258 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



This new society represents a grow- 

 ing and important industry and should 

 receive tlie hearty support of our citi- 

 zens. 



E. T. Abbott, Secretary. 



Belmont, Ont., Can., Oct. 29, 1883. 



Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson writes me 

 that he will undertake to secure re- 

 duced rates over all railways leading 

 to Detroit at time of N. A. B. A. 



Come, friends, let us have a big 

 time : the more go, the better rates, 

 I suppose. 



S. T. Pettit, Vice Pi-es.for Ont. 

 branch N.A. B.A. 



The North American Beekeep- 

 ers' Association will meet in Detroit, 

 on December 8, 9 and 10. Every 

 practical apiarist should make an 

 effort to attend and give his rich val- 

 uable experience, by taking part in 

 the discussions of the various sub- 

 jects and questions brought before 

 the convention. The novice and 

 inexperienced should by all means 

 attend, as he will be likely to gather 

 more information from the old vet- 

 erans in a few days, than by a whole 

 year's experience with a few colonies. 

 The hotel accommodations are ample, 

 and at reduced rates, and with the 

 railroad fare at about one-half the 

 regular prices, it should be sufficient 

 to induce an unusually large attend- 

 ance. Mr. S. M. Locke will attend, 

 provided his health will permit. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



— Several beekeepers have written 

 to the Ajneric an Bee Joiirnal con- 

 cerning the new bee disease of which 

 mention is made on another page. 



W. S. S. writes thus : 



What is wrong with my bees ? The 

 strongest colony that I have is losing 

 bees very fast. Early in the morning 

 there are in the hive from fifty to two 

 hundred old bees dead and dying. I 

 examined it to-day, but could find noth- 

 ing wrong. It had four combs of 

 brood in all stages, from the egg to 

 capped brood. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Prof. Cook and 

 James Heddon reply as follows : 



It may be nothing except the bees 

 dying of old age.— W. Z.Hutchinson. 



Most beekeepers write me that the 

 aflected bees seem young, and are 

 black from being bald.— A. J. Cook. 



It is nothing strange that a colony 

 should lose that number of bees daily. 

 Just why they do not go ofl' to die, I 

 do not know. Perhaps cool weather 

 is the cause. I do not apprehend any- 

 thing serious.— James Heddon. 



W. B. T. writes: 



What ails the bees? I have thirty 

 three colonies in good condiliou, and 

 gathering honey ui abundance from 

 buckwheat, Spanish-needle and gold- 

 en-rod. But one of them is aflected 

 with a malady which suggests poison; 

 but if that were the case other colo- 

 nies would be affected. The badly 

 affected bees I should think would 

 number 2,000. They are constantly 

 cleaning themselves by rubbing tlieir 

 bodies, legs and wings, and turning on 

 their sides; they will not run from 

 smoke. Their abdomens are shining, 

 and the black portions are intensely 

 so; they are shrunken and pointecl. 

 They are taken from the hive in a 

 string or path extending sis feet from 

 the hive. The first indication was 

 about a quart of dead bees that sug- 

 gested robbing. The weather has 

 been wet and cool one week of the 

 past two. They have a fine queen, but 

 she is not laying to the extent that the 

 others are. They also have preserved 

 their drones. What ails them? 



To this Mr. Heddon replies as 

 follows : 



I would guess that this colony had 

 found some liquid sweets in bulk, and 

 were robbing. 



By the above it will be seen that 

 there is no mistake about a new bee 

 disease. So far as we are able to 

 learn, this new malady is not conta- 

 gious, and there is little cause for 

 alarm. Nevertheless, " as an ounce 

 of preventive is better than a pound 

 of cure," we advise the removal of 

 all infected colonies, to at least one 

 mile from any apiary. 



The season is now so far advanced 

 that no investigation can be made to 

 discover the cause. It is our opin- 



