1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



45 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Washington, August, 1871. 



Q^^ We are in pressing need of No. 7, of tlie 

 Amekican Bee Journal, of volumes V. and "VI. 

 (dated respectively January, 1870, and January, 1871); 

 and will pay twenty-five cents, per copy, for those 

 numbers till our wants are supplied, if sent to the 

 publication office, with the sender's name. 



Anonymous communications, especially if re- 

 ferring to personal matters, must be accompanied by 

 the writer's name, to secure attention, — not for pub- 

 lication, but for our information and security. 



A new theory respecting the origin, cause, and 

 cure of foulbrood has been broached in the Bieneu- 

 zeitung, by Mr. G. Fischer, it is in substance that 

 the disease originates when the brood is supplied with 

 an insufficiency of nitrogenous food — that is, when 

 tlie food, though proper in its kind, is furnished iu 

 inadequate quantity ; or when, though plentifully 

 supplied, the requisite ingredients are not duly ap- 

 portioned. To correct this, and counteract the effects 

 of bad nourishment, food containing the proper ele- 

 ments in due proportion, must be furnished in the 

 requisite quantity, at the proper time. Suitable food, 

 so made up, Mr. Fischer thinks is found in the albu- 

 minous contents of hens' eggs ; and he accordingly 

 resorted to feeding a diseased colony with a mixture 

 of two parts egg with one part solution of sugar- 

 candy, adding a few drops of honey to make it more 

 acceptable to the bees. The brood reared in new 

 comb after such feeding matured in due season, free 

 of disease; as did, also, with two exceptions, that in 

 the cells of old brood comb in the foulbroody hive. 

 The food thus prepared was given at intervals of two 

 days, and according to Mr. F., effected the desired 

 purpose completely— arresting and eradicating the 

 disease, regardless of the old doctrine of contagion. 



The process is simple, easy, and cheap; and, if 

 efficient, will prove very valuable. Egg-feeding has, 

 indeed, been objected to by some as injurious ; and 

 may be so, if used in excess, but we have never found 

 it so, when employed moderately, at intervals, as a 

 stimulant. If, however, we should have occasion to 

 test it as a cure for foulbrood, we would at tlie same 

 time use the hyposulphite of soda, suggested by Dr. 

 Abbe, as a disinfectant. 



Weight of Bees. 



An Illinois correspondent asks — "How many bees 

 does it take to weigh a pound ?" 



No precise number can be named, as the number 

 will vary with the condition in which the bees are at 

 the time. 



In his experiments made in September, 18i2, Gun- 



delach found that 3765 workers, taken from a nucleus 

 hive, weighed ten ounces — which is at the rate of 

 5420 to the pound. A few mouths later, 1170 bees 

 taken by him from a hive then already several weeks 

 in winter quarters, weighed four ounces, or 4G80 to 

 the pound. The difference was ascribed to the faecal 

 matter already accumulated in the intestines of those 

 last weighed. 



October 4th, 1846, he weighed three queens : 



The first weighed 0.1685 French grammes. 



The second weighed 0.1960 " " 



The third weighed 0.3110 " " 



At the same time, a drone. .0.2o53 " " 



And a worker 0.1113 " " 



the weight of the latter being at the rate of 4500 to 

 the pound. 



Dumas and Milne Edwards give 87.00 millcgrammes 

 as the weight of a worker, being about 4000 to the 

 pound ; but this is evidently an error. 



Schmidt & Kleine say that 366 workers weigh an 

 ounce, and 5376 a jiound, but do not appear to have 

 made any experiments themselves ; merely accepting 

 Reaumur's statement. 



Berlepsch states that 177 bees found dead on the 

 alighting board of a hive, weighed half an ouuce. 

 This would give 5064 to the pouud. 



The usual estimate is that of workers, not gorged 

 with honey nor laden with pollen, 5300 will weigh a 

 pound ; and this may be regarded as a fair average. 

 Bees, when preparing to swarm, usually fill them- 

 selves with honey, and hence when weighing a swarm, 

 especiallj' if accompanied by many drones, a proper 

 allowance must be made in estimating the number of 

 workers emigrating. 



OOKHESPONDENOE OF THE BEE JOUKlf AL. 



Braunschweig, Germany, June 4, 1871.— So dis- 

 couraging a spring as the present, even bee-keepers, 

 who have been in the business fifty or sixty years 

 do not remember to have ever Ijefore encountered. 

 On the 19ih of February the bees made their first 

 cleansing flight. This was again followed by a cold 

 spell, and from the 36th of the month to the" 38th of 

 March we had, with some variations, quite favorable 

 weather. Most bee-keepers had cause to complain of 

 heavy losses, though my colonies passed the winter 

 in very good condition, as, on the wliole, I lost only 

 two per cent, of their number. At the middle of 

 March bees carried in pollen and honey, and the colo- 

 nies were then remarkably vigorous and strong. The 

 hopes of the bee-keepers rose high, but were doomed 

 to speedy disappointment. The 3iii,h of March brought 

 snow and frost, and April trave us only one day (the 

 19th) on which bees could fly out, the weather having 

 been almost continually rainy and cold. Tht-y ven- 

 tured out occasionally when the sun shone for a few 

 moments ; but of a hundred that left scarcely ten 

 returned, being almost invariably caught in siiowers 

 of rain, snow or sleet. This greatly depopulated the 

 hives, and despite of steady feeding there was a fall- 

 ing off instead of gain. May was an equally unfavor- 

 able month, giving us only four sunny days ; and 

 to-day (June 4th) the weather, r.s on the preceding 

 days, is so cold that it is uncomfortable to be out- 

 doors, and we have fire in every chamber. Very 



