150 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAj.,. 



Now, if Mr. McEvoy will please go 

 back to my article, and see if he can 

 find the word " wind " as he has it in his 

 article, it is only one word — but space 

 forbids giving a full explanation in this 

 article as to the great difference it 

 makes. 



As to the remainder said upon that 

 part of my article, in a way of explana- 

 tion, is without any proof or foundation, 

 but simply air-castles, and, as the old 

 saying goes, trying to make mountains 

 out of molehills, for who said anything 

 about clouds of disease germs, except 

 Mr. McEvoy himself? Still, if there 

 was no wind nor clouds of disease-germs, 

 there was air, and it is very light at 

 times, so that the odor that arises from 

 any substance does not shoot up and 

 away, as it does when the air is heavy 

 and in motion, as wind blowing. 



HOW THE DISEASE SPREADS. 



As I have already told in my former 

 article what my observations were in re- 

 gard to the spreading of the disease, 

 now I will tell what led me on to those 

 observations. 



Prior, or before I had foul brood in 

 my apiary, the underside of the roof of 

 my shop, and all the other out-buildings 

 where they could get in, were lined with 

 wasps' nests, and thousands of wasps 

 were reared every season. As they did 

 me no damage at that time, and I am 

 not in the habit of molesting or destroy- 

 ing anything that does me no harm, 

 they were allowed full sway. There 

 were also many nests down near the 

 ground under boards and anything that 

 provided shelter for them. Some built 

 in the grass. There were also some 

 hornet nests in some of the trees not far 

 from the apiary nearly every season ; 

 also some yellow jackets' nests, both in 

 the trees and in the ground, but at the 

 time when foul brood was at its highest 

 pitch in my apiary, and just before I 

 discovered my method of succeeding in 

 cleaning it out, in looking around in the 

 upper part of my shop, I noticed that 

 there were only a few old wasps, and 

 most of the nests deserted. 



I was surprised, and began making 

 examinations as to the cause of so few 

 wasps, and to my great surprise I found 

 the brood in a very rotten condition, and 

 some of it dried up, and very much re- 

 sembled the foul brood of bees, except as 

 to the odor. Whereupon I started on 

 an examining tour, and looked in all the 

 buildings, and wherever I knew that 

 they were in the habit of formerly nest- 

 ing, for the wasp nests, and not a sound 

 and healthy nest could be; found any- 



where near my apiary, except a very 

 few that were down near the ground, 

 and well covered. 



Next I looked for the nests of the 

 hornets and yellow jackets, which I 

 found in the same fix as the wasp nests, 

 except the yellow jackets that had their 

 nests in the ground wjre too strong to 

 allow anything to meddle with them, 

 and looked as healthy as any I ever saw. 



In one instance I examined a hornets' 

 nest in the presence of others. It was a 

 large nest, and not one live hornet could 

 be found in it, and the stench from the 

 rotten matter was so great that I had to 

 cast it away, for the smell from the foul 

 brood of bees would be nothing as com- 

 pared with it. Not a single healthy 

 wasp, hornet or jacket nest did I find 

 anywhere near my apiary, that was up 

 and away from the ground. 



Now will such who criticise my former 

 article on that subject of spores or germs 

 floating through or being carried around 

 in the air, answer the following ques- 

 tions in a friendly and impartial man- 

 ner ? 



SOME QUESTIONS TO ANSWER. 



Was the rotten brood of the aforesaid 

 nests foul brood, such as the bees are 

 subject to? If not, then what was it? 

 If it was, then how was the disease car- 

 ried to their nests ? I never saw a wasp 

 or a jacket get any of the foul-broody 

 honey, but the hornets might have 

 caught flies, the flies might have had 

 some of the foul-broody honey, and the 

 hornets might have carried the flies to 

 feed their brood. But in case of the 

 wasps and jackets, if tbey say it was 

 carried in the honey, then why did not 

 all the nests in or very near the ground 

 become diseased ? Now please do not 

 say you think I am very much mistaken, 

 but give facts and proofs that are beyond 

 a doubt. I have never said that I knew 

 for a fact that the disease was conveyed 

 through the air, but I have come to that 

 conclusion, and have simply asked the 

 readers of the American Bee Journal 

 if it ever occurred to them that the dis- 

 ease spreads in that way, or that being 

 one way in which it spreads. 



If any one wants to test the matter of 

 odor, let them take from a very foul- 

 broody colony all the covering from the 

 brood-frames, and then spread a piece 

 of wire cloth that will cover the whole 

 of the hive so that no bees can get 

 through. Then take a strong, healthy 

 colony, remove the bottom-board, and 

 sot it upon the diseased colony, so that 

 the air can pass from the diseased hive 

 through the healthy hive. Do this in 



