213 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



me and enclosing a stamp, by return mail I will 

 try and explain more fully what is not under- 

 stood. 



J. M. Beebe. 

 Casadaga, N. Y. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Possible Cause of the Bee Disea:e. 



Mr. Editor: — I am a reader of the Bee 

 Journal, and also a beekeeper and very much 

 interested in beeculture. I see by the Journal 

 that a disease or something else is destroying 

 the bees in many parts of the country, and learn 

 from the February number that in many locali- 

 ties the devastation has been very great. I 

 made a little discovery in my bees last summer, 

 which may perhaps throw some light on the 

 subject. Whether it is anything new or not I 

 cannot tell ; but this is certain, that I have not 

 read anything written on the subject as yet that 

 furnishes any satisfactory explanation. If you 

 see proper to publish what I have to say you 

 are welcome to do so, and let it go for what it 

 is worth. 



I have not suffered materially from the myste- 

 rious maladv hitherto, but last summer and fall 

 I noticed a good many dead bees around my 

 hives, especially in the morning. I went to ex- 

 amining some of them, and, to my surprise, in 

 the abdomen of almost every bee that I exam- 

 ined, T found a living worm or maggot, nearly 

 or quite an eighth of an inch long. The head 

 portion or that part which I took to be the head, 

 was much larger than the rest of the worm. 

 From the head it gradually tapered back to a 

 point. On the largest end, or head, of this mag- 

 got there were two very minute black dots, re- 

 sembling eyes. This maggot is found in the 

 upper part of the bee's abdomen, and by taking 

 the bee in my fingers, and drawing it apart, the 

 worm can be readily detected. When taken 

 out and laid on the band, it could be seen to ex- 

 pand and contract in a very lively mannar. 



A beekeeping friend Of mine put some of the 

 dead bees in a glass bottle, and in a short time 

 tins maggot hatched, producing a fly nearly as 

 large as what is called the Hessian fly— a perfect 

 insect. 



Now, does this worm destroy the bee, and if 

 it does, will it not destroy a whole colony, as 

 well as a few bees ? In some localities I could 

 not find any of them in the fall, after it became 

 cool enough to prevent the bees from flying, 

 My opinion is that if it would kill a few bees, 

 it might destroy a whole swarm just as well. I 

 incline to believe that the waste of a swarm 

 during the summer months, is occasioned by 

 this maggot, more than by all other causes com- 

 bined. 



Will not the readers of the Bee Journal in- 

 vestigate this matter next season, to ascertain 

 whether this maggot prevails to any consider- 

 able extent in the apiaries of the country ? I 

 would like to know whether any one else has 

 observed anything of this kind among his bees. 

 H. B. Philbrook. 



East Banbornton, N. H., March 15, 1800. 



[For the American Boa Journal. ] 



That Bee Disease. 



The first account came in the form of some- 

 thing that looted like a hoax — "Mysterious Ex- 

 odus of Honey Bees in Kentucky!" But the 

 smile with which nil greeted this stoiy has van- 

 ished uuder the array of facts, going to show 

 that throughout southern Ohio and Indiana, 

 and a large part of Kentucky, the bees are al- 

 most without exception, dead. Dead, with 

 plenty of honey in their hives, and in the mild- 

 est winter known for years. 



I have at this time no explanation to offer, not 

 having had an opportunity personally to exam- 

 ine any case of the disease. Our own apiary of 

 Italian bees is untouched by ils ravages, while 

 nearly every stock of black bees in this vicinity 

 is dead ; but whether from disease or want of 

 stores, it is hard to say. 



Last season was in this locality a disastrous 

 one for bees. Owing to a combination of mis- 

 fortunes, they closed the season without any 

 swarming, with no box or surplus honey, and, 

 in the case of black bees, without enough stores 

 to carry them through the winter. It therefore 

 happens that the black bees are gone, and the 

 honey ditto ; and whether they had "the dis- 

 ease " or not, no man knoweth. 



For many weeks we received daily letters of 

 inquiry in regard to the disease, from those 

 whose bees were attacked, but could give no 

 remedy, not knowing the cause The symp- 

 toms, as described, varied a great deal iu differ- 

 ent cases ; but a summing up of the whole pre- 

 vents me from subscribing to Ihe "o;d age" 

 theory as a. complete explanation. I think that 

 theory tells about half the story. 



Many of the accounts teceived speak of the 

 Italians as partially exempt from the ravages of 

 the disease. Our own, as above stated, have 

 escaped entirely, while we learn this spring that 

 on every side of them the black bees are gone, 

 in some cases leaving considerable honey in ac- 

 cessible parts of the hive. Your readers will be 

 interested in reading the following extracts 

 from a letter dated February 19, from E. L. 

 Grant, of Boone county, Kentucky: 



"In my county there were perhaps fifteen 

 hundred stands of black bees, and as far as I 

 know not one of them has lived up to this date. 

 In sight of my house were last fall seventy -five 

 stands of black bees, every one of which is now 

 dead . 



" I had a large stand of black bees in fine 

 condition, in the fall. It perished, leaving 

 about twenty pounds of honey. I had the only 

 stand of Italians in the county. My Italian 

 stand is in fine condition, briskly at work every 

 fine day, carrying in pollen ; and I am fully 

 convinced that the Italian is "the Bee." 



If the Italians have generally, as here, and in 

 the case of Mr. Grant, withstood the disease 

 and refused to join in the "mysterious ex- 

 odus," we have another recommendation for 

 them. What is the experience of others having 

 them in the infected district V 



J. T. Langstroth. 



Oxford, Ohio, March 10, 1869. 



