72 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 26, 1905. 



work and contracted the entrance to my hives. I had them 

 on the Miller bottom-board and the entrance wide open. I 

 contracted the entrance and fed liberally, and the disease has 

 entirely disappeared. I also went to an apiary where there 

 were Italian bees, and I narrowed the entrance to those hives, 

 and shut them down where they were warm, and fed them 

 with sugar syrup, and the disease has entirely disappeared. 



No. 152 — In my experience with this pickled brood I be- 

 lieve it to be black brood in its incipiency. From the causes 

 given by most of the experts on pickled brood they tell us that 

 it becomes so by being neglected. I found it in Colorado 

 with a little honey, and I found it in medium colonies with 

 a little honey, and in those that have plenty of honey ; I found 

 it in the honey-flow and I found it in the very strongest of 

 colonies, exactly what Mr. France showed me yesterday, and 

 said it was pickled brood, and he gave me a very severe look 

 when I told him it was black brood. I followed a case down 

 from just one or two cells of so-called pickled brood in the 

 apiary till you could see it develop into the most malignant 

 case of black brood in all stages, from very few cells to others 

 entirely dead from disease. I think the locality must have 

 something to do with it. , , . , 



J. C. Stewart— This gentleman stated that his bees re- 

 covered after they began to feed. I would like him to state 

 if the bees had plenty of honey in the hive at the same time? 

 No. 159 — Yes, but it was sealed honey. 

 J. C. Stewart— I believe bees can uncap honey about as 

 well as anybody else. I had thirty cases of this pickled brood 

 at one time in New York. I had it once last year and again 

 this year; about five cases this year; and at no time have my 

 bees been short of feed, and I have not fed anything to help 

 them get rid of the disease, nor did I kill a single queen, and 

 for three years previous to that I fought foul brood, hammer 

 and tongs, night and day, in fifty or sixty colonies. I know 

 it has no connection with foul brood whatever. I know these 

 thirty colonies have had pickled brood, and they got well and 

 I never lifted a finger to help them in any way. 



C. Stewart — I don't think you will find that pickled brood 

 will ever develop into black brood or foul brood. The con- 

 ditions that prevail may be as favorable to the development 

 of black brood as of pickled brood. 



Mr. Rhees— I have had some experience with pickled 

 brood. Some four or five years ago I got quite alarmed. In- 

 variably they got low during the season. I came to the con- 

 clusion' that pickled brood was simply the death of the larvae. 

 I understand it is caused by some life that grows in the 

 matter that is decaying. Nearly all diseases are caused by 

 some kind of life. I believe when the conditions are favor- 

 able to pickled brood they have it. When feed is poor or the 

 weather cold, or the bees cannot get water, or something that 

 is needed to feed this young larvae, it dies. When conditions 

 are favorable in the hive the percentage of deaths is small, and 

 the bees pull them out before we ever see them at all. I 

 believe the larvse die in our colonies ; if the larvae are removed 

 immediately we do not see any pickled brood. If they die in 

 large quantities we commence to be alarmed at the situation. 

 In some instances where the vitality of the queen isverylow 

 and a colony gets to the hives, and the brood is already 

 started, the bees get behind and they cannot catch up, and 

 the disease will finally kill the colony in some instances. I 

 do not believe pickled brood is contagious in the same sense 

 as foul brood. The only way we can cure it is by keeping the 

 vitality above it, and the conditions of the bees good. 



Pres. Harris — As your presiding officer I do not know 

 that in my life I have ever felt prouder to preside over a 

 deliberative body of ladies and gentlemen than I have Jhis 

 one. It has been one of the most harmonious meetings I 

 have experienced in all walks through -life We are all stars 

 in the universe, some shine brighter than others. Wemaynot 

 all walks on paths of flowers, some of us have thorns in those 

 paths and walks in life, but by our goodness, and by casting 

 aside our selfishness, we live to better the conditions of one 

 another. I should say to you here that the saddest time I 

 have is when I say good-bye to those I have been associated 

 with. in a meeting of this kind, and when today I say fare- 

 well to you, it is not a farewell forever, because I expect to 

 meet many of you again. But before next year many of those 

 who are here — I hope not — will go over to their last Home 

 on the other side of the river, and I hope before you leave 

 you will have a hearty hand-shake, you will come in touch 

 with one another and get down to that point in life where 

 good Christian people get — while I may not be one of them, 

 I believe in it — that you may assemble together and do unto 

 others as you would have them do unto you. That is the 

 proper thing in life. Do not, when you go away from here, 

 fix up your little slates for the next officers ; look at this from 



a sincere standpoint; do your duty. If anyone writes you a 

 circular, use your own judgment, and then in the future you 

 will have an organization that will not go on in a selfish 

 channel for one or two cliques that may be there, but for the 

 whole interest, for the whole bee-fraternity of the United 

 States. Always bear this in mind, and you will have done 

 a good thing in life. I want to say another word in con- 

 clusion. Do not forget our bee-papers, that you may get 

 proper education. They do much to upbuild our industry. 



Mr. Taylor — If there is no other business I move the 

 convention adjourn sine die. 



The President put the motion, which on a vote having 

 been taken was declared carried, and the convention ad- 

 journed at 12:30 o'clock p. m., Sept. 30. 



(Dnv'Sxskv 



j^ 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, lU. 



An Elder Sister's Experience— Robbep-Cloth. 



I am 70 years old and my sister is 60. When I started 

 with the bees I expected to interest the younger members 

 of the family, but have failed in that. Three of them are 

 away from home, and the one that is left has more than 

 enough to do, for in the summer months, when we have to 

 work the most with the bees, we have tourists with us, and 

 then in the hot season my strength seems to fail me. Last 

 season I was so slow in my work with the bees that three 

 of the children of our visitors g'ot stung. 



Only one colony came through the winter in good con- 

 dition, but it did splendidly. It built up fast, and was very 

 strong, being four stories high. I got more honey from 

 that colony than I had taken from the 5 before. They were 

 so orderly, so well-behaved, so intent on their own business, 

 so watchful for enemies. 



But how was I to get to the bottom of the " castle " for 

 queen-cells ? I meant to divide it into 3 and give each a 

 queen-cell, which would have been an easy enough thing to 

 do if I had had an assistant, for I could hardly lift one of 

 those frames full of honey and bees. I took away the full 

 combs of honey, and the frames containing brood I put into 

 a new hive. But when I got to the second story they just 

 seemed to say, " Hands off ! you shall go no further ". So 

 I shut them up with full supers of empty combs, and with- 

 out a single queen-cell ; and, what was worse still, when I 

 went to take away the full supers the bees had taken pos- 

 session, and were transferring the honey into their hive. I 

 had been far too slow, but they had not. They were mas- 

 ters of the field, and knew it. too. When I objected and 

 brushed them off the combs, they were very angry. How- 

 ever, they took care of the new colony and sent a nice 

 swarm into it, making it almost as strong as itself. 



I have been too " careful and troubled " like Martha, 

 being seldom free from " bees in my bonnet ". I am trying^ 

 now to free myself from this. I may keep one or two colo- 

 nies on the let-alone plan until I see if my strength comes 

 back. In the meantime I must rid myself of carking care 

 and "be careful for nothing ". A Sister. 



Muskoka, Ont., Dec. 10. 



After the interesting experience you have had it is 

 greatly to be hoped that returning strength may allow you 

 to keep in the ranks. Indeed, when the true virus of bee- 

 fever is in the veins one is not likely ever to be freed from 

 it. Are you sure that interest in the bees is not the very 

 thing to preserve and increase your strength 7 It's the 

 other cares, the indoor cares, that are the carking ones, and 

 the care of the bees helps one to let go of the others. At 70 

 quite a number are still active in the business, some of them 

 producing their thousands of pounds of honey. 



When taking away those full combs of honey it would 

 have been an excellent thing to have used a robber-cloth to 

 throw over the combs, thus preventing the bees from get- 

 ing started to rob. When once they get thoroughly started 

 robbing it makes them furious, and they act like so many 

 little demons, demoralizing the whole apiary. The best 

 way is to watch out that they do not get the least start, and 

 a robber-cloth handy to throw over any exposed honey is a 

 big help in that direction. 



