THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



written nearh' a third of a century 

 ago. I find that at that date he 

 hud been, acquainted with foul 

 brood for about twenty years, and 

 tliat from his own experience he 

 had discovered a method of curing 

 the same. This "starvation cure" 

 has probably not been improved 

 upon by any of the more modern 

 methods of curing it. His des- 

 cription of the disease is perfect 

 and his ideas about its origin and 

 spread are proven by recent inves- 

 tigations to be correct. That he 

 should have aimed at these con- 

 clusions so many years ago with 

 a hitherto unknown disease of so 

 virulent a type and in box-hives, 

 shows him to have been a born in- 

 vestigator. 



It is universally admitted that 

 the most difficult part of beekeep- 

 ing is successful wintering ; dys- 

 entery being the usual cause of 

 death. We will quote what he 

 says on this subject in his first 

 book. Remember this was writ- 

 ten before the most of us kept 

 bees and even before many of us 

 were born. " Physiologists tell 

 us that innumerable pores in the 

 cuticle of the human body are con- 

 tinuall}' throwing off waste or worn- 

 out matter, that every exhalation 

 of air carries with it a portion of 

 water from the system in warm 

 weather unperceived, but con- 

 densed into particles large, enough 

 to be seen in a cold atmosphere. 

 Now if analogy be allowed here, 

 we will say that the bee throws oflf 

 waste matter and water in the 

 same way. Its food being liquid 

 nearly all will be exhaled — in 



moderate weather it will pass off, 

 but in the cold it is condensed — 

 the particles lodge on the combs 

 and accumulate. This water in 

 the hives is a source of mischief. 

 The combs are quite certain to 

 mold. The water mold or damp- 

 ness on the honey renders it thin 

 and unhealthy for the bees causing 

 dysentery, or the accumulation of 

 faeces that they are unable to re- 

 tain. There is not sufficient ani- 

 mal heat generated to exhale the 

 aqueous portion of their food. The 

 bees in these circumstances must 

 retain the water with the excre- 

 mentitious part which soon dis- 

 tends their bodies to the utmost, 

 rendering them unable to endure 

 it long. In a moderately warm 

 day more bees will issue from a 

 hive in this condition than from 

 others ; it appears that a part of 

 them are unable to discharge their 

 burden — their weight prevents 

 their flying — they get down and 

 are lost. When cold weather is 

 long continued they cannot wait 

 for warm days to leave but con- 

 tinue to come out at any time, and 

 not one such can then return. 



With the indications attendant 

 upon such losses, m}'^ own ol^serva- 

 tions have made me somewhat famil- 

 iar and I suppose that inattention 

 with many must be the reason that 

 it is not discovered in cold weather 

 at the time that it takes place." 



Notice how perfect a description 

 he gives of this disease. If there 

 is anywhere else in the English 

 language as good a statement of 

 the usual cause of dysentery, I 

 have failed to find it. If there 



