1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



537 



populous colonies I ever saw in early May. 

 During June, July, and August the ground in 

 front of that colony was literally strewn with 

 dead and dying bees, and several bee-keepers 

 who came to visit rae said they never saw any 

 thing equal it in all their experience. The 

 other colonies all remained healthy, which 

 proved that the disease is not a contagious one, 

 by way of spreading to hives in the immediate 

 neighborhood of the diseased colony. When I 

 saw that the colony could hold out no longer I 

 took the queen and gave her to a good colony, 

 so I could be sure she might come through the 

 winter all right, which she did. Did that col- 

 ony have the disease this season? No; but, on 

 the contrary, it was almost the first one in the 

 apiary to send out a rousing swarm, and to-day 

 both swarm and parent colony are doing " land 

 office" work at storing honey in the surplus 

 apartment. 



All my experience has been in keeping with 

 what I find in the last Review, from the pen of 

 F. L. Thompson, where he says, "Several bales 

 of bees and queens have been made, the parties 

 buying having full knowledge of the circum- 

 stances. In no case did the disease break out 

 among those bees, or from those queens, in 

 their new localities. In one instance, queens 

 were taken from diseased colonies, before the 

 honey-flow had begun, and put in healthy col- 

 onies in their new location without any con- 

 tagion resulting." 



Thus it will be seen that the efforts on the 

 part of Gleanings toward queen-breeders was 

 a mistaken one. This I think I have proven 

 conclusively; but to add a little more proof, I 

 will say that, on the old stand of last year's 

 diseased colony, was set, the middle of April, 

 when I removed the bees from the cellar, a col- 

 ony having a queen purchased last July of one 

 of the parties who subscribed to the rules of 

 Gleanings. This colony showed no signs of 

 any disease last year; but to-day it is in a much 

 worse state than was the colony on that stand 

 a year ago— bees by the hundred being out in 

 front, dead and dying every day, with bloated 

 abdomens and shaking steps. This, with what 

 Bro. Thompson says, points toward location as 

 the cause, and I might indorse this as correct 

 were it not that, in my former experience, after 

 two years, and the death of a colony on the 

 same stand each year, nothing more was seen 

 of the disease till the sudden breaking-out of 

 the disease in an entirely different part of the 

 apiary, last year. I am positive that the 

 queen has nothing to do with the matter, and 

 that all of the remedies spoken of above are of 

 no avail; but further J am not positive. Who 

 will tell us more about it? 



[The evidence secured a year or so ago seemed 

 to show that bee-paralysis is communicated 

 sometimes by the queen, sometimes by the 

 combs and hives, and sometimes by the sur- 

 roundings. One case in which disease follows 



the introduction of a queen from a diseased 

 colony is worth a dozen other cases in which no 

 disease follows the introduction of such queens, 

 in the way of proof. Those who have asserted 

 that bee-paralysis follows from the introduc- 

 tion of a queen from a diseased colony may 

 have been mistaken; but among them there 

 is Mr. T. S. Ford, who has had a larger experi- 

 ence with the malady than any other man in 

 the United States, and he is equally positive 

 that the queen has a good deal to do with the 

 matter. In any case, as long as there is an un- 

 certainty — that is, a disagreement among au- 

 thorities, it is safer — far safer— to regard the 

 disease as one which can be transmitted through 

 the queen. We may drive a hundred times 

 along the side of a precipice, without harm; 

 but as long as there is a safe road away from 

 the precipice, it is better to take that road. It 

 seems to me, until we know more about bee- 

 paralysis, its cause and cure (and in my opin- 

 ion we know very little about it, except that it 

 is spreading over the United States), it would 

 be a sad mistake for queen-breeders to ship 

 queens from colonies having bee-paralysis, or 

 even keep such diseased colonies in the yard. 



I agree with you, that we know of no cure. 

 But I do not quite agree that all of the reme- 

 dies spoken of were of no avail. I think the 

 most we can say is, we do not know positively, 

 although the presumption is that they are of no 

 avail. 



It is too bad that we do not know more about 

 this disease. We are pretty well acquainted 

 with Bacillus alvei as found in foul brood; but 

 whether the microbe of bee-paralysis is Bacillus 

 or something else, does not seem to be settled, 

 although Cheshire calls it Bacillus Gaytoni. 

 I know of no living microscopist or scientist 

 who is more competent to give us information 

 on these subjects on which we are so much in 

 the dark than Mr. Thos. Wm. Cowan, editor of 

 the British Bee Joxirnal. He probably has the 

 finest and most expensive microscope and ac- 

 cessories of any bee keeper in the world. Per- 

 haps Mr. Cowan can help us.— Ed.] 



C. v., Wis. — Authorities do not agree as to 

 whether or not queen-excluders diminish the 

 amount of honey. Very many use the zinc, and 

 claim it makes no difference. When the zinc is 

 not used, sometimes queens go into the supers. 



M. S.,Pa. — In relation to your bees swarming 

 so repeatedly, and your not being able to stop 

 them, I would say that the trouble may be 

 owing to the cramped quarters in which you 

 put them; or it is possible you hived them on 

 empty frames without foundation; or if on such 

 frames, in a hive exposed to the direct rays of 

 the sun, without shade-board or other shade. 

 Lack of shade, too small an entrance, no found- 

 ation, the absence of brood (particularly un- 

 sealed brood, which you could get from another 

 colony), all tend to make swarming more fre- 

 quent. But sometimes a colony will swarm 

 anyhow. It gets the fever so badly that it is 

 almost impossible to stop them from leaving 



