AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 373 



I have seen the disease in Iowa, but it was slightly different from the California 

 kind. Here it usually attacks a colony about the time it gets populous enough for 

 the surplus receptacles. Then the colony gradually weakens until the surplus 

 receptacles will not be occupied, and they are taken off as empty as when put on. 

 Even in an abundant honey-flow they are unable to get much ahead, and often are 

 unable to gather their daily food. It begins gradually, so that by keeping a few 

 newly-reared queens they may be introduced as soon as the first symptoms appear, 

 and avoid very great loss. 



I do not discredit the statements of those who have recommended salt and sul- 

 phur, but I write this for those who having tried those remedies with failure may 

 try the supersedure. Caging the queen for awhile, or in any way restricting her 

 egg-laying, seems to be influential. Colonies which lose bees rapidly in summer, 

 lose none in winter. This was the same in Iowa. 



Another disease, if disease it proves to be, has appeared, which has enough sem- 

 blance of foul brood that considerable parts of apiaries have been destroyed by 

 burning. But the affected brood is apparently like common dead brood. This I 

 have not had enough experience with to be certain of the cause, but I will advance 

 a theory that the larvae die a death of starvation from not being sufficiently supplied 

 by the nurses. This might happen from there being a lack of food because of the 

 near approach of the nurse-bees to starvation, or too few nurses for the amount of 

 brood to receive care. Then again, I believe the nurses might be a little too lazy 

 to be sure their work was thoroughly done. It has been said that to bring bees to a 

 warm country where there was honey all the time, they lose their industrious habits. 

 While this is false in the main, it is slightly true. There may be two different 

 localities not over 10 to 15 miles apart. In one, the colonies must have enough 

 stores left in their hives to last until the next season's honey harvest. In the other 

 locality they can gather enough from the flowers nearly every day in the year, and 

 that without regard to how dry the year. In many localities, with only 3 inches of 

 rain last December, 10 to 15 colonies could find enough flowers to obtain their sup- 

 port all the year round. Of course when 100 to 200 are gathered into one place 

 they would then require a store in the hives, because the flowers would not be 

 numerous enough. 



In the first-mentioned locality, on the approach of starvation, the young brood 

 is allowed to die, and then afterward the capped brood is devoured by the working- 

 bees. Then the bees begin to drop off, and finally the queen and her retinue ; these 

 last dying some days after the last morsel of honey disappears. No matter what 

 the weather may be, they are dependent upon the store in their hives. 



In the other locality a colony can gather honey every day the sun shines. In 

 Southern California there are almost solid months of sunshiny days, but this is very 

 much more so in some localities than others, although the respective localities may 

 not be far apart. For example : Willows have been constantly in bloom here since 

 last November, and there is now a variety just putting forth its blossoms. Every 

 day when the sun shines the bees can fly out and return with loads of honey and 

 pollen. But in this willow locality there is less sunshine. While the sun shines 

 clear all day long in the mountains, here there is fog until ten o'clock in the morn-' 

 ing. Then it clears up for three or four hours. Then come clouds. This is the 

 every day procedure. But occasionally there come several days of clouds all day, 

 or there may be cold or wind which would keep the bees in the hives. This leads to 

 starvation of a somewhat different kind. These spells are liable to happen during 

 the winter and early spring. This constant supply of a little honey and much 

 pollen makes brood-rearing boom even in January. 



I had my first swarm Feb. 2nd ; the latest, about two hours ago, with a good 



