THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Bee-kecpiiig in tlie trcipics is not a 

 gold mine, Init it will give a good liv- 

 ing, as one man and two boys can run 

 400 hives, wliicli, it properly managed 



and in good locality, will give $;2,()00 at 

 the present price of honey. 



Half Way Tree, Jamaica, W. I. 



Is There Danger of the Italian Bee-Louse 

 in America? 



REV. GEO. W. FULLER. 



' ^jf AST year I had about twenty 

 ■1^^- c(donies over in York state, 

 where I lived at that time. One 

 day while working among the bees I no- 

 ticed a bee acting queer, running around 

 over the comb, keeling over, pawing at 

 her head and thorax, trying to sting ev- 

 erything about her, while other bees were 

 unusually interested in her, as they 

 were trying to pull something from her 

 back. Upon close observation, for the 

 antics of the bee interested me greatly, 

 it being so unusual, I saw something on 

 her thorax and fore part of the abdo- 

 men that looked a reddish-brown. I 

 caught the bee, and by looking very 

 closely could sec five or six parasites 

 clinging to her, which seemed to be 

 the explanation of why she was so 

 wrought up. I looked further in the 

 colony and found other bees acting in 

 the same manner and caught all I 

 found. Some had one parasite, others 

 had anywhere from that up to six and 

 eight clinging to them. I looked on the 

 alighting boards of other colonies and 

 found several bees running about af- 

 flicted with the same pest. 



Well, you can imagine a little of my 

 curiosity. I went to the house, took 

 down "A, B. C and X, Y, Z" and found 



under the head of parasites, page 152, 

 that there is an insect known in Italy 

 called the "Braula" or "Italian bee- 

 louse." I can go on farther than that 

 in naming the pest, for such it surely 

 is. I went to other colonies in the sur- 

 rounding community and by looking on 

 the alighting boards discoveredj that 

 the greater majority of them had the 

 same pest. Upon examining them un- 

 der the glass they look like a red crab, 

 and have a ver}- ferocious appearance. 



I am of the opinion that A, B, C has 

 it wrong when it states that no fear 

 need be felt from the jiest in this coun- 

 try, for I believe they have come to 

 stay unless some remedy can be found. 



I watched throughout the season and 

 found that as the season advanced they 

 became more numerous. I sold my 

 place and bees this last spring and can- 

 not tell how they are getting along this 

 year. 



Sykesville, Pa. 



[I must confess that the above is a 

 "new one" to me. Has any other X"ew 

 York State bee-keeper noticed anything 

 similar? Can any of you throw more 

 light on this question and state whether 

 there is any prevalence of this insect 

 in your state?] 



Building Up a Profitable Business from 1 to 432 Colonies. 



IRA D. BARTLETT. 



-•j^DITOR'S NOTE.— [Many older 

 iff* readers of the Review will re- 

 member an article appearing a 

 number of years ago, concerning a 

 young man who had taken up bee-keep- 



ing as a business in northern Michigan. 

 His wonderful success in wintering his 

 bees was an inspiration to all bee-keep- 

 ers located in co'd climates. 



Recently Mr. A. G. Woodman of 



