GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1." 



means that will exterminate the disease. Be- 

 yond all doubt it is infectious. My own exper- 

 iments have satisfied me that it is infectious, 

 and that the contagion is carried on the body 

 •of the insect. Now, granting that it is infec- 

 tious, how can we get rid of the bacillus by any 

 method short of the destruction of the individ- 

 ual that carries it about, and perhaps of his 

 hive, honey, and combs, if they too contain 

 spores of the bacillus? 



Our doctors stop the spread of yellow fever 

 by drawing a cordon of quarantine around the 

 infected city. This being done, they do not 

 physic the whole city at once, nor do they ad- 

 minister remedies to kill the yellow-fever germ 

 in the sick person, because they know that any 

 remedy that will kill the germ will kill the 

 patient. May not this be true in the economy 

 of the hive? We can not quarantine the in- 

 fected bee against his fellows, of course, nor 

 can we quarantine the infected colony against 

 the robbers from other colonies, which, just at 

 the time when the disease is most virulent, and 

 has overpowered the sick community, rush in 

 -and sweep away the poison into their own 

 homes. 



The two articles of Mr. Getaz, of Tennessee, 

 published in the American Bee Journal this 

 year, and lately reproduced in the Bee-keepers'' 

 Review, have been read with great interest by 

 me, as showing that bee-paralysis has become 

 endemic in the neighborhood where he lives, 

 •doubtless by the very process above indicated. 

 The same thing has happened, it appears, in 

 California, I believe in San Bernardino Co., 

 where it has destroyed thousands of colonies, 

 according to the statement of Rambler, in 

 iiLEANiNGS. Whatever may be the result of 

 bee-paralysis in the North, it is in this climate 

 a disease that is destructive to all prospects of 

 honey production for profit; and it is my con- 

 viction that the only method of dealing with it 

 is to promptly destroy every colony that shows 

 infection, and thus stamp it out. 



1 have a criticism on the name that has been 

 given to this disease, that I wish to submit. 

 Bee-paralysis seems rather a misnomer to one 

 who sees the disease in its last and most viru- 

 lent stage, when the sick are seen cr?iwllng 

 about with their bellies enormously distended. 

 It looks then more like a dropsy; and when the 

 subject voids an enormous quantity of thin 

 yellow feces on the alighting- board, it looks as 

 much like a diarrhea. That rare malady in 

 the human subject once called " bronzed skin," 

 when scientifically investigated, and traced to 

 a degeneration of the suprarenal capsules, by 

 Dr. Addison, was properly named Addison's 

 disease. Chronic degeneration of the tissues of 

 the kidneys, producing a multitude of symp- 

 toms, ending in death, is a disease that was in- 

 vestigated, and its true nature shown, by Dr. 

 Bright, and very appropriately it has been 

 termed Bright's disease. So I submit, that. 



because Miss Gayton called Cheshire's atten- 

 tion to the bacillus that caused our '* nameless 

 bee-disease," it might with more propriety be 

 termed Gayton's disease. 



For the benefit of those who buy queens, I 

 think that the note of warning should be 

 sounded, and that often, against buying of any 

 breeder who has this disease in his apiary. 

 How are the inexperienced to be protected 

 against this danger? 



Columbia, Miss.. Oct. 27. 



[Mr. Ford has been having a very large, not 

 to say trying, experience with this trouble. 1 

 have had considerable correspondence with 

 him, suggesting every thing that might in the 

 least abate the malady. J. A. Golden, as well 

 as Mr. Henry Alley, both felt sanguine that the 

 salt remedy, if properly applied, would etfect a 

 cure, and at one time I was in hopes it would 

 help him out; but if any one has tried salt 

 faithfully, and found it wanting, I am sure Mr. 

 Ford has. Nothing is able to stay its progress 

 among his bees ; but it should not be forgotten 

 that the virulence of the disease is largely a 

 matter of locality. While it was fearfully de- 

 structive — far more so than foul brood — in Mr. 

 Ford's locality, in parts of California and other 

 warm climates, it is as nothing in the North or 

 colder climates. But its very insignificance in 

 the North makes it insidious and dangerous for 

 the South. Why? The Northern queen-breed- 

 er, 1 am afraid, does not always realize how 

 dangerous a mild case of palsied or swelled bees 

 may be when the queen of said bees is sent to 

 the South. No (lueen-brceder, at least who ad- 

 vertises and sells <iaeens, should allow a case 

 of bee-ijaraiysis to remain in his yaixl one day 

 after its discovery. The bees ought to be entire- 

 ly destroyed, even though tJie case will appar- 

 ently cureitself, which in many cases it wUl do 

 in his own yard. 



It is positively settled now, that the queen can 

 and does transmit the disease; yes, she can car- 

 ry it several thousand miles, from a locality 

 where it can do no harm, to one where it will 

 do fearful mischief in an apiary. 



Mr. Ford suggests the inappropriateness of 

 "Bee Paralysis" as designating this peculiar 

 disease. It is far better than "nameless bee- 

 disease," and, in some of the symptoms, paraly- 

 sis seems to cover it fairly. 1 should question 

 the wisdom of trying to change the name after 

 the hard time we had in trying to introduce its 

 present name. It was suggested by Prof. Cook, 

 and was by us and others subsequently adopted. 

 Miss Gayton did not first call attention to the 

 disease. We had it in our apiary as early as 

 1877, and this was long before Cheshire knew 

 much about bees. 



Dr. Howard, the one who wrote that admira- 

 ble work on foul brood, and a scientist of no 

 mean order, and a microscopist, is about to turn 

 his attention to it. 1 shall await his investiga- 

 gations with interest. — Ed. J 



ILLINOIS STATISTICS. 



REPORT FOR SRl'TEMBER AND OCTOBER OF THE 

 MEMBERS OF THK ILI.INOI.S .STATE BEE- 

 KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION, SO FAR AS 

 HEARD FROM TO DATE. 



The answers given correspond to the follow- 

 ing questions by number: 



1. How many colonies have you ? 



2. What are the prospects for a honey crop? 



