552 



T'Mm m^mmmi^mm Mm^ j@ipkimmiu. 



reproduce themselves, go to the next 

 fold and repeat, and so on. Death to 

 the sheep, certain death. The phe- 

 nomenon is easy of solution. A similar 

 process goes on with infinitesimally 

 small foul broods. We simply see the 

 results — death to larval bees. 



I take strong grounds against the 

 expressed views that there is incipient 

 or mild type of foul brood. I expect 

 to step on " corned " theories. If they 

 hurt, kick. An incipient or mild type 

 of wolf, lion, tiger, hawk, eagle, Can- 

 ada thistle, hay cholera, small-pox, 

 etc. ! Surely the idea is ideal. We 

 would like to see a sample. If you 

 liave a pair, so to speak, of foul brood, 

 death is in the cell. You simply have 

 a little, and if not eradicated, you very 

 soon will have much. 



One germ is as malignant as a 

 million. It is only by the difl'ereuce in 

 numbers — quantity. The less the num- 

 ber or quantity, the less slowly con- 

 tagion goes on ; the greater the 

 number, the more rapid and more 

 violent the contagion. One seed or 

 pair of seeds attack a larva. A very 

 short time, and millions are produced. 

 One larva is eaten up, a thousand 

 "seeds find a lodging place, and a 

 thousand bees go the way of all liv- 

 ing." Death of one, and death of a 

 thousand, that is all ! It is malign ! 

 It is death, all the same ! 



In order to correct a few false ideas, 

 which have a specific bearing upon the 

 requirement of legislation, I will en- 

 deavor to make clear the origin of 

 foul brood. Where is or was the be- 

 ginning or origin of anything, either 

 animal or vegetable ? Foul brood cer- 

 tainly belongs to one of the great king- 

 doms of life. It is not a chemical 

 process. In the beginning, etc., and 

 again everything brought forth seed 

 after its kind. It simply had its origin 

 away back in the ages. 



It was, like every other living thing, 

 created bj- a superior intelligence, and 

 like everj' other living thing, it has 

 been endowed with reproducing facul- 

 ties. All that is needed is that the 

 seed take root in some appropriate soil 

 or congenial atmosphere. Decapitated 

 drones, filthy hives, and such things 

 have nothing to do with the matter. 

 Wh}' not rats, mice, vermin, etc., 

 spring up in existence in similar wajs? 

 Cut oif the lieads of bulls and rams, 

 and men will spring spontaneously 

 into being. Fill the valleys with filth 

 and loolv for noble herds to come forth. 

 Nonsense ! Put the seed into the 

 ground and harvest will be sure ; the 

 male and female into tlie herd, and 

 the cattle upon a tliousand hills appear, 

 the seed germ, or whatever it is, male 

 and female, into a clean, pure, Avhite, 

 sweet, young bee, and millions of foul 

 lirood are born in a daj'. Foul brood 



beings do not like filth. They want 

 just a living, juicy bee or similar food, 

 and tlie work goes on. 



Can the disease be cured, is the 

 critical question of the day ? Yes. 

 Why is it not generally and satisfac- 

 torily done ? Why are not all the 

 rattle-snakes in America killed, the 

 cobras of Asia, the lions of the jungle, 

 the rabbits of Australia, or sharks of 

 the sea ? A lion can be shot if seen, 

 or poisoned if persuaded to take bait. 

 If either cannot be done, a thousand 

 shots fired into a jungle may not take 

 eftect. A rattle-snake come in con- 

 tact with may be killed, but all the 

 sticks and stones hurled at the rocks 

 will not reach those in its crevices and 

 holes. Foul brood can hide in the 

 holes and crevices of bee-cells, and in 

 the forests of growth upon their walls 

 •as safely from all the drops of acid or 

 other missiles that may be fired at them. 

 Many may be, and are killed, but some 

 escape, live and reproduce. 



Once in awhile a bee-keeper may, 

 and does, succeed in arresting the dis- 

 ease, but it is under very favorable cir- 

 cumstances that it can be successfully 

 accomplished. It is doubtful if there 

 be a method in existence that will 

 work satisfactorily in anything like a 

 maximum percentage of cases under 

 all circumstances. I have tried the 

 best known methods. They cure, but 

 in circumstances similar to ours, the 

 cure about equals the loss by disease 

 in cost. Were I again to be similarly 

 placed, the most perfect of all purifiers, 

 fire, will do the work of curing. It is 

 the simplest, quickest and best in the 

 long run. 



These facts, merely hinted at, car- 

 ried out in practical detail, have led a 

 goodly number of our best and most 

 successful bee-men to put forth eilbrt 

 in securing legislation. These facts 

 laid before our legislators, aroused 

 their sympathies toward an honest and 

 profitable industry, and to-day the 

 business has its first protecting bar- 

 rier. The Bill may be severe. If any 

 one should lose one to five thousand 

 dollars through the wanton abuse of 

 privilege, would they say so ? Own 

 up. Be honest for once, and fall in 

 line. Magnify our law and give to 

 the world, to our neighbor, the purest, 

 cleanest, highest, healthiest bees in 

 existence. 



Woodstock, Ont. 



BROOD-COMBS. 



The Proper Distance to Space 

 Combs in the Hive. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY BEV. W. P. FAYLOR. 



Itce-Ueepins: tor Profit, by Dr. 



G. L. Tinker, is a new 50-page pamphlet, 

 which details fully the author's new system 

 of bee-management iu producing comb and 

 extracted honey, and the consti-uction of 

 the hive best adapted to it — his "Nonpareil." 

 The book can be had at this office for 25 

 cents. 



The article from Mr. Z. T. Hawk, on 

 page 487, calls me out again. He 

 seems to think that bees of their own 

 accord build their combs in hollow 

 trees and box-hives, IJ inches from 

 centre to centre ; but what are the 

 facts in the case ? Observation and 

 experience both prove that this is not 

 exact. In my former communication, 

 I said that bees build all the main 

 combs not less thas IJ- inches from 

 centre to centre ; and they usually 

 average the distance much more than 

 this. 



I have just recently transferred 5 

 colonies of bees from box-hives, and 

 knocked the tops oft' of two more to 

 get some honey for a neighbor. Many 

 of these combs were as far as 2 inches 

 from centre to centre, and the nearest 

 I found an}' of the brood-combs from 

 centre to centre was If inches. It will 

 be readily understood why bees in box- 

 hives come out so strong in the spring. 

 Thej' thus have room to cluster in 

 goodly numbers together, with plenty 

 of stores all through the winter just 

 above their little heads. 



Where bees are wintered on combs 

 closely spaced, the.}' soon consume the 

 honey in the middle of the hive, and 

 must run back and forth to the outside 

 combs to get food, to the inside of the 

 cluster. This worries them, and hence 

 shortens their lives. 



Mr. Hawk says : "When bees are 

 wintered in chafi" hives or the cellar, 

 this matter of close or wide spacing 

 cuts a very insignificant figure." I 

 admit that the difference in wintering 

 would not be so great, but is it not a 

 fact that not more than one colony of 

 bees out of a hundred, and possibly 

 not more than one out of every thou- 

 sand, ever see the inside of a chaff hive 

 at all ? 



Again, Mr. Hawk ti-ies to make a 

 point for close spacing, from the 

 " bulging theory." If the bees are left 

 to care for themselves, no matter how 

 wide or close frames are spaced, they 

 will widen out some combs more than 

 others. It is the business of the bee- 

 keeper to notice iu the .start what 

 newly-hived swarms are " up to," and 

 how they build their combs. I have 

 not a single comb in my whole apiary 

 but what can be changed for any other, 

 and will fit between any two combs iu 

 the yard, without being shaved oft', 

 either. 



Mr. Hawk further asserts that when 

 a cell is once lengthened, the bees 



