174 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1. 



presented itself, and I was quite puzzled to 

 make out what it was. I will relate the whole 

 of my experience as I noted it down during near- 

 ly three months. 



I sold a hive to a gentleman about two miles 

 from ray apiary, in July, 1893. The hive was 

 put on his premises, very near the sea. The 

 queen was an Italian, crossed with an Algerine 

 drone. In October, '9:i, the bees gathered about 

 ;i() lbs. of surplus honey from a kind of Rusaccv, 

 so I took about 20 lbs. In January, 1894, 1 visit- 

 ed this hive, and another of my own which I 

 had also put up very near the sea — but a mile 

 apart. They were both in fine condition. I 

 had no time to look at them till March 4th. 

 Then they were getting on wonderfully. But I 

 noticed at hive No. 1 (the one I had sold) num- 

 bers of dead bees in front. I took up the most 

 of them —weighed them, and found about .5000 

 dead bees. The hive then had nine frames of 

 brood. I could not make out what the trouble 

 was. A cold east wind had blown a few days 

 previous to my visit. The alighting-board was 

 outof place, and the neighboring pine-trees had 

 strewn the ground with yellow pollen, looking 

 like sulphur. I supposed death came from one 

 of the above-named causes; but I asked Mr. 



G ,■ the owner, if he had anybody round 



about him who might have poisoned his bees. 

 His answer was in the negative. March 19th 

 I revisited the hive, to find, to my great aston- 

 ishment, only six frames of brood and about 

 3000 dead bees. I watched the bees then very 

 closely, and found some flying in readily, while 

 sonie dropped in front of the hive or on the 

 alighting-board, with the body as full as a well- 

 filled bee can be; bat it simply remained there 

 as if stunned, and died outside the hive after 

 vain efforts to enter. The bees in the hive did 

 not like to receive the weak ones, or those show- 

 ing signs of the sickness — i. e., an unsteady gait 

 and a swollen body. I could now only say that 

 Something was the matter, but not what. I ex- 

 amined all books treating on "bee-diseases;" 

 found the nameless bee-disease, bee-paralysis, 

 and the Maikrankhcit (May sickness) of the 

 Germans. Witzgall says the disease disappears 

 after a heavy rainfall. I watched this, as it re- 

 sembled it in many respects, but not in all; 

 namely, it did not come on in May, and did not 

 go after several heavy rainfalls. I wrote to Mr. 

 Thos. W. Cowan, who advised me to treat with 

 naphthol beta, but said, at the same time, that 

 it is never so serious in England as the case re- 

 ported. Meanwhile a '■ tixiste " (we so call the 

 old-style bee-keepers in B^ance) reported a case 

 that occurred several years ago, and attributed 

 it to the bees having sucked the sulphate-of- 

 cppper solution which they sprinkle on the 

 vines, in search of water. This did not hold 

 good, as the bees in No. 1 had plenty of clean 

 water in the vicinity, and the sprinkling busi- 

 ness was not then carried on. We looked for a 

 poisonous plant, and found the Euphorbia den- 



droides, a plant growing north and south of the 

 Mediterranean, and used in Algeria to intoxi- 

 cate fish; but after several hours in roaming 

 about the mountains I found one single bee, 

 which did not stop long enough to let me exam- 

 ine; besides, this suggestion did not hold good, 

 as the plant also grows near my home apiary 

 and other out-apiaries. 



On the 5th of April Mr. G. wrote to me, say- 

 ing his neighbor sprinkled his rosebushes with 

 the above-named sulphate, and he believed 

 that to be the mischief. Finally, on the 11th of 

 April I had the hive brought to my house, and 

 I put it among several other hives on the house- 

 top, where we have a flat roof. On the same 

 evening I counted 205 dead bees. April 13 I 

 counted 340 dead bees in the evening; April i:i, 

 3,50 more in the evening; April 14,340 more in 

 the evening. 



It seems to me that the young bees hatch as 

 fast as the old ones die; for since March 19 the 

 six frames of brood have kept going. 



April 15 I counted 340 dead bees. April 10, 

 rain all day. Dead bees are still being thrown 

 out and washed away. As often as I go there I 

 could gather about 1.50 dead bees. The excre- 

 ments are dark yellow, and the bees void these 

 with great difficulty. Evidently it is a bad 

 case of constipation. 



April 17. I am testing Witzgall's sayings— 341 

 dead bees — and all about the neighborhood dead 

 and dying bees of this hive are found. Who 

 can tell how many die daily far away ? 



April 18. About half a dozen were throsvn 

 out last night. Rain again all day, so that I 

 can not examine. 



April 19. Fine weather— no dead bees till 8 

 o'clock. Alas! again 340 by night. 



April 30. Seven dead bees this morning— only 

 97 dead all day. The bees seem to begetting 

 better; took a frame of brood and gave it to 

 hive No. 85. 



April 31. This morning 13 dead; 300 during 

 the day; rainy. 



April 32. At 9 o'clock this morning, about .50 

 dead. The bees are remarkably active in get- 

 ting rid of the dead, and they carry them far 

 away, so I can no more count the real number 

 of dead; still 6 frames of brood. 



April 33. Cloudy; 54 dead gathered. 



April 34. Cloudy ; 135 dead gathered. The 

 frame given to No. 85 has no effect on the bees 

 of that hive. The disease is not contagious— at 

 least, it does not extend to the brood, if this dis- 

 ease is the "mucorine," described by Witzgall. 



April 35. Cloudy; 103 dead bees. 



April 26. Inside the hive it looks pitiable, al- 

 though they keep up six frames of brood, the 

 mother laying continually. The bees now cov- 

 er only the six frames; and in spite of the daily 

 births, amounting to about 8(K), the hive has 

 lost nearly 3000 bees, or 350 daily. The births 

 are equivalent to what was lost on the flight. 

 There is no more fall honey left in the hive, 



