Dec. 31, 1903. 



THt AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



837 



maculate. The effect is striking, the black head, with white 

 body underneath and perfectly still condition of the chrysa- 

 lis, give them the appearance of " silent corpses," to quote 

 A. I. Root. The description given in the above letter answers 

 this condition exactly. If our correspondent will examine 

 the bees when in this condition, he will find that they are 

 not at all decayed, but simply in a state of transformation. 

 So he may rejoice in the fact that his bees have no disease, 

 and that he is not the first one who has made this mistake, 

 of taking a perfectly natural, but not often seen, condition 

 for a disease. I have heard a number of such enquiries, 

 and I am evidently not the only one who has met this ques- 

 tion, for A. I. Root, already mentioned, speaks of often re- 

 ceiving enquiries concerning this particular condition of 

 brood, from novice bee-keepers. 



I am very glad to see so much discussion of the question 

 of foul-brood. Sooner or later a very positive cure will be 

 devised, so that we may not find it necessary to destroy any 

 part of the hive. We owe thanks to men like Mr. France, 

 who are so pertinacious in seeking remedies and making ex- 

 periments. 



The quantity of oil of eucalyptus to be used must de- 

 pend upon the size of the hive. If this remedy should prove 

 efficacious in foul brood (which is not yet entirely proven), 

 it should be used in sufficient quantity to scent thoroughly 

 every part of the hive for weeks together. A teaspoonful 

 on cotton will give scent for quite a while, and doses must 

 be repeated as often as necessary. From the experiments I 

 have reported, I am sure it will do away with minor dis- 

 eases, and whenever we do this we will find that we have 

 much reduced the supposed scope of the true disease. 



I cannot but take issue with those who say that the use 

 of fire will ever remain the only thorough remedy for grave 

 cases of foul brood. Some of the worst diseases of the human 

 race have been entirely eradicated from civilized countries, 

 and accidental cases are treated so as to bring about almost 

 positive assurance of cure. It in only a few hundred years 

 since the plague decimated cities in the most civilized por- 

 tions of Europe. The plagues of Marseilles, of Florence, 

 of Moscow, have become historic by their extent and horror. 

 This plague, which was then called " The Black Plague," 

 was probably none other than the " bubonic plague," which 

 civilized countries fear no more, though it still exists in 

 some uncivilized regions. But at the time when these ter- 

 rible diseases were raging, there was no other method 

 known of disposing of them than doing away with the sick 

 people. I can still remember seeing, near my old birth- 

 place (Langres), in old France, in the suburbs, a house 

 which had retained the name of " La Maladiere," because 

 in times of plague the sick persons were removed to that 

 spot to fare as best they could. That was the only way 

 they had then of fighting contagious diseases. But we 

 have progressed, and are still progressing, thanks to the 

 enquiring minds of our leaders in science and medicine, and 

 the study of microscopy is one of the great factors in the 

 present progress. 



CLEANING EXTRACTING-COMBS-IN THE OPEN AIR. 



I have just read the expression of opinion of " Our Bee- 

 Keeping Sisters," on page 793, concerning giving extract- 

 ing-combs to the bees for cleaning in the open air. I am 

 still unconvinced of the advisability of this method. The 

 combs are not all repaired, but rather further damaged by 

 them. The bees have so free an access to these combs 

 that even the neighbors' bees are welcome to the feast. The 

 strongest colonies get the biggest share of the honey, and 

 if there happens to be a weak colony in the neighborhood it 

 seems as if hundreds of inquisitive bees take the opportu- 

 nity of an uproar to pay them a visit to see whether their 

 stores are well guarded. 



I can see no objection to putting the combs back on the 

 hives that we select, to have them cleaned during the night 

 so that there is no uproar, and I still thhik it is the best 

 way. It is probable, however, that with our deeper frames 

 and very large hives, we have less trouble with bees mov- 

 ing upstairs than with shallow hives, especially as our 

 supers are all shallow, and therefore less attractive to the 

 colony as a residence. Hamilton Co., 111. 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 

 copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent 

 by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee 

 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00 

 for your Bee Journal subscription a /till year in advance, 

 we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it. 



Different Races of Bees in the South— 

 Smoker-Fuel. 



BY JOHN KENNEDY. 



ORIGINALLY there was but one kind of bees to be found 

 in this part of the United States, and that was what is 

 known as the black bees. They were considered great 

 honey-gatherers, and feared by all who handled them on 

 account of their cross, irritable disposition. Since the in- 

 troduction of Italian bees, although to no great extent, 

 there is now a variety of grades, and the genuine black bee 

 is almost a thing of the past. 



With the most of them the cross is so far off that noth- 

 ing but a very close observer would detect it. I have been 

 handling bees for five or six years, having an apiary of 

 about 100 colonies, and in all my dark, or native bees, but 

 few of them are without some yellow, and almost all of 

 them are what I would call brown instead of black bees. 

 While I have some late purchases of Italians and Caniolans, 

 I find among my native bees some with almost as much yel- 

 low as the progeny from queens I have bought of reliable 

 breeders. 



I notice different writers in the American Bee Journal 

 speak of their three-banded Italians. I think, if I am not 

 mistaken, that all bees are three-banded that I have ever 

 noticed. I have bees from two queens that are perfectly 

 yellow. Then I have what the bee-men call the yellow, 

 clover queens, with dark stripes, that look to me about what 

 a half cross between our native and the Italians would be. 



Now, to the point of my information wanted : These 

 Italian bees are not nearly as large as our native bees, when 

 I have always heard the Italian bees were larger. Can it 

 be that I have been imposed upon by queen-breeders in sell- 

 ing me impure stock, or has the climate, or locality, or any- 

 thing else, anything to do with it ? I can not believe such 

 men as I have bought queens of would sell me any " bogus " 

 stock. 



How is this : Are all Italians smaller than the native 

 bees of this country ? I have bees of eight diffierent shades 

 in the same hive ; while some of them have a distinct yel- 

 low band, others of the same colony have no yellow at all ; 

 thus showing how bees vary in color. I noticed, among my 

 yellow golden Italians, some bees with dark stripes. The 

 Carniolan queens I have purchased recently have not 

 hatched out any bees yet, and therefore I cannot report on 

 their size. It is said they are much larger than the native 

 bees ; but if they don't prove to be of larger size than the 

 Italians, they, too, will fall short of representation. 



My object of writing this for publication is, that some 

 reader may reply through the columns of the American 

 Bee Journal by the way of comparing notes, for it may be 

 that native bees of the Northern and Western States are 

 smaller than those of this climate ; and the Italians I have 

 so far reared from Western queens may be the usual size, 

 and all right. They are the first and only bees of the kind 

 I ever saw ; but they are greatly inferior in size to our 

 natives. As to their honey-gathering qualities I can't say, 

 but if we get through the winter, and I have enough to be- 

 gin the next nectar season, I may be in position to answer, 

 with them side by side, giving all an even chance. 



It is strange to me that here in this temperate climate, 

 where the summer constitutes the greater part of the year, 

 the bees cannot give any surplus, and very often don't store 

 sufficient to live through the winter. There must be some- 

 thing radicallv wrong. It may be in the management, or 

 it may be all attributable to the lack of nectar. It is a fact, 

 known to all the beemen of this part of the country, that 

 after the first of June, or thereabouts, our bees store noth- 

 ing more ; sometimes they may gather sufficient barely to 

 live on, but to store any surplus is a rare thing. 



I notice the different writers in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal speak of different honey-plants their bees gather from 

 through the fall. Such a thing is unknown here, or at least 

 to me. We have fall flowers, but I am not much of a bota- 

 nist, and do not know the names of our fall flowers. We have 

 them, of course, but it is seldom a bee is seen on them ; and 

 when they are it seems to be for pollen. Of course, we 

 know they work on cotton, but that is about all I can see. 



I have about come to the conclusion that the only way 

 bees can be handled to any advantage here, unless it be in 

 strictly isolated cases, is to plant forage for them, and the 

 next question arises. What are the plants we could grow 

 here that will furnish nectar ? I read about goldenrod in 

 the West as being such a good honey-plant. Why, here the 

 i bees hardly ever visit it. There are localities, however, 



