1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



175 



Arabic form of Nablous — a very flourishing 

 central town. 



Mr. W. Grahame. p. 917, says, " A qneen must 

 be fertilized within 21 days, else she will be bar- 

 ren." I have 15 per cent fertilized between the 

 :31st and SOth day. giving, excepting one, the 

 most excellent results as to proliticness, and, in 

 coiiS('(iuence, furnishing hives crammed full of 

 bees with plenty of surplus honey. 



Pii. .7. Ualdenspkijgkk. 



Nice, France, Jan. 10. 



BEE PARALYSIS. 



J. A. GOLDEN ANSWERS QUESTIONS RELATING 

 TO THE ATTACK ON HIS BEES. 



In Gleanings of Feb. 1. page 93, I see that 

 the salt cure for bee paralysis is challenged. 

 Permit me to say, that, in my article on page 

 888, I expressed a question in the following 

 words: "If paralysis it was; who can tell?" 

 It appears that friend Bartow has been led to 

 believe that poison was the cause, and proposes 

 certain questions for consideration, which I 

 shall try to answer. His first question is: 



■• Might not the bees have been poisoned by 

 visiting fruit-trees that had been sprayed?" 



My answer is, I think not. because there has 

 not been, to my personal knowledge, or from 

 inquiry, a single tree in all this section of 

 country that has been sprayed with poison of 

 any kind; but if poisoned, it came from some 

 other source; and the very first thing I thought 

 of on that Sunday morning, when I saw the 

 bees skipping out and dying, was poison; and if 

 that was the cause, then bees cpoisoned act 

 just as bees do that have paralysis. How do 

 bees act when poisoned, anyhow? I can not 

 think any one would purposely poison the hon- 

 ey-bee. Then, again, if poisoned, the same 

 thing has been occurring all around for the past 

 four or five years, but in a ligljter form. I can 

 not think the bees were poisoned. 



Again, he says. " Might not the cun^ of Mr. 

 Golden have been a success on account of less 

 poison ?■' 



If friend Bartow implies by this that my bees 

 had poison in a mild form, he surely would 

 have thought differently could he have seen 

 those bees march out and expire. 



Again, he asks, " Is salt an antidote for mild 

 poison?" 



We answer, Yes, for certain kinds; and we 

 know that salt allays fever, itchings, reduc(>s 

 swellings, purifies and preserves, and. in our 

 observation in the study of be<' paralysis, I feel 

 satisfied that the bee becomes feverish, produc- 

 ing an itching sensation, thus causing the hair 

 to be easily withdrawn; finally the swelling of 

 the intestines, resulting in d(>ath. I therefore 

 firmly believe that ninty-nine out of every hun- 

 dred bees in the first stage of the disease can 

 be cured by a proper use of salt; and also quite 

 a good share when in the st^cond stage, or in the 

 hairless condition ; but when bees enter the 

 third, or swelling stage, death is certain to fol- 

 low. 



In answer to his last question, I would say 

 that bees usually go out of the hive to die dur- 

 ing warm weather, but invariably die in the 

 hive during the colder season. 



symptoms of bee paralysis. 



In my experience and study of bee paralysis, 

 I (ind that the first symptoms of the disea.se an; 

 first noticeable, so far as we have been able to 

 judge, by the guard -bees at the entrances 

 attacking the diseased sisters with a hustling 

 movement as they go and come; and the diseased 

 bee, in this stage, seems to enjoy this kind of 



treatment; and this indicates, to my mind, that 

 the bee is'feverish— a Icondition that produces 

 an itching sensation, also causing the hair to 

 loosen, and to be easily extracted by the bees in 

 the hustling movement, as above stated. I 

 also find that, when bees reach the second 

 stage, or hairless condition, the guard-bees are 

 more determined to drag them from the hive 

 thau at any other lime. Further observations 

 teach us that, as soon as the bee begins to 

 bloat, she immediately leaves the hive and soon 

 expires. 



I have never found more than one queen that 

 showed any symptoms of the disease, and in this 

 case I spent much time with a large magnify- 

 ing-glass watching the bees taking the hairs 

 from her body until she became hairless, and re- 

 sembled a black wasp. Jan. 36, 1893. she still 

 reigned over a strong colony of beautiful bees, 

 and can be seen during the coming season, 

 should she survive the winter. 

 how to cure. 



In conclusion I want to say to all who have 

 or may have bee paralysis among their bees, 

 try one or two colonies thus: As soon as the bees 

 begin to fly freely, make a strong brine and 

 thoroughly wet the bottom -boards of these 

 hives once a week, so that, when they dry, they 

 will look frosty; also freely spray the combs 

 and brood with/a solution of salt water that you 

 can tastequite a little salty (not strong), once a 

 week, during the season, then report the result; 

 and if you don't forget to apply the remedy, I 

 am siu'e your report will be in favor of salt. I 

 think the time is near at hand, if the disease is 

 not checked, when apiarists will have cause to 

 look for other occupations. J. A. (Jolden. 



Reinersville, O., Feb. 8. 



[Mr. Golden describes exactly the disease 

 that visits our apiary occasionally; but it is 

 strange that it has never broken out in our 

 yards in such virulency as reported by Mr. (Jol- 

 den on page 888, Dec. 1, last year. We always 

 (except at oui-yards) keep down the grass at 

 the entrances with salt. After every rain, the 

 bees probably gel a little of this salt. At our 

 out-yard-i it lias been a noticeable fact that we 

 have had more cases of this bee paralysis. Salt 

 is a mild antiseptic, and it seems probable that 

 it may operate as a check if not an actual 

 cure.l 



Heads of Grain 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



BEE-KEEPING DESCRIBED FOR THE GREAT OUT- 

 SIDE WORI-D. 



One of our correspondents sends us the follow- 

 ing, which he says was clipped from the Chicago 

 World: 



KBEPS BEES IN HER BEDKOOM; A STATEN ISLAND 



GIRL WHO FINDS THE INDUSTRIOUS INSECTS 



QUIET COMPANIONS. 



There is a g-irl in Staten Island, N. Y., who has 

 kept a hive of bees in her bediooni duting- the win- 

 ter. She recently said tliat ttiey were the most 

 unobjectionable of companions. Tiiey are quiet, 

 orderly, and attend strictly to their own attairs. 

 When the warm weather comes tliey will be set 

 outdoors, where there are beds of mig-noiiette and 

 other sweet-scented flowers, wliicli the bees fully 

 uridei'stand are planted for their especial use. Tliis 

 liive of bees is the nucleus of her contemplated bee- 

 f:irm. Last summer they supplied her weekly with 

 36 lbs. of honey'. 



For each pound of lioney slie received 3(1 cents. 

 The profits of bee-keeping- are great, the cost small. 

 The labor of honey-raising lias been materially 

 lessened for the bees by modern improvements, and 



