, dogwood, and black locust. 

 When stocks become much affectei with this new 

 disease, they lose their energy. I would like if some 

 entomologist would examine carefully into this mat- 

 ter, lam fearful that it is a new bee disease; and if 

 It is, great loss is sure to result. Our bees are Ital- 

 ians and hybrids. Blacks are scarce here. I will 

 ascertain if they are diseased also. Please sound the 

 alarm, and let us know if this new malady has ap- 

 peared in any other section. J. A. Newton, M. D. 



Boonville, Ind., May 3, 1883. 



Friend N., if yoii look you will flud exact- 

 ly what you describe, mentioned in the A B 

 C. I have seen none of it of any account 

 within the past few yeflrs, although we find 

 a few emaciated bees occasionally, in stocks 

 that seem to have got run down from some 

 other cause. A few days ago I saw a men- 

 tion of this thing in a California paper. With 

 the roar of business now upon us, we shall 

 be unable to make a microscopic examina- 

 tion, even though we were equal to tlie task, 

 and I Will therefore mail the bees to Prof. 

 Cook. I have little hope the microscope will 

 reveal any thing, for it seemed to me, when 

 1 studied the phenomenon several years ago, 

 that it was something like consumption in 

 the human family, although we had good 

 reason to think it soon affected the whole 

 hive, after it once started. Very likely, it 

 will disappear of itself, after a time ; but it 

 would be of great moment to know of a rem- 

 edy, if it be possible to find one. 



CAN BEES REAR DRONES FROM 

 AVORKER EGGS AT PL<EASIJRE? 



apparently decided in the affirmative. 



^|EEING an article in Gleanings, April No., p. 

 ^ 173, by S. H. Lane, entitled " The Sex of Eggs," 

 and as you ask if any one else can give any 

 new facts on this queer matter, I will give you some 

 facts of exactly the same nature, which came to my 

 notice to-day. When setting my bees out, I found 

 one queenless colony, but strong in bees. I had no 

 queen for them. Several days later I gave them a 

 frame of brood, eggs, and larvre, from the center of 

 another stock, the center of which had hatched, and 

 had been refilled with eggs that were just hatching. 

 Several days later, I gave another frame of eggs. I 

 noticed two nice queen-cells capped on the first one, 

 and also noticed a patch of brood above them, drawn 

 way out long, and capped. 1 supposed them to be 

 queen-cells, although there were about 35 of them. 

 To-day I saw Mr. Lane's article. I proceeded at 

 once to examine the hive, and, sure enough, I found 

 these odd-looking cells to contain drones, fine and 

 well formed; the cells had been enlarged like queen- 

 cells, but they are drones, and were reared from eggs 

 and larvte laid by a queen in a hive in normal condi- 

 tion, and laid in worker-cells just vacated by young 

 workers. The comb is a new one, drawn last 

 year from worker Dunham fdn., and not a drone- 

 cell in it; the bees hatching from all the card are 

 fine workers. The eggs would have produced work- 

 ers had it been left in its own hive. This is conclu- 

 sive that the worker bees do control the sex of eggs, 

 and do rear drones from worker eggs, same as they 

 do queens. This accounts for the presence of black 

 drones several years ago when I was first Italianiz- 

 ing my apiary in colonies with no drone comb. They 

 would always have a few drones, do what I could. 

 Mr. Lane is correct in his belief; and when these 

 drones commence to color I will send some to Prof. 

 Cook for examination, with the comb. 

 Arcadia, Wis., May 1, 1883. E. A. Morgan. 



liUCERNE IN UTAH. 



also some suggestions in regard to sweet 

 clover as a forage plant. 



¥OUR questions on lucerne I will answer, by 

 saying that it is adding its millions to the 

 value of this whole mountain country. With 

 proper irrigation ^ our driest and poorest lands will 

 yield three crops in one season, of from one to three 

 tons per crop to the acre. To make good hay, it 

 should stand vwy thick, that it may gi'ow fine. Hefe 

 in this dry climate it yields much honey, yet not 

 equal to the sweet clover, which here has run wild 

 on all the water-courses and domain where it can 

 find moisture, and it also makes good hay when 

 grown so thick that it will be fine, and, like lucerne, 

 cut often. I am acquainted with your country, and 

 feel assured that lucerne would be a great success 

 with you. In sowmg the seed, the ground should be 

 carefully prepared, made very fine, and about 30 

 lbs. of seed sown per acre, to make fine hay. To 

 raise seed, from 7 to 10 lbs. of seed to the acre would 

 be sufficient. We raise no forage on which stock of 

 all kinds will keep in as good condition, or on which 

 cows will give as much milk, as on lucerne; and it 

 Is said that sweet clover, when grown in the same 

 way, would be equally good, but it has not been so 



