344 



October, 1914. 



American Vae Journal 



found no nosema in them. Mr. \\ hite 

 had reported the same from sample 

 bees sent to him by me. Yet, was it 

 not in the May disease that the German 

 scientists first found the nosema ? T is 

 parasite was also reported as found in 

 the Isle-cf-Wight disease. We have 

 much to learn still. Mr. Cowan thought 

 that the nosema was difficult to detect 

 in dead bees. He was inclined to be- 

 lieve that it caused both the Isle-of- 

 Wight disease and the May disease or 

 paralysi , as it is called in America. 



The i formation already received by 

 me that the Italian mi.xed with the 

 Swiss bees, or the Swiss-bred Italians, 

 are the best for that climate, was con- 

 firmed by nearly every man present, 

 and they are all leading beekeepers. 

 Messrs. Bertrand, Odier, Warnery, 

 Gautier, Bignens, Paintard and Fores- 

 tier were unanimous on this point. In 

 our own country how do northern- 

 bred Italians compare with the south- 

 ern bred ? Have any of our beekeepers 

 made any comparative experiments ? 



On the followi'g day we had the 

 surprise of a visit from our Lyon 

 friend, Mr. Vibert, who was spending 

 his vacation on tlie south shore of the 

 lake. He knew we were to be there 

 about that time and came, relying on 

 the kind hospitality of Mr. Bertrand, 

 to spend a few hours with us again. 

 An hour after his arrival, a stranger 

 came, and was announced as Mr. Ivan 

 Louis Melikov, a bacteriologist at the 

 Pasteur Institute of Paris. The bee 

 association of Haute Savoie had asked 

 for help in th • study of the bacillus of 

 foulbrood. This gentleman had come 

 to them and had at once been directed 

 to Mr. Bertrand for information. Our 

 readers know of the long experience 

 our friend has Iiad with foulbrood. He 

 had it in his own apiary, fought it with 

 drugs and finally vanquished it. He 

 translated F. C. Harrison's study of 

 foulbrood, ind wrote another study on 

 it himself. Mr. Cowan, who was there, 

 is also an authority on diseases. Mr. 

 Melikov was evidently well posted on 

 our host's reputation, for he paid him 

 the neat compliment of saying that he 

 was "the most celebrated authority on 

 bees in the entire world." The com- 



pliment was fully deserved, though Mr. 

 Bertrand modestly declined it. 



Mr. Vibert called our attention to 

 the number of nationalities gathered 

 together in this little party. Mr. Meli- 

 kov is of Russian nationality, so we had 

 Russia, England. Switzerland, France 

 and America represented. We enjoyed 

 the day, and Mr. Melikov invited me to 

 call on him at the Pasteur Institute on 

 my return to Paris. He was in hopes 

 of being able to prepare some studies 

 of foulbrood in the meantime. Mr. 

 Cowan said that, in his opinion, there 

 are climatic differences between sam- 

 ples of the bacilli of I^urope and 

 America, and suggested that bacillus 

 brandenbourgensis, bacillus burri and 

 bacillus laivs of White were perhaps 

 identical. 



The following morning I went down 

 into the little park early and found Mr. 

 Bertrand there i'l a mournful mood. 

 We were to leave them that morning 

 for the Italian trip. He said: "This 

 is a melancholy morning for me, for I 

 don't know whether I will ever see you 

 again. Your father was one of my best 

 friends, and I re-read some of his let- 

 ters often. Yet I have never met him. 

 Our friendship grew through corres- 

 pondence." 



It was a sad parting on both sides. 

 We were glad that Mr. Cowan expected 

 to remain a few days, as it made it less 

 lonely for our old friends. We took 

 the train at 10 o'clock for Bellinzona 

 and Milan. This was the last episode 

 of our month in Switzerland. It had 

 been a happy month. 



Contributed 



Articles^ 



Honey as a Remedy 



BY H. SPUHLER. 



MR. CREPIEUX - JAMIN, treating 

 this subject in an article on page 

 58 of the February number of the 

 Bee Journal, comes to the conclusion 

 that " honey is a first-class food, but a 

 medicine of low value." In view of 

 this discredit of honey as a remedy, I 

 take the liberty of supporting the op- 

 posite view, based mainly upon my ex- 

 periments made while retailing honey. 

 Mr. Crepieux-Jamin is a physician of 

 the bacteriological school which main- 

 tains that a great number of diseases 

 are caused by microbes, and that each 

 disease requires special remedies. On 

 the other side are found doctors who 

 claim that the microbes are not the 

 original cause, but secondary phenom- 

 ena, and that the true cause is the 

 weakening of the organism and the 

 lack of " force of resistance"; that in 



The Castle of Nyon 



view of this, instead of using remedies 

 we must strengthen the organs and 

 procure to them the best sanitary con- 

 ditions. As principal factors upon 

 which our health depends are food, 

 air, light, water, action and rest. These 

 represent also the most efficacious 

 means of re-establishing health. There 

 are in Europe, especially in Germany 

 in Austria and in Switzerland, a large 

 number of physicians who, with great 

 success, treat all diseases without medi- 

 cines other than these natural factors, 

 especially food diet and water — cold, 

 warm, and in the shape of steam. 

 There are a number of establishments 

 run according to these principles and 

 succeeding finely. 



It is well recognized that a large 

 number of diseases are caused by bad 

 methods of nourishment, and it is of 

 importance for sick people to be ac- 

 quainted with a first-class aliment dis- 

 tinguished by its digestibility, strength- 

 ening the organism and presenting for 

 that reason an important remedy. 

 Honey is perhaps the oldest remedy 

 known; it has been approved for cen- 

 turies, and it will probably be used for 

 the benefit of the sick when many of 

 the present remedies will have long 

 been forgotten forever. The follow- 

 ing data refer to a few cures that I 

 have observed myself and prove its 

 efficacy : 



Cure of anemia. An 8-year-old girl 

 suffered so seriously of this disease 

 that she was confined to her bed. A 

 long medical treatment had no success 

 and the parents were in despair. At 

 last the patient was treated by a diet of 

 honey dissolved in milk. After a few 

 weeks she was enough stronger to be 

 able to accompany her mother when 

 she came to my house to purchase the 

 honey. At the end of two months she 

 was able to return to school. 



A girl of 20, employed in a spinning- 

 mill, was losing her strength from day 

 to day. Fearing serious sickness, she 

 applied for membership in a mutual in- 

 surance against disease, but owing to 

 her condition of health, she was re- 

 fused admission. The trouble in- 



