110 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL., 



CONDUCTED BY 



MRS. JENNIE ATCHLEY. 



Beeville, Texas. 



PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING. 



Ijesson No. 6. 



(Continued from page 46.) 

 BEE-PARALTSI8. 



This disease seems to be next to foul 

 brood, and causes the bees to dwindle 

 very fast. I have not seen a case of 

 paralysis for a long time, there being 

 none in this part of Texas ; but in north 

 Texas I used to be bothered with it. 

 There have been so many remedies of- 

 fered, and none of them effectual, that 

 I fear it will be only a loss of time to re- 

 peat them here. I believe that it is un- 

 wholesome food of some kind that causes 

 it, as they seem to have fever, as they 

 swell up, and their hair comes oflf. Now, 

 you all know that any swelling is caused 

 from inflammation, and a fever sets in, 

 or any derangement of the stomach is 

 likely to cause fever. So I suppose we 

 had better name this bee-disease "Bee- 

 Fever," as it goes without a name. 



Next, is to find a remedy. Who will 

 first find an effectual remedy is un- 

 known, at present I suppose, but testi- 

 mony should be in order from all direc- 

 tions until we find a cure. I will advise 

 clean hives, dry quarters, and good food, 

 as I stopped it in my apiaries this way 

 four years ago, and have not had it 

 since, but I could not offer this as a 

 remedy, for nothing was done or given 

 the bees except clean hives and new 

 combs of healthy honey, and I prescribed 

 the same for others, and it failed. So I 

 offer this as a suggestion only, and not 

 as a resolution or remedy. If any one 

 cures bee-raralysis, please let us know 

 how you did it, that we may let all 

 know it. 



liees in Northern States do not seem 

 to suffer as much as those in the South, 

 from this disease, but I believe Mrs. 

 Axtell told me she lost very heavily two 



years ago, by bee-diarrhea, and she lives 

 in Illinois. She told me that she had to 

 keep bottles of hot water about her bees 

 to keep them from freezing, and damp- 

 ness may have caused the disease in her 

 case. It may be brought on by several 

 ways. Bad food, cold and damp, or by 

 too much pollen taken with honey. Let 

 us all watch it closely. 



BEE-MOTH. 



This could not be called a disease, but 

 I wish to call attention to everything 

 that destroys the bees. In Northern 

 latitudes the bee-moth has but a short 

 time to work, as it takes warm weather 

 for them to thrive. Here in the South 

 a queen-rearing yard, or any colony that 

 is not strong in bees all the time, will be 

 killed outright if not properly and 

 promptly attended to. 



There are two classes or species of 

 bee-moth here. The small, or center 

 moth, is very bad indeed, and sometimes 

 injures our bees, no difference how 

 strong they are. The reason I have 

 called or named them the "center" or 

 foundation moth is, they work right in 

 under the base of the cell-caps, and web 

 the young bees fast, and they can't 

 hatch, but gnaw off their cell cover- 

 ings, and just work like a lot of pigs 

 trying to get out of a pen, until they die. 

 So when you see a squad of bees with 

 their heads all uncovered, and wriggling 

 for life, you can pull them out and see 

 the little moth-worm hop out. Then you 

 will soon learn what a center moth is. 



The old, big gray-back moths are 

 known, I suppose, by every one that 

 ever handled bees, so I ao not think it 

 necessary to describe them here ; but 

 they are simply a large fly that lays eggs 

 about the unoccupfed. part of the hives, 

 and they grow rapidly, and soon grow to 

 large, wrinkly worms that are very de- 

 structive, and it seems they just try to 

 see how much comb they can destroy. 



The worm itself is properly named 

 " moth," as it can subsist upon anything 

 that it can eat— dry, hard wood, and 

 iron for ought I know, as it seems that 

 nothing is too hard for them. But they 

 seem to love pollen better than honey or 

 comb, and quickly destroy old combs 

 with pollen in them, if allowed to do so. 



We make war against the moth, and 

 kill them in many ways. Combs can be 

 sulphured in a tight room, or soaked in 

 water until all are drowned. 



By all means try not to let the moths 

 get a start on your honey, beeswax, 

 comb foundation, or in your hives, as 

 damage will be done. 



