1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



673 



case of comb honey), the consumer will take 

 the honey In preference. 



DEAD BROOD. 



While I h3,ve"the pen in hand " I should 

 like to know if, in the apiaries of those reporting 

 some peculiar cases of dead brood, the symptoms 

 of bee-paralysis have been observed (page 610, 

 Aug. loth issue). Those who read the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal knov/ ihsit the disease exists 

 in East Tennessee, at least in this part of it, 

 and that I have had and am yet having quite 

 an experience with it. I can not say positively 

 whether bee-paralysis will kill any of the brood 

 or not; but I suspect that it does sometimes. I 

 have had many cases of some dead brood car- 

 ried out I could not account for otherwise; yet, 

 in the absence of a microscopical investigation, 

 1 can not say. I don't see why it should not. 

 There is a fundamental difference between 

 foul brood and bee-paralysis— that is, the rapid- 

 ity of development. In foul brood, the brood 

 attacked is sure to die in a short time, and in- 

 fect the rest of the hive. 1 suppose the matur- 

 ed bees attacked will soon leave the hive and 

 die outside. I also suppose that a queen at- 

 tacked by the disease would die before she 

 could lay many infected eggs, if any at all; 

 hence the reason why queens do not transmit 

 the disease. There is no doubt about the 

 liability of matured bees to contract the disease. 

 Bacilli have been found in their bodies, even in 

 the ovaries of the queen. 



But bee-paralysis is a slow-developing dis- 

 ease. In most cases bees already showing 

 symptoms in the fall will survive through the 

 winter, and even give the colony a start in the 

 spring. It is likely that many of these sick 

 bees had contracted the malady while in the 

 larval stage or got it from the queen through 

 her eggs. It is also likely that some of the 

 brood may die of the disease. A microscopical 

 investigation of the dead and living brood 

 would settle the question. 



By the way, a full investigation and scien- 

 tifically conducted experiments on bee-paraly- 

 sis would be a splendid subject for some of our 

 experiment stations, much more useful than 

 hair-splitting experiments on the thickness of 

 foundation. 



Some may doubt the possibility of transmis- 

 sion of disease by the queen's eggs. But those 

 acquainted with the silkworm know that the 

 worms attacked by a bacillus almost identical 

 with those producing foul brood and bee-pa- 

 ralysis will not always die in the larval state, 

 but go through their regular transformations, 

 and lay eggs containing spores of the disease. 

 These spores develop themselves into bacilli 

 as the worm emerges and grows. In fact, the 

 transmission of the disease through the eggs is, 

 in the silkworm disease, the principal one. 



Knoxville, Tenn. 



[While it is possible that causes that have 



favored lower prices on general commodities 

 have had something to do with the lower prices 

 on honey, it is probably true that the lower 

 prices on other sweets besides honey have had 

 more to do with it. We must not forget, also, 

 that there is a larger number of bee-keepers, 

 and consequently a larger amount of honey pro- 

 duced, as compared with the '70's. The more 

 producers, the more there are who are willing 

 to put their honey on the market at competitive 

 prices; but it does seem as if the great reduc- 

 tion in prices on sweets other than honey, and 

 the greater variety of them has done more than 

 all the other causes combined to reduce the 

 price on our product. 



Regarding bee-paralysis and its relation to 

 dead brood, I have never noticed in any cases 

 in our own yard that there was dead brood 

 along with the paralytic bees; but the next 

 case we see of it we shall watch very carefully. 

 I should like to hear from all those who have 

 had this disease, whether they have noticed 

 along with dead brood paralytic bees. It is 

 possible that one microbe is the cause of both; 

 namely, dead brood and what we now call bee- 

 paralysis.— Ed.J 



TO FIND THE COLONY THAT CAST THE 

 SWARM. 



By O. C. Oreiner. 



At this writing bees are nicely at work again 

 on buckwheat. Although the flow does not 

 seem to be as profuse as it is some years, it 

 promises to yield at least a fair crop. As this 

 is the last source from which we can expect any 

 surplus honey for this season, to make the best 

 of it all forces must be kept at work in supers; 

 and swarming is, therefore, not desirable. But 

 what are we going to do? they have been very 

 much inclined that way for the last week or 

 two, from one to three swarms being the aver- 

 age per day. (This is another peculiar feature 

 of this season — now and then a buckwheat 

 swarm is what we expect; but to have so many 

 we have never before experienced.) The only 

 profitable way to deal with these swarms is to 

 hive them back to their mother-colonies, either 

 with their queens, after all queen-cells have 

 been destroyed, or, if there is anv reason to sus- 

 pect superseding, without them. 



When prime and second swarming was the 

 order of the day, I have stayed in the apiary 

 without intermission— would not leave at meal 

 time, even, without having a substitute to 

 watch; hiving back, whenever desired, was, 

 therefore, an easy matter. But lately my work 

 has been such that I could not very well remain 

 constantly with the bees, and most of these late 

 swarms have been found swarming or clustered; 

 consequently their places of issue were un- 

 known. To return these swarms to their homes 

 I have practiced dequeening with the very best 

 of success. At first this may seem like a tedi- 

 ous job; but with a little practice any one soon 

 gets to be an expert at this business. Of course, 

 all swarms that are to be treated in this way 

 have to be hived in the hiving-box. If they 

 are small, a close search will generally reveal 



