252 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



sure to be followed by a season of 

 scarcity. It is a well known fact to 

 pomologists and fruit-growers gene- 

 rally, that fruit trees will yield a given 

 amount of fruit for a few years, then 

 the tree must rest and recuperate, 

 and in due time, with proper care, 

 will again bear abundantly. So it 

 is with the honey-producing plants. 

 They yield largely one season, and 

 little or none the following year. 

 Again, the honey-producing flora is 

 governed by the state of the atmo- 

 sphere. With us here in New Eng- 

 land, the flowers secrete no nectar 

 when the wind is east of north or 

 south. But when the wind comes 

 from the northwest or west, the bees 

 work smartly. The largest quantities 

 of honey ar^ gathered when the wind 

 is about southwest, and the atmos- 

 phere somewhat muggy. 



A new disease has appeared in 

 some apiaries the past season. As 

 no investigation of its origin has been 

 made, its cause is as yet obscure. 

 One of the principal symptoms of 

 this disease is this : the worker bees 

 may be seen crawling about the en- 

 trance of the hive, and on the alight- 

 ing-board and act the same as bees 

 that have been chilled. In dissect- 

 ing a bee, the sac is found full of 

 what appears to be newly gathered 

 honey. 



The bees do not die off rapidly, 

 but the colony gradually decreases 

 in numbers, and the hive after a while 

 is depopulated. The healthy bees 

 continue to do the routine work of 

 the hive, gather pollen and remove 

 the dead and dying bees. 



A description of a somewhat simi- 

 lar disease may be found in "A B C 



of Bee Culture,'' by A. I. Root. Un- 

 til a better name can be found for 

 it we shall call it " bee-cholera." 

 If any reader of the " Api " has any 

 colonies that show symptoms of this 

 malady, he will oblige us by sending 

 a report to us, also giving his 

 opinion of its cause and results of 

 any experiments made to find a 

 remedy or to discover the origin of 

 the disease. Should it prove to be 

 " cholera," perhaps with properly 

 conducted experiments, a remedy 

 may be found. On the other hand, 

 if it be a disease transmitted to 

 the worker progeny by the queen, the 

 remedy is an easy and simple one. 

 If it be a disease peculiar only to the 

 Italians, the remedy is also easily ap- 

 plied, as we now have other races 

 equal, if not superior, to the once 

 universally favorite yellow bee. 



" In time of peace prepare for 

 war." Winter is a time of peace 

 with the beekeeper. The thoughtful 

 and practical apiarist makes every 

 preparation during the cold months 

 to secure the prospective honey 

 harvest the coming season. His new 

 hives are " put up," painted and 

 made ready for immediate use the 

 moment some one cries out " the 

 bees are swarming." 



The fixtures and apparatus for se- 

 curing in sections the surplus honey 

 are made ready to place upon the 

 hives as soon as the bees are ready 

 to receive and work in them. It is 

 not best, perhaps, to place founda- 

 tion in the frames, or sections, dur- 

 ing the early part of the winter, but 

 one should arrange so that but little 

 time will be required for such work 

 when the honey harvest begins. 



