686 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAi-, 



in the mails, and the breeders should not 

 be held responsible for this. 



THREE-BANDED AND FIVE-BANDED BEES. 



Dr. Howard was asked to explain the 

 difference between 3-banded and 5- 

 banded workers. 



Ho stated that a 3-banded bee is one 

 in which the first three segments of the 

 abdomen behind the thorax or body were 

 bright yellow, the remaining segments 

 were dark ; that the hairs on all the 

 segments were white, shading to a brown 

 toward the ends. A 5-banded bee is 

 one in which the first three segments 

 were of a brighter yellow than the 3- 

 banded, and that all the hairs appeared 

 longer and white to the ends, and that 

 the hairs on the fourth and fifth seg- 

 ments were longer than on the remain- 

 ing segments ; 5-banded bees were very 

 much the same in appearance as the 

 Albinos, except that in the Albinos all 

 the hairs were long and very bright. 



He was asked if there were any yellow 

 bands on the fourth and fifth segments 

 like those on the first three segments. 

 He answered that the anterior and pos- 

 terior borders of the first three segments 

 in Italians were dark, and all the other 

 segments were dark ; that the long 

 white hairs on the fourth and fifth seg- 

 ments gave the appearance of bands. 

 He considered them merely a strain — 

 rather a distinction without a difference ; 

 he had never seen a bee with five golden 

 bands. 



The general opinion prevailed that 

 all pure Italian bees were only 3-band- 

 ed, some were brighter than others. 



A NEW BEE-DISEASE. 



Leonard Cowell described a new dis- 

 ease from which his bees had suffered. 

 The abdomen swelled until it was very 

 large, the alimentary canal seemed 

 locked, and on pressure the feces would 

 burst through the adominal wall before 

 it would pass the natural way. The 

 bees would crawl out of the hive and 

 die by the hundreds; by opening the vent 

 with a pin, they would be relieved and 

 fly away. He was sure that the trouble 

 was in the alimentary tract, from the 

 experiments on a few bees. 



Several others had the same disease 

 among their bees, and by sprinkling fine 

 salt down among the bees, it seemed to 

 stop it. 



The question was asked if there was 

 any dampness in the hives in which the 

 disease occurred. There was not, and 

 it occurred in weak as well as strong 

 colonies. Paralysis or " nameless bee- 



disease "was suggested, but those who 

 had seon both, declared that there was 

 no resemblance to paralysis. All de- 

 clared it something new, and worthy of 

 investigation. 



Dr. Howard suggested that this dis- 

 ease might, perhaps, be the cause of 

 the worthlessness of the queens referred 

 to awhile ago ; he thought that every 

 one should investigate the surroundings, 

 try to determine the age of the bees suf- 

 fering, whether the old bees, or those 

 bred this spring, and notice if cold or 

 long confinement influenced the disease. 

 He would give it some attention if it 

 visited his bees. 



The meeting then adjourned until 8 

 a.m. on Wednesday. 



(To be continued.) 



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The Best Fouiiilalion for Sections. 



Query 925.— Which Is the most profitable 

 foundation to use for sections— suppose I 

 take thia brood foundation which averages 8 

 square feet to the pound, and put it in the 

 brood chamber, between the end of the hive 

 and the division-board, and having It there 

 for three days to be drawn out some, then 

 taking' it out and put it in the sections? or 

 use thin surplus foundation for sections with- 

 out having it drawn out at all ? — Illinois. 



Extra thin foundation. — J. M. Ham- 



BAUGH. 



Use the thinnest foundation every 

 time. — P. H. Elwood. 



I'd rather have the thin foundation in 

 the sections. — C. C. Miller. 



I would use the thin foundation with- 

 out being drawn out. — M. Mahin. 



Place the thin foundation in the sec- 

 tions at the start. — J. P. H. Brown. 



We would take the thin surplus foun 

 dation every time. — Dadant & Son. 



Use the thin foundation. It is too 

 late in this age of progression to begin 

 again, with fussy methods of the past, 

 — G. W. Demabee. 



