574 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Nov. 



ahead of all other watches. May be this sounds a 

 little like scolding-, dear friends; but I don't mean it 

 so. Details of the way your bees behave are of 

 value, because they give me a better knowledge of 

 the way the little fellows behave under all kinds of 

 circumstances; and you know I ought to bo learned 

 in all possible phases of bee lore; but two or more 

 pages of foolscap, written in regard to the behavior 

 of a watch, does not give any new facts in natural 

 history. Do you not see the difference? 



FOULi BROOD. 



FRIEND POND'S EXPERIENCE AND ADVICE IN THE 



MATTER. 



MICH has been written in regard to that dread 

 scourge of the apiary, foul brood, and much 

 advice in regard to its eradication has been 

 given from time, which would seem to carry the idea 

 that it is quite a simple matter to perform a cure. I 

 do not know, personally, whether the disease — or 

 whatever other term may be given it — is curable 

 or not; but I do know, personally, that its virulence 

 is such that, if allowed to proceed unchecked in a 

 single colony, one season would be sufiBcient to con- 

 taminate every colony within flight distance of the 

 affected stock. So much has been written descriptive 

 of the disease, the way in which it commences, and 

 proceeds until a colony is totally destroyed, that I 

 will occupy no space in describing it, but proceed to 

 give my views as to it3 treatment, and my reasons 

 for the same. 



In the fall of 1867 I carelessly led two or three col- 

 onies with West-India honey, without taking the 

 precaution to thoroughly boll and skim, in order to 

 cleanse from all impurities; and the result was, that 

 the next season I saw thone colonies affected with 

 foul brood. These colonies were Italians, and one of 

 them had a $20.00 queen procured of Mr. Langstroth, 

 and of course I desired to save them; and in order 

 so to do, I tried all the means that at that time were 

 recommended, except the correct one — total de- 

 struction. This was before salicylic acid had been 

 discovered and made known, and consequently I had 

 no opportunity to makeuse of thatso-calledspeciUc. 

 The result of my attempts at cure was, that every 

 colony in my apiary became diseased; and not only 

 that, but every colony in the neighborhood became 

 affected also; and from later results I conclude that 

 some colonies in the woods also became affected, for 

 the reason that, for four or five years after, I would 

 find an occasional reminder of the disease in one or 

 another of my hives, in the way of a few cells of 

 dead brood, and I almost made up my mind to give 

 up bee-keeping entirely. 



As good luck would have it, however, the winter of 

 1875, 1 think, proved an exceptionally cold one; and 

 as I have seen no traces of foul brood since that 

 time, I conclude that the colonies in the woods were 

 killed off, and the spores which carry the disease 

 (seeds, I presume friend Robinson would desire me 

 to say) were rendered entirely innoxious by the ex- 

 treme severity of the winter, as extreme cold is said 

 to eradicate the disease, root, branch, and seed. My 

 advice now, and until 1 have further light on the 

 matter, is, to burn and totally destroy by Are, every 

 particle of hive, frame, section, and comb, of a con- 

 taminated colony, and at once; and in thus advis- 

 ing, I admit that, according to the best evidence we 

 have, the disease is curable. My reason for this ad- 



vice is purely on the moral ground that, in the hands 

 of an experienced person, much time, trouble, and 

 an immense amount of care must be taken in order 

 to eradicate every trace of the disease, as those who 

 assume to have cured it admit that it took more 

 than one season to accomplish it. Now, if this is the 

 case, what will be the result in the hands of an inex- 

 perienced person? If a bee-keeper is the owner of 

 every colony within range of his apiary, he, of 

 course, morally may do as he chooses, for no one but 

 himself can be affected thereby; but has any man 

 the moral right to expose his neighbors to the dan- 

 ger of communicating to them any infectious dis- 

 ease? and if not, has he any more right to expose 

 their bees to the danger of having foul brood com- 

 municated to tJiem? The answer is plain, and I put 

 it as a purely logical proposition, that a colony of 

 bees affected with foul brood will, in a short time, 

 contaminate every colony within flight range; to 

 cause your neighbors' bees to become affected with 

 such a dread scourge as foul brood, is a moral 

 wrong; therefore he who does not at once either re- 

 move a colony so affected to a place beyond the 

 reach of his neighbors' bees, or destroy it at once, 

 totally and entirely, commits a wrong, and one that, 

 in some States, is punished as a crime. Policy alone 

 would dictate me to destroy an affected colony as 

 soon as I found out its condition; for, as I have 

 previously said, I have experimented all I wish to 

 with the malady, and I wish to close every avenue 

 by which it can possibly come again to my apiary. 

 Foxboro, Mass., Oct., 1882. J. E. Pond, Jr. 



]m%e)iUm§. 



CONVENTION DIRECTORY. 



TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING. 



1882. 



Nov. 1.— New Jersey and Eastern Convention at 

 New Brunswick, N. J. 



Nov. 9.— Maine Bee-Keepers' Association at Bangor. 



1883. 



Jan. 19, 20.— Mahoning Valley Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion at Berlin Center, Mahoning Co., O. 



FARM AND BEES FOR SALE 



Thirty acres nine miles northeast of Des Moines, 

 and 1 14 miles from K. R. station (Ora Laber), on C. 

 and N. W. R. R., M mile from school and church. 

 Bearing orchard, I'/^-story house, stables, etc., all 

 fenced. Ten acres in cultivation; ten in meadow 

 and ten timber. Running water. Price, $1000.00 — 

 1600.00 cash, $400.00 Ave years' time, with 7 per cent 

 interest; 50 stands bees, Italians and hybrids; 10 

 chaff hives, $8.00; 40 Simplicity, $5.00. Also some 

 stock and tools, if desired. MILO SMITH, 



lid Greenwood, Polk Co., Iowa. 



165 Colflis Of Bees For Sale. 



45 Colonies in Chaff hives, 



56 Colonies in Simplicity hives, 

 26 Co!onies in Improved Simplicity hives. 



18 Colonies in Langstroth hives, 

 20 Colonies in Box hives. 

 About two-thirds of my stock is pure Italian bees. 

 I have a complete set of apiarian implements that I 

 will sell cheap to the party buying said bees. I will 

 weigh 40 lbs. of sealed honey with each colony ; price 

 $8.00 per colony, in lots of ten or more, delivered on 

 cars. Reasons for selling, ill health. Address 

 lid W. G. CRAIG, Clearmont, Mo. 



