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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 23, 



meeting, that, with the authorizatioD of the Association, he 

 believed that by a personal visit to Washington he could 

 secure a withdrawal of the obnoxious ruling. Whereupon he 

 was, at once, authorized to act for the Association. 



In the preparation for the appeal I secured cages pro- 

 visioned with caudy, that could not possibly daub any mail 

 matter, and also so made that it would be impossible for any 

 one handling them to be stung. I also found places where 

 people in remote districts had been obliged to travel many 

 miles to an express office, whereas a postoffice was in near 

 range, and had had to pay a hundred, and even a thousand, 

 times as much as would have been required, could use have 

 been made of the mails. 



PRESIDENT HAYES GIVES AID. 



On my way to Washington I stopt over at Phildelphia, 

 and by an accident was compelled to wait over orje train. This 

 was a vexatious circumstance, but proved to be most fortu- 

 nate. Coupled to the train that I did take was the private 

 car of President Hayes, in which he and his family were en- 

 route from New York to Washington. A son of the President, 

 who was at the time a student of our college (the Michigan 

 Agricultural), and who was In the car with his father, saw 

 me through the window as I. boarded the train. He soon 

 came into the car where I was, with an invitation from his 

 father for me to join their compaty. I thus had the pleasure 

 of sharing the car and company of the President of the United 

 States. 



After v^e had discust various topics, the President askt 

 me, jocosely, if I was going to Washington as one of the great 

 throng — he did not say unwasht throng — of office-seekers. 

 This gave me an opportunity to explain my mission, show my 

 cages, and expatiate upon the wrong done by the ruling of 

 the Postoffice Department, and the fact that such ruling was 

 now as unnecessary as mischievous. 



The President seemed much interested, and quoted Lin- 

 coln to the effect that tho he had not much influence with 

 this administration, still he thought he might aid me. He 

 then penciled on a card that he knew me, was apprised of my 

 purpose in visiting Washington, and hoped that the good of 

 the Post-office Department would not suffer if my request was 

 granted. I was thus beautifully introduced to the various 

 heads of the great postal service. 



The next day the late Edwin Willets, then Member of 

 Congress from Michigan, accompanied me on my rounds, as I 

 laid the matter, as best I could, before the several authorities 

 whose sanction must be won, to secure the removal of the in- 

 terdict. When I showed Mr. Willets the card from President 

 Hayes, he said, "That is a veritable 'trump.' That will be 

 the winning card in your quest." 



The point most urged as I discust the matter was this: 

 "Are you sure you can prevail upon all shippers of queens to 

 use the cages you show us, and to exercise such caution that 

 the evils complained of in the past shall not be experienced in 

 the future?" I was confident that this could and would be 

 be done, and exprest the same, as best I could. I was told 

 that if the permit was given, and complaint came again, that 

 a lasting, irrevocable interdict would doubtless follow. 



We all know that my mission was successful. Congress- 

 man Willets, who afterward became my true and tried friend, 

 was a great aid in the accomplishment of my mission. It only 

 remains to be said, that it is too bad to put this privilege in 

 jeopardy by such carelessness as resulted in the flight of bees 

 in the New York post-office. Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



Pickled Brood and a Kind of Mold. 



BV DR. VV. R. HOWARD. 



Some time ago I received the following letter from Prof. 

 J. E. Armstrong, of Cook Co., III.: 



Dr. Wm. R. Howard— 7>C((r Sir.-— Upon Mr. York's re- 

 quest, I send you a piece of comb containing diseased larval 

 bees, for identiUiallon. It does not seem like foul brood since 

 It attacks the larv;e only at the time of feeding pollen, and 

 does not become ropy. It does not seem like pickled brood, 

 because there Is some odor, and tho center of tho cap is rup- 

 tured. It flrst appeared among my bees a year ago in August. 

 Very few bees rcacht maturity after that. I cut out all comb 

 containing dead brood, in hopes the disease would disappear. 

 As the old workers died off in the fall, there wore no young 

 ones to take their place, so that ') out of H colonies perlsht 

 before time to put into winter quarters. The three remaining 

 were greatly weakened, and perlsht by midwinter. The 

 combs were coated with a heavy mat of white mold. 



I purchast two new colonies in the spring, and as one was 

 in a small, odd-shaped hive, I transferred it to an old hive 

 that had been used the previous year. I gave them full combs 

 that had been extracted the year before, but no brood had 

 ever been in them. This colony took the same disease. The 

 other colony has not yet shown any signs of the disease. I 

 thought last year it was not foul brood, and so was not as 

 careful as 1 should be about combs, etc., but I am treating it 

 as foul brood this year. I would like to hear from you through 

 the Bee Journal. Respectfully yours, 



J. E. ARM.STRONG. 



An.swer. — The combs sent by Prof. Armstrong, principal 

 of Englewood High School, Cook Co., III., containing dead 

 brood, have been carefully examined and found to contain the 

 white fungus {Aspergillus) of " pickled brood " in abundance ; 

 also a form of mucor, a kind of mold, which I have not taken 

 the time to determine the species. Besides these, many very 

 small mites resembling the common sugar-mite, found in un- 

 refined sugar, are present ; whether these play an important 

 role, as a cause of the death of the bees, I am unable from the 

 material in hand to determine. In Europe a closely allied 

 species destroys the adult bees. These mites may have been 

 introduced, accidentally, by feeding syrups made from raw 

 sugars, or by the bees gaining access to exposed sugars in 

 warehouses. There is no evidence of foul brood {Bacillus 

 alvei). 



These mites raise a very important question, and a close 

 watch in this line may lead to some discovery toward a solution 

 of the " new bee-disease," " spring dwindling," etc. 



Tarrant Co., Tex. 



Bees Killing Each Other — Laying Workers. 



BY W. W. m'NEAL. 



On page 663, under the heading, " Bees Killing Each 

 Other," the questioner is right when he says the trouble is be- 

 tween the regular inmates of the hive. And in his answer 

 Dr. Miller is getting pretty close to facts when he states that 

 proper ventilation may be responsible for the cropping out 

 of tho disease. I think there can be no question about its 

 being a disease, tho it is not manifested to any noticeable de- 

 gree till a certain temperature has been reacht within the hive. 

 These cases, according to my experience, are always to be 

 met with early in the season, when apple is in bloom, or a 

 little later. Of course, there are seasons when the weather is 

 cold at this time, and the bees do not work. But when the 

 weather suddenly turns warm, and the early bloom yields 

 well, and when the bees are still confined to the brood-cham- 

 ber with the entrance to the hive not yet enlarged from what 

 it was during the winter, then is when a high temperature is 

 apt to be reacht withfn the hive. I a.m not now positive that 

 I ever saw a colony ball its queen under these conditions, tho 

 they do sting each other to death in pretty much the same 

 way. I tell yon, the destruction some times is appalling, one- 

 half or more of them being killed off in just a few hours. 



Abundance of ventilation is the first thing to be given; 

 and this is all that I know to do for them. When you see a 

 bee with a shiny tip, sitting down at the entrance, with a few 

 others gnawing and biting at her, keep a watch on that hive. 

 A robber bee never sits calmly and allows herself to be bitten 

 and teased, unless it is a queenless colony or one that offers 

 little or no resistance, that she is trying to gain an entrance 

 into; and an honest, ladened bee. just returning from the 

 field, and drops at the entrance of another hive, seldom if 

 ever shows the shiny tip. 



Notwithstanding that the cooling of the hive will restore 

 order, I have learned not to expect much in the way of sur- 

 plus of a colony that is affected. The hive must be kept too 

 cool for good work ; and if it is closed sufficiently to get them 

 down to good work early in the season, the trouble is sure to 

 re-appear. 



KNOWING a laying WORKER BY HKR LOGICS. 



I would like to say a word or two about laying workers. 

 How many of the readers of the Bee .loiirnal ever lookt for a 

 laying worker ? Tho " idea needs encouraging," that a lay- 

 ing worker can he seen aiul tnldby her looks. But still I would 

 not give much for a colony that was infested to tho extent of 

 capt brood from those workers. When they have reacht this 

 stage it seems so plain to mo that any one who will take the 

 trouble to open his eyes and look, cannot fail to pick them out 

 from among tho othc^rs. Why, just hold the comb up before 

 your eyes, and simply look at it, and if you can't see these 

 workers by the deference the other bees show them, then you 

 can't find a queen by the same means. These bees always 



