THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



293 



this plan, as drones driven from a colony 

 having a queen are quite likely to take 

 refuge in a queenless colony if one can be 

 found. If a certain, practical method of 

 controlling the mating of queens could 

 be discovered it would rank with comb 

 foundation, the honey extractor, etc. 

 l-A'en if this plan of keeping choice drones 

 late in the season answered the purpose, 

 there is the drawback as pointed out by 

 Mr. Rankin, that we can make only one 

 cross in a season. The hopefulness of 

 this problem in one direction is shown 

 from the fact that ]\Ir. Rankin found all 

 of the bees of the same colony to have 

 tongues of the same length, the differ- 

 ence of length of tongues being seen in 

 comparing one strain of bees with another. 

 Mr. Rankin also urged the importance 

 of working at the other end of the prob- 

 lem, viz., that of developing a strain of 

 red clover having shorter corolla tubes. 

 .\s showing the difference existing in 

 clover he quoted Dr. Beal as saying that 

 "A field of clover represents as many and 

 as varied types of the same specie as 

 would a field of corn planted from a 

 mixture of all the known varieties." 



VARIOUS FORMS OF DISEASE AMONG 

 BEES— CAUSE AND CURE. 



Dr. \Vm. Howard contributed to the 

 good things of the Chicago convention by 

 writing a paper upon the above subject. 

 Like the paper of Mt. Cowan, it is very 

 difficult to condense. The best that can be 

 done is to mention some of the most 

 prominent points. So far the doctor has 

 not been able to isolate a single species of 

 bacillus that would infect a prosperous 

 colony with paralysis or disenterj-. Black 

 brood, pickled brood, disentery and par- 

 alysis all disappear during a good honey 

 flow. ''In fact," says the doctor, "dur- 

 ing a good honey flow, with a prosperous 

 colony ami ])roper sanitation, it will be 

 found diflicult to infect such a colony 

 with any disease, and obtain ".mmediate, 

 disastrous results." Combs which have 

 had any disease in them, .vhether of fun- 



gus or bacterial nature, are never entirely 

 free from infection. Many cells may be 

 free and safe, yet, as a rule, there are 

 lurking spores capal>le of reinfection. 



One experiment made by the doctor is 

 worthy of mention. Two colonies last 

 spring contained black brood that was 

 well developed and thoroughly estab- 

 lished, yet it entirely disappeared during 

 the spring flow from horsemint. They 

 became strong, and one swarmed, giving 

 off a good swarm, which was hived on in- 

 fected combs left over from a colony that 

 had perished irom black brood. No 

 disease apjjeared in this hive. With a 

 cessation of the flow in July came a re- 

 appearance of the disease. A fall flow 

 came in August, when the disease again 

 disappeared. 



The doctor says that he has been un- 

 able to find any valid evidence for hold- 

 ing the queen responsible for, or that she 

 has any influence upon,the perpetuation of 

 any disease with which he is acquainted. 

 The statement of Cheshire that the spores 

 of foul brood had been found in the un- 

 developed egg, the blood of the queen 

 and the spermatozoa of the drone had not 

 been verified by the doctor. So far as 

 the doctor knew, it had not been verified 

 in any other instance. 



•»;«)i»iF^»>i»ii^ 



THE CHEMISTRY OF HONEY AND HOW 

 TO DETECT ITS ADULTERATION. 



The above was the title of an excellent 

 paper furnished the Chicago convention 

 by Mr. Thomas W. Cowan. It is one of 

 those papers of which it is almost im- 

 possible to make a digest — you need to 

 read the whole paper in order to get the 

 full benefit. 



I will try, however, and notice a few 

 of the most important points. Bees do 

 not gather honey. They gather nectar 

 and transform it into honey. Nectar ton- 

 sist§ almost entirely of cane sugar. 

 Honey is essentially a product of the bee 

 and not of the flower which it visits. 

 After nectar is gathered, and before it is 

 stored in the combs, it undergoes a 



