138 



THE AMERICAN A PIC UL TUB IS T. 



run on such selfish motives, I would 

 rather have my money returned than 

 be considered a subscriber. 



You are at liberty to publish this 

 if you choose. 



Sometime since I saw an article in 

 one of the bee journals, in answer 

 to an inquiry as to the reason why 

 a certain gentleman's bees tore down 

 their worker brood and dragged it 

 out. 



The answer that he received was 

 this : in case the honey flow ceases 

 suddenly, the bees will tear down 

 their worker brood and rid them- 

 selves of it to prevent starvation 

 which, so far as my experience goes, 

 I have never found to be the case, 

 although I have known the honey 

 flow to cease very suddenly and very 

 often with me. 



When the honey flow suddenly 

 ■ceases it is a very common thing to 

 see the bees dragging out drone 

 brood ; but whenever I see any of my 

 bees carrying out their worker brood 

 • I know that that colony is troubled 

 with the moth (or wax) worm. 



I then open the hive and assist 

 the bees in ridding themselves of 

 the pests, and I have never yet failed 

 to find the latter travelling along just 

 under the cappings of the brood, 

 where their presence is easily detect- 

 ed by white streaks which are easily 

 followed with the head of a large jDin 

 or the point of a knife and the worm 

 removed without injuring the brood 

 in the least. 



I suppose that the bees, in their 

 efforts to secure and remove the 

 worms, tear out some of the worker 

 brood. 



J. C. Simmons. 



Pottsville, Pa. 



news from new york. 

 Friend Locke : 

 Vols. I and II of the "Api" 

 (bound in one) came to hand in nice 

 shape. Its make-up is far superior 



to bound vols, of papers and maga- 

 zines in general, being free from ad- 

 vertisements through the body of the 

 book. In fact one could hardly tell 

 that it was a magazine as it has a 

 strong appearance of being compiled 

 expressly for book form. The me- 

 chanical part of the work is ahead of 

 any volume on apiculture we know 

 of, and of course the literary part is 

 par excellence, coming as it does from 

 such men as L. C. Root, A. J. Cook, 

 J. E. Pond, Arthur Todd, etc., etc. 



No apiarist who wishes to be up 

 with the times can afford to be with- 

 out it. It is an ornament to any library. 



The snow is all gone, but with the 

 exception of a few days the weather 

 has been cold and May i and 2 it 

 froze quite hard in the night. The 

 winter has been severe. The loss in 

 bees in this county is fully 50 per cent, 

 yet what are left are in fair condition. 



Clover appears not to have been 

 killed during the winter and I think 

 we may look for a fair crop of honey 

 if we can get our stocks strong 

 enough to swarm in time. 



Wishing you success, I remain 

 yours truly, 



CM. Goodspeed. 



Thorn Hill, N. K, May 4, 1885. 



new york and florida. 



Dear Sir : 



Books, papers and " Apicultur- 

 ist" received. Thanks. 



Owing to the continued cold weath- 

 er in January and February the or- 

 ange bloom is not at its prime yet at 

 this date (March 11), so I will omit 

 the report of its value as a honey 

 producer until next month. 



The temperature for February was 

 yet lower than for January. I have 

 taken three observations daily for 

 the two months. 



For January, at 7 a.m., average for 

 the month 55.° At i p. m., in sun 

 and cloudy weather, highest 78°, at 



