18<»4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



<)-.'5 



Said he, " I shouldirt care— in fact, I siiould 

 rather prefer to liave every colony in my 

 apiary of the five-banded sort, if they are going 

 to pan out Mice this for honey." If the w\t 

 •dozen shall do as well, his apiary will ultimate- 

 ly be queened with five-banders. 



This may look like a free advertisement for 

 Mrs. Atchley; but inasmuch as she sustained 

 great damage through a hot Texas wave, as 

 mentioned in our last issue, we feel sure that 

 many of our readers in need of this sort of stock 

 will be glad to place their orders with her, thus 

 in a measure helping her to make up the great 

 loss she has sustained. 



The following is a note just received, in line 

 with the foregoing. We take pleasure in pre- 

 senting it. 



MyJulylStli Gleanings has just arrived, and I 

 notice In your remurks about ttve-banded bees you 

 Siiy tliey are crosser than the averag'c Italians. 

 Now, 1 wish to say that my tlvo-banded bees are the 

 gentlest I ever saw, and are not disposed to fly from 

 tlie combs wliiie handling. I never use veil or 

 smoke in handlinfr them, and have never had a 

 sting from my breeding colony. 1 have just been 

 out and gone through the Inve, which is a strong 

 two-story colonj, and tliere is no lioney coming in 

 from tlie fields. I used neither veil nor smoke, and 

 the bees seemed to take no notice of me whatever. 

 It is almost impossible to make them sting. My 

 little boy, six years old, will scrape them off the 

 front of the hive, and carry them around in liis 

 hand. J. E. Hand. 



Eldora, la., July IS. 



[We did not say that all our live-banders 

 were cross.— Ed.] 



I5EE-rAKALYSIS — THE DI.SEASE INVESTIGATED 



IN au.strai.ia; anothek f the. 



It seems that the Dapartment of Agriculture 

 for the province of New South Wales, Australia 

 <reference to which is made in another column), 

 has seen fit to institute a special investigation of 

 the disease called " bee-paralysis," its cause and 

 cure. In warm climates this peculiar disease 

 makes serious havoc; and hitherto, for such 

 climates, we knewof no certain and satisfactory 

 cure. Of course, here in the North we think 

 nothing of it, for the bees seem to be able to 

 ward off the disease themselves. 



Well, it seems that this same disease has been 

 making havoc in some of the large apiaries in 

 New South Wales — particularly in that of Mr. 

 Kitching, of Campbelltowu. The Dripartment 

 of Agriculture for that province employed Mr. 

 R. Helmes to study the disease in the apiary of 

 Mr. Kitching. He did so, and the report is now 

 before us in the Aijrlcaltuntl (hizettc of New 

 South Wales. Mr. Helmes' description of bee- 

 paralysis shows that it is exactly what we have 

 here in this country: and he also associates 

 with it another disease which he calls the '• De- 

 pilating Disease;" but the symptoms are so 

 nearly alike that we have come to the conclu- 

 sion ourselves that the two diseases are one and 



the same — the last mentioned being a less ag- 

 gravated form of bee-paraiysis. 



Mr. Helmes has concluded that one of the 

 causes is a diseased or poor (jueen, and that the 

 removal of the same assists greatly in the cure 

 of the disease. He further recommends purg- 

 ing and spraying the bees. At this point we 

 can do no better than to give his own language 

 for his method of cure: 



Summarizing the methods I recommend for curing 

 the bee-diseases known as bee-paralysis and depila- 

 ting disease,* they are in shoi-t as follows:— 



Disinfect the stand and hives by lieat; in case of 

 bee- paralysis, give a purgative, and keep the bees 

 closed u|) for fourteen to eighteen hours, and then 

 start them from the hive, and excite them by spray- 

 ing with diluted oil of cinnamon; spray iu either 

 case with 54-per-cent solution of carbolic acid evtry 

 third or fourth day; supersede the queen of the 

 diseased colonies in both cases as soon as possible 

 by a prolitie queen from a healthy strain. As a 

 good honey-How has been observed to lielp material- 

 ly to eradicate diseases, 1 would advise feeding in all 

 cases where either of l lie diseases has appeared in a 

 stock in which tlie supply of food is reduced. It 

 may not act quite as effectively as the gathering of 

 nectar, for wnich a greater amount of exercise is 

 necessary, and the activity displayed by the bees 

 during this process seems certainly conducive to 

 keeping the bees in good health; but it is the best 

 substitute for it, and will keep the individual in- 

 habitants of the hive strong, and consequently bet- 

 ter adapted to resist the aggression of contagion. 

 Moreover, the food thus given can be judiciously 

 medicated with antiseptics, which would be desir- 

 able, if not actually necessary. 



Regarding the purgatives given by me, I found 

 that podophyllum or senna acted very beueflf'ially, 

 without produc'ing any apparent weakening effect; 

 of the two, podophyllum seemed to me pieferable. 

 The doses given wei-e: 1 fluid oz.t- of tincture of 

 po lophyllum to 6 lbs. of honey-food; or 4 fluid oz. of 

 tincture of senna to 6 lbs. of honey-food, the honey- 

 tood to consist of tliree parts of ln)ney and one part 

 water, to be well boiled and skimmed. A little 

 extra water has to be added to allow for evaporation 

 during the boiling, the medicine to be added after 

 tne food has become cool. Three-quarters of a 

 pound to a pound, according to the strength of the 

 colony, or less if the same is weak, spread over a 

 perforated sheet of zinc, as described before, is 

 about the quantity to be g.ven; but as the number 

 of bees In each hive is otten very variable, a hard 

 and fast rule can not be laid down for it. v^s in 

 manj- other cases, the administration of the medi 

 cine and the general treatment must be left to the 

 judgment of the apiarist, who will know best liow 

 to ciioo-se a suitable lime for it, and who is general- 

 ly fairly well acquainted with the strength of his 

 colonies.* 



I i.ave not tried Epsom salts, but have liea'rd of 

 its being admiiustered with good results. Nodoubt 

 it will purge readily, and it 1-oz. packet to 10 lbs. of 

 food would produce a strong medicine. A some- 

 what drastic method of purging seems to be ni ces- 

 sary to cure bee-paralysis; but the absence of all 

 stimulating action in Epsom salts induced me to re- 

 ject it. 



It is well known that salt is required by bees, 

 particularly in spring, before any houey-tlow sets 

 in, and it probably acts as a nulo purgative upon 

 their constitution. At any rate, it seems to be a 

 tonic, so to say, and therefore it must be reconi- 

 mended to be given at times to the bees, so that 

 tliey do not have to seek it at offensive pl.ices, .•■uch 

 as dung-heaps, urinals, or tlie overflow of closets. 

 It is very desirable that a fewsma I wooden troughs 

 filled with brine, or, where the atmosphere is not too 

 ary, a few pieces of rocksalt be kept at every 

 apiary, to enable tin; bees to get the necessary 

 supply readily and in a cleiin manner when they 

 feel Inclined for it. 



* This i" more generally known a.s the "hairless" di^^ea8e, 

 whuh, liowever, sounds .so iiiatioiial that I can not.onae- 

 (•oun> ot this, adopt the name. It is not the disease that is 

 hail le^s, l)ut the bees Ijeconie hairless duiiu^ lis progress. 



+ 1 lound that an or linary etrtr-cup holds as near as possible 

 a fluid ounce, and may safely lised in case a tfraduatecf vessel 

 is not available. 



* Dr Cobb advised that, to 10 lbs. of food, 1 oz. of podophyl- 

 lum or 4 oz. senna be mixe<l, but 1 found this quajitity riot 

 effeetive enoug'h. 



