106 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Don't think of using extra rabbetts or bev- 

 els or quilts; its all uonseuse, I think, ex- 

 cept in Spring. Quilts or straw mats are 

 then an advantage. For extracted honey 

 use the | bottom in upper hive, or not, as 

 you prefer. I prefer the board between 

 sections. For comb honey, don't think 

 of using boxes or a honey board below 

 your comb, I and others have seen the 

 folly of it in cold weather. Section 

 frames for surplus are good, but they are 

 more bother than the common surplus, 

 so I think it better to discard them and 

 never more think of them. 



The above described hive can be made 

 for $2.00, or cut ready to mail for $1.50 

 or less by the dozen. R. S. Becktell. 



New Buftalo, Mich. 



A 



Closing Word Witli Mrs. 

 Harrison. 



L. 



As an offensively personal article pub- 

 lished by Mrs. L. Harrison, some time 

 ago, in the Prairie Farmer^ appears 

 word for word, in the April number of 

 the American Bee Journal, as a commu- 

 nication to the Journal, I ask you, in 

 single justice, to make room for a portion 

 of my reply as published in the Prairie 

 Farmer, as follows : 



The ill-natured epithets and redundance of ad- 

 jectives in your last week's issue, over the above 

 named title, do not constitute argument. As to 

 luy logic, let me say to my. profound logician- 

 critic that to "put language into my mouth which 

 I Wi's never guilty of" is as she rightly interprets, 

 to misquote me; to ''otherwise" falsify 'my 

 statemeut," is to do so in her own language, with- 

 out quotation marks. Further that ''on that sub- 

 ject," (relation of honey b(?e to horticulture) is 

 quite a different thing from "on that subject at 

 the last meeting of the Illinois State Horticult- 

 ural Society"— this last being her language, not 

 mine. * * * I care not to waste your space in 

 a war of words with Mrs. L. Harrison, and will 

 simply say to her in conclusion that loere she "a 

 man," my pen would not l)e so guarded. As for 

 her contempt, judging from both the matter and 

 manner of tier recent communications, I feel 

 more honored by it than I should by her esteem. 



The transactions of the Illinois State 

 Horticultural Society, for 1874, which 

 contains a report of the discussion M'hich 

 gave rise to tliis unpleasant controversy, 

 are just publislied. I saw no proofs of 

 this report which, witli few exceptions, is 

 as correct a statement of my remarks, as 

 could well be made in so condensed a 

 form ; and those of your readers wlio can 

 refer to it will judge for themselves 

 whetiier Mrs. Harrison's communication 

 in your February number was warranted 

 or not. 



In conclusion let me sa}' to ]\Irs. H. 

 that she is mistaken in supposing that I 

 have any "spite" to vent against her or 

 any one else. But wlien unjustly assailed 



and misrepresented, I am apt to defend 

 myself, even against a lady — however 

 much I may regret the occasion. 



St. Louis, Mo. C. V. Riley. 



Foul Brood, 



Having had some experience with this 

 disease tor the past five years, it occurred tx 

 me that my experiments niiuht l)e of some 

 value to others; I had UDticed for several 

 years, a few cells of foul brood, here and 

 there in the combs, and had been in the 

 habit of cutting them out, but was not aware 

 at the time that it was foul brood, but now 

 recognize it as the genuine disease in a mild 

 form. 



In the fall of 1870, the bees filled up the 

 combs late in the season with watery honey, 

 mostl.v from fireweed. Cold weather came 

 on suddenly, and the bees were unable to 

 cap it over. The result was, that most of 

 the swarm had the dysentery, and were lost 

 during the winter. Some may say that if 

 they nad been properly housed, they would 

 have come out all right. This, I am inclined 

 to doubt, as one of my neighbors lost fifty 

 swarms in a house constructed for the pur- 

 pose, when they had always done well be- 

 fore. In the spring the uncapped honey 

 soured, and the pollen fermented as though 

 yeast had been put into it. The combs 

 were used the next season to increase the 

 size of the hives, and became the seat of tlie 

 disease, which was spread by changing 

 combs, through all the swarms. The reme- 

 dies resorted to- this season, were to take 

 away the combs most affected and replace 

 with empty combs from the hives when the 

 bees had "died tlie winter previous. I 

 Ijarned in the operation, that while the fir.st 

 brood hatched in combs which had contained 

 sound honey or fermented pollen was badly 

 diseased: brood in cond)s that had bceii filled 

 with ca]ti>c(l honey was but sliglitly atiVcted 

 until the third set of eggs was hatched. 

 All the honey was extracted from these 

 combs before they were put iuto the hives. 

 From two swarms which were badly dis- 

 eased, the combs were all taken away, and 

 the bees put into new hives, and treated as 

 new swarms. One swarm was fed with 

 honey extracted from the diseased combs, 

 and at the end of four weeks, was foimd to 

 be the worst diseased swarm in the apiary. 

 There was not live brood enough to be 



)s were as^am 

 mt iuto a clean 



taken away, and the bees pu 

 hive as Ix'forc, together with the bees that 

 had hatched from the old combs. They 

 were fed wilii sugar and water, to give them 

 a start, and in the fall were examined and 

 found free from any signs of disease. The 

 other swarm from which the eond)s were 

 taken, siiowed no signs of infection. The old 

 combs with a few bees to take care of the 

 healthy brood were left in the old hive. 

 The badly diseased cond)s were destroyed 

 as soon as the brood was hatched. Combs 

 that were clean were left for tlu^ bees to 

 store honey in. This swarm though not 

 strong, stored a litthi over one hundred 

 pounds of extraeti'd honey. The bees were 

 Ke])t without a ((ueen, and allowed to wear 

 themselves out gatheriuii honey, and as 

 soon as they were so weak that there was 

 danger of their being robbed, tl.e combs 

 were all taken away, honey extracted, and 



