52 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



person who allows his bees to get into the last 

 stage of this disease, deserves never to have 

 either bees or honey. 



Well, Gallup, this looks about like starvation, 

 instead of a disease. Yes, it appears about as 

 near to starvation as anything that I know of. 

 But, according to my friend, Mr. Puckell's 

 reasoning, it certainly must be a disease. 



This might lead to and end m contasiious 

 fouldrood. A private correspondent in Tomp- 

 kins county, N. Y., last year, gave me a very 

 close description of this disease, and wished me 

 to give my views on the question through the 

 XJEE JoUKNAL. Others have requested me to 

 write an article on foulbrood. To such let this 

 be my reply — The most of my articles are writ- 

 ten from actual experience and observation ; 

 and as I never have had or seen a case of con- 

 tagious, foulbrood, I cannot say anything 

 about it. Elisha Gallup. 



Osage, Iowa. July 5, 1869. 



[For the American Bee Journ al.] 



Diminutive Queen. 



Mr. Editor : — Enclosed I send you the "or- 

 ganic remains " of the smallest queen bee I 

 have ever seen. I had hoped to send her to you 

 living, and removed her from a colony on 

 Saturdny last (the 17th instant) for that pur- 

 pose, and put her in a good-sized cage for safe 

 keeping, until I could get a shipping cage 

 ready. But when I came to examine her, a 

 short time after being confined, I found her 

 nearly dead. I tried diluted honey, but in 

 vain ; she had concluded to leave this wicked 

 world. 



This queen was reared in a cell taken from a 

 full stock, when transferring it to a frame hive. 

 She was fertilized within the usual number of 

 days, and her progeny, which is now hatching 

 out, is about one-si.Kth drones in worker cells. 

 How is this to be accounted for ? Does it not 

 set aside the compressability theory ? 



I regret very much the loss of this queen, as 

 I should have liked to have had you experi- 

 ment with her. I have not as yet introduced a 

 queen to the colony from which she was taken, 

 and will not do so until I see whether they will 

 raise a queen from her eggs. 1 hope they will 

 do so, and that I may get another living smaller 

 one, to send to you. 



My bees are doing finely this season. I have 

 increased them fronr sixteen colonies to fifty- 

 four, all in good condition ; and have emptied 

 from the brood chamber (to give the queen a 

 chance to deposit her etrgs) about eighteen gal- 

 lons of honey, with the centrifugal machine— of 

 the working of which I will say more in my 

 next. J- K- Gardner. 



Fancy Farm, near Christiansburg, Va., 

 July 19, 1869. 



(lI^"The dead queen above-mentioned was 

 received in due course of mail, and is one of 

 the smallest we have ever seen— measuring only 

 eleven-twentieths of an inch in length, and 

 three-twentieths of an inch in diameter at the 

 thorax. She was evidently in all respects in an 



abnormal condition, and if preserved alive 

 could only have been an object of curiosity, as 

 no valid argument can be based on exceptional 

 cases. We have deposited her in the museum 

 of the Agricultural Department— there to re- 

 main until superseded by a still smaller speci- 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Case of Self-Robbing. 



I awoke at dawn one morning in July and 

 heard a tumultuous humming in my apiary, as 

 though bees were swarming or being robbed. 

 It being rather early in the day for the former, 

 I surmised at once that an onslaught was 

 being made on one of my hives. Hastily dress- 

 ing myself, I went out and, passing along the 

 stands, found all quiet until I came to a popu- 

 lous colony whose hive was provided with a 

 ventilator at the base of the hinder end, which 

 had been opened a few days before to moderate 

 the internal heat, and was still open. This 

 colony seemed to be assailed in front and rear 

 by a iiost of bees, all of which were Italians. 

 Great numbers were constjintly passing in and 

 out, noisily, like robbing bees, but there was no 

 figh'ting— no bees being disabled or killed. 

 There was no perceptible commotjou or excite- 

 ment in any of my other Italian stocks, and 

 there were no Italian bees but mine within 

 many miles. Reflecting on the singularity of 

 this occurrence, it struck me that the colory 

 was simply robbing itself. I immediately shut 

 the ventilator, and gradually closed the front 

 entrance, having previously opened one of the 

 holes in the hont-y-board under the cap, to give 

 the bees air while confined. I left them thus 

 for nearly an hour, when, the hubbub having 

 ceased, I found the portico crowded with bees 

 and a large cluster hangiug from the alighting 

 board. Another, though smaller cluster, was 

 also gathered around the closed ventilator. 

 The whole seemed quite peaceably disposed, 

 with none of the fidgety restlessness of bees in- 

 tent on robbing. I now gently opened the en- 

 trance, and the bees on the portico at once be- 

 gan fanning and humming, as those long kept 

 from home are wont to do on their return, and 

 none rushed out as robbers do after being con- 

 fined. The crowd quickly moved forward, en- 

 tered the hive joyously, in a continuous stream, 

 and were received without the slightest opposi- 

 tion. In a few minutes perfect order was re- 

 stored and work resumed as usual. I kept the 

 ventilator closed, and there was no attetnpt to 

 rob the hive thereafter. Renewed attacks 

 would certainly have been made, if the assail- 

 ants had belonged to some other hive, for rob- 

 bing bees are not apt to succumb so easily after 

 having effected an entrance. 



Has any similar case been observed ? And 

 what would have been the result, provided bees 

 from other hives or apiaries could have been 

 kept from interfering ? 



T. WORDBOW. 



Nottoway, Va. 



