284 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[June, 



queens laying eggs. I then took the comb on 

 which tlie two were at work to my house, to show 

 tliem to my wife that I liad got something that 

 would beat Quinby, Langstroth, and all the rest 

 of them. While we were looking at them, the 

 two queens came together, embraced each other 

 in the most friendly manner, then turned away, 

 and each laid an egg within an inch of where 

 they met. Money would not have bought either 

 of those queens, at that time ; but what was my 

 chagrin the next morning to find one of them 

 just expiring in front of the hive. This leads 

 me to believe that queens are not such bitter 

 enemies of each other, as we are told they are. 

 The dying queen had evidently not been stung. 

 I have freqi^ently tried to witness the battle of 

 queens, but have never yet seen the sight. I 

 have often seen the workers destroy a queen by 

 strangulation, while another queen had her 

 liberty in the same hive ; and in one instance 

 there was not a half gill of workers present. 



E. Benjamin. 

 Bockford, loica. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Foulbrood. 



Mr. Editor : — We find in almost every num- 

 ber of the Journal an article upon this deploi-a- 

 ble malady, and also different ways of getting 

 rid of it. 



As I have had some experience with this 

 disease, of course I have been interested in these 

 articles. 



I presume my experience with it has been 

 more limited than many, from the f;xct that I 

 have never had a very extensive apiary. But, 

 to say the least, I do not care to extend my ob- 

 servations, as I am entirely free from it now. 



My attention was first arrested about six years 

 ago. In the spring 1 bought some stocks from 

 a section about fifty miles away, and transferred 

 them to movable comb hives. In the fall follow- 

 ing, while examining them preparatory for win- 

 ter quarters, I discovered a few scattering cells 

 containing sealed dead brood. It occurred to me 

 at once that this might be foulbrood. The next 

 season it increased. I commenced to cut out 

 the diseased brood, but soon found it was of no 

 avail. I began to search for a remedy in what 

 hee liteniture I had, but could not find anything 

 which looked effectual. 



I kept all my stock until another season, and 

 became convinced it was of no use to try to cure 

 it, as all the stock of my home apiary wei"e 

 diseased, more or less. 



In the fall I destroyed nearly all of the bees, 

 took the honey from the combs with my honey 

 slinger, and made the combs into wax, and burnt 

 up all the frames. 



Some of the hives I scalded thoroughly with 

 hot water ; others I held over a blazing fire until 

 the propolis melted. 



I have used some of these hives, but have 

 never discovered anything of the disease. Some 

 of the bees, instead of destroying, I pat into a 

 box and kept them several days, supplying them 



with dissolved sugar, and then united them with 

 some healthy stocks ; and have not discovered 

 any unhealthfulness in consequence. I removed 

 a queen from a diseased stock to a healthy nu- 

 cleus, and discovered in a short time that I car- 

 ried the disease with her. 



I think that unless the disease is in too bad a 

 state or form, that the bees might be saved by 

 treating them as above, and placing them in a 

 clean hive ; but I think it would be a good deal 

 of trouble to cleanse the comb so it would be 

 safe to use. 



I would advise every one who discovers this 

 enemy in any stock, to destroy the comb and 

 honey at once — unless the honey can be scalded 

 before the bees can get to it — and perhaps the 

 bees too, and thoroughly cleanse the hives before 

 using. 



C. B. BiGLOW. 



Perkinsville, Vt., May, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Transferred Colony Deserts its Hive. 



A number of years ago I had a colony of black 

 bees, which I concluded to transfer into a mova- 

 ble comb hive. It was a good colony, wifh an 

 average amount of brood bees and honey. Drum- 

 ming out the swarm first, I broke up the box, 

 cut out the combs, and fitted into frames as well 

 as I knew how. To fasten these combs I used 

 linen wrapping twine. Evei'ything being i-eady 

 for the bees, I put them in, and set the hive 

 directly on its old location. In the evening of 

 that day I found the bees very uneasy and dis- 

 satisfied. On listening at the side of the hive, I 

 heard them making a singular grinding noise. 

 Next morning I examined that stock, and found 

 the bees in the same condition, I then pulled 

 out some of the frames and found that they were 

 trying to bite off that twine, though their eftbrts 

 seemed to be fruitless. A small number of the 

 bees got i:)ortions of the twine in their mandi- 

 bles, witliout being able to rid themselves of it 

 again, and wei'c dead — having probably starved. 

 This state of things continued for two days. I 

 could not remove the twine, as the combs were 

 not yet properly fastened. In the forenoon of 

 the third day after transferring the bees they 

 swarmed out. I hived them again in the same 

 hive, but next day they swai'med out again and 

 joined another stock. There was no doubt in 

 my mind that the fruitless attempts of the bees 

 to remove the twine had caused the desertion of 

 the hive. Now, and ever since that time, I use 

 thin and narrow slats — one-sixteenth of an inch 

 thick and about one-fourth of an inch wide, with 

 which I fasten the combs into frames when 

 transferring — placing them over the pieces of 

 comb and nailing them to the frames. No trans- 

 ferred colonies, with combs thus secured, have 

 since deserted their hives. 



A. Grimm. 



Jefferson, Wis. 



Man can accommodate himself to every va- 

 riety of diet, and thrive on all. The bee, alone, 

 never chausjes its food. 



