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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



through the house drain, as they often do, 

 it is quite likely that some of the members 

 of the family will suffer as a consequence. 

 Much depends upon the condition of the 

 human system as to its susceptibility to 

 disease germs. It is possible that there 

 may be a difference in the health of colo- 

 nies as regards their susceptibility to the 

 germs of foul brood. And it may be possi- 

 ble that the chilling of brood may affect the 

 health or stamina of a colony. But if there 

 are no foul brood germs present I fail to 

 see how the disease can be brought about. 

 Perhaps some of you will laugh at me, but 

 I cannot help thinking that sometimes this 

 dead brood that developes into foul brood 

 mail have been foul brood in the first place. 

 Of course, an expert ought not to be fooled 

 in this way, but all bee-keepers are not ex- 

 perts. If these remarks of mine show how 

 little I really know, so much the better. 



It seems to me that Mr. Bricknell's asser- 

 tion that no part of the atruetural anatomy 

 of a worker is similar to that of a queen is 

 wide of the mark. A worker is simply an 

 undeveloped female, while a queen is fully 

 developed. A lavish supply of nutritious 

 food, and abundant room in which to de- 

 velope, bring about this complete develope- 

 ment. When deprived of a queen workers 

 often try to supply her place by laying eggs. 



I know that scientists are frequently com- 

 pelled to modify their views, and it is pos- 

 sible that the presence of dead Ijrood in a 

 hive under certain conditions may have its 

 influence in the developement of foul brood, 

 but at present I do not believe that foul 

 brood ever develops in a hive unless the 

 germs are brought there from some other 

 place; but the columns of the Review shall 

 ever be open to those who differ from me 

 in that belief.— Ed.] 



Notes From Foreign Bee Journals. 



F. L. THOMPSON. 



Leipzioee Biknenzeituno. — An easy and 

 effectual method of outside diagnosis in 

 winter, says Pastor Jecht, so far as that de- 

 pends on the hum of the colony, is to in- 

 sert one end of a rubber tube in the flight- 

 hole, and apply the other to the ear. One 

 will be surj)rised at the distinctness with 

 which every sound is conveyed. 



Herr Dobratz has repeatedly changed the 

 places of his hives in winter, but has not 

 observed the least confusion or loss there- 

 from at the time of the first flight. Once he 

 moved his whole apiary in winter a distance 

 of about l.W paces without the slightest loss. 



For five seasons, four good and one poor, 

 Herr Metzger experimented on the com- 

 parative merits of full-depth and half-depth 

 frames ( probably two tiers of the latter ) 

 choosing six colonies of equal constitution, 

 three on each kind of frames. Generally, 

 the colonies on full-depth frames became 

 more populous, especially in the poor year. 

 But the set on half-depth frames averaged 

 r>Q lbs. more honey during each of the good 

 years, and in the poor one needed but little 

 additional food for winter, while that 

 season the others had to be fed in the sum- 

 mer. The time and length of the flow are 

 not mentioned. 



A correspondent fills combs for feeding 

 with dry sugar, then pours on warm water. 

 The water sinks to the bottom of the cells. 

 A bubble here and there, or an excess of 

 sugar, is remedied with a brush. After re- 

 maining a day the sugar is disolved, when 

 the combs are turned over and the process 

 repeated. 



B. Hueiidgen uses a foundation lubricant 

 made of ;5 to 4 parts of the whey left in 

 cheese-making, mixed with one part of 

 alcohol. It makes the sheets fairly fall 

 out of the press. 



A correspondent calls attention to the 

 fact. that bees pay no attention to many 

 flowers which have a strong perfume, and 

 visit others which have no fragrance. He 

 concludes that the flower-scent proper and 

 the odor of the nectar are different, and 

 that bees distinguish between them. For a 

 similar reason he contends that while bees 

 are able to bite open fruits, as shown by 

 their gnawing of objects within the hive, 

 they do not do so, because they are prevent- 

 ed from perceiving the interior scent of 

 uninjured fruit. 



Herr Martin reports that his wife suffered 

 from fainting, convulsions, fever, exhaus- 

 tion and other symptoms whenever stung, 

 without being helped by medical attendance. 

 On one such occasion he tried the experi- 

 ment of administering whisky, thinking it 

 might have the same effect that it has on 

 snake-bites. The effect was surprising. 

 The next time she was stung strong wine 

 was given, being the only form of alcoho- 



