10 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July, 



immediately cleansed them out, and the queen 

 deposited eggs in them which produced healthy 

 brood. But, though I could hold the disease 

 in check, I could not entirely remove it. Upon 

 closer examination I discovered that the dis- 

 ease was much more widely extended than 

 appeared at first flight. I had been misled by 

 the descriptions of its appearance which I had 

 read. I found that a great many unsealed larva 

 were dead, and it required close inspection to 

 determine that they were not alive. The live 

 ones were elastic and shuwed signs of life when 

 touched, and had bluisli colored heads, but the 

 d«ad ones were flabby, and had a j^ale pinkish 

 appearance. A great deal of the sealed brood 

 which was dead did not show the caps of their 

 cells sunken and perforated. On the other 

 hand, I could often detect the dead brood by 

 ±lie caps being a little puffed. On removing 

 the caps the cells were found to be full of 

 matter resembling cream. Seeing that I was 

 not likely to reach all the dead larva with my 

 disinfectant, I determined to go through the 

 four combs regularly cell by cell, carefully un- 

 sealing every one that was sealed. It was a 

 tedious undertaking, and took me two whole 

 days to accomplish it, but it lessened the disease 

 very much. 



After a while, however, diseased cells 

 appearerl in all the combs. I then destroyed 

 two of them and went over the other two again 

 in the same way. After giving sutficient time 

 for foul brood to make its appearance, I made 

 several examinations and found none, and 

 thought I had made a cure, when I fed the 

 infected honey to them as before stated. It was 

 then so late in the season, I was obliged to 

 abandon the experiment. 



With the treatment recommended by Mr. 

 Quinby I have never failed. I have had as 

 high as fifteen diseased stocks at a time. The 

 hives, frames, bees, honey, and wax are all 

 saved, and the greatly improved condition of 

 these stocks from the extra pains taken witli 

 them, caused by frequent examinations, almost 

 compensfttes for the trouble and loss attending 

 the disease. The most prosperous colonies I 

 have in my apiary are some tif those that had 

 fuul brood. So that, though it once terrified 

 me with the fear that I should lose all my bees, 

 (about 100 colonies,) I now dread it very little. 



D. BURBANK. 



Lexington, Ki/., May 27, '73. 



— ♦-♦ 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Old or Young Bees, to Winter, 



Mr. Editor. — I see that there is a strong 

 desire in some of your writers to go for some- 

 body or something, and, as I was foolish enough 

 to express my ideas in the Journal, on the 

 subject of wintering bees, it seems to be neces- 

 sary for me to reply to some remarks on that 

 subject. Mr. Novice has succeeded in wintering 



a very old swarm on sugar-syrup, and has lost a 

 young one on honey. I do not see the point, 

 unless he thinks old bees better to winter than 

 young ones ; but his statement does not prove 

 any such thing, as he didn't try the syrup oa 

 the young bees. Now we, as well as nearly 

 every bee-keeper in the"land, know that crushed 

 or loaf-sugar makes the best feed for bees, and 

 I have no objection to his so stating in every 

 article that he writes; provided, that he will 

 cease to try to prove that honey is so poisonous 

 that it is sure death for bees to eat it. I am 

 getting afraid that he will convince some of 

 our customers, and spoil our market? Who 

 would want to give honey to his children, when 

 he was sure it would kill bees ? We do not 

 raise such honey in Minnesota. 



It is claimed by most of the writers on bee- 

 culture, that the natural life of a worker-bee, in 

 the working season, does not exceed sixty days; 

 and some claim much less. Now, Mr. Wurster 

 has wintered a swarm of bees that were one 

 hundred days old when he put them into winter 

 quarters. He says that there is not one particle 

 of foundation in the old bee-theory — his expe- 

 rience proves it. Now, let us see if his experience 

 proves as much for others as it does for himself. 

 He says that when he opened the hive in March, 

 after their being in the cellar five months, they 

 were considerable stronger than when he put 

 them into winter-quarters. Now, did they not 

 rear those bees, and were they not young, and 

 had they not taken the place of the old ones, 

 which, he says, were few in numbers? And 

 does he not say that he found, at that early day, 

 7,520 bees unhatched ? Now, I ask, does not his 

 experience prove positively that those bees bred 

 up, and that he absolutely wintered a young 

 swarm instead of an old one ? Let me say to 

 Mr. Johnson that I prefer bees to winter that 

 are reared in October to old ones. I see that 

 the strong case that he makes out is not for or 

 against the old bee-theory, but in favor of good 

 honey, of which we have an abundance. 



J. W. HOSMER. 



Janesville, Minn. 



[For the American Bee Journal,] 



Echoes from Maine 



In the April Journal, " Novice " seems a lit- 

 tle nettled at the sly but vigorous thrusts of 

 that prince of bee-keepers, Gallup, who has 

 not forgotten the ridicule with which "Nov- 

 ice " greeted his proposal to furnish informa- 

 tion for making his new hive for one di>llar, 

 which offer was undoubtedly made to ward off 

 the innumerable letters of inquiry that he 

 knew would be addressed to him before he had 

 perfected the hive and written a full descrip- 

 tion for the Journal. " Novice " must not for- 

 get that " those who live in glass houses should 



