538 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



of which the known facts are too few to admit 

 of any explanation. It will only be by those 

 of us who have had some experience taking 

 counsel together that any thing of value can 

 be learned. 



Several years ago I exchanged Italian queens 

 with a neighbor, raised several young queens 

 from mine the same year I got her, and the 

 following season nearly every colony which 

 had one of those young queens developed the 

 disease. I questioned my neighbor closely, 

 and he told me that, so far as he knew, his 

 apiary had been entirely free from the disease 

 up to the time he let me have the queen. 



Some five or six years ago I obtained several 

 fine queens from one of the most noted queen- 

 breeders in the North. The colonies to which 

 these queens were given showed no signs of 

 the disease ; bnt almost every one of their 

 daughters developed the disease. 



Last fall I purchased about two dozen young 

 queens from a well-known breeder, and this 

 spring nearly all of the colonies to which they 

 were given have been ruined by the disease, 

 so far as this season's work is concerned. 



Three or four years ago I got two queens 

 from each of two breeders — one in the North, 

 one in the South. The progeny of these four 

 queens has been all right. 



The character of the men from whom these 

 have come is such that I have never had the 

 first atom of au idea that any of them know- 

 ingly sent me diseased stock. There is some 

 reason back of and deeper than that why the 

 daughters of purchased queens have been in 

 my case so much more liable to this disease 

 than were others ; but I can form no idea 

 what that reason is. 



This is a very important matter, and I hope 

 that, some time, some capable scientist will 

 take hold of it and tell us the real cause and 

 nature of the disease ; how it is propagated 

 and how it can be prevented. I can cure it, 

 but at the expense of any income from the 

 colony for the season. 



Five years ago the disease caused me a very 

 heavy loss ; but the season closed with all 

 colonies healthv. There has been very little 

 since then until" this spring, when it has again 

 been very bad. But little of the disease can 

 now be seen in the apiary ; but it has made a 

 very decided cut in my honey crop. 



Stuart, Fla., May 22. 



[In spite of all that I have said in these 

 columns about the seriousness of bee-paralysis 

 to our Southern bee-keepers, there ii a very 

 large number, and I am sorry to say one or 

 two queen-breeders, who seem to think that 

 bee-paralysis is a trivial matter, and hardly 

 worth noticing. It is true, it amounts to 

 nothing in the North— at least I never heard 

 of a case where the disease spread or caused 

 any serious destruction of colonies. Mr. O. 

 O. Poppleton is one of the most careful and 

 conservative bee-keepers I know of; and when 

 he writes as he does, our readers may rest as- 

 sured that bee-paralysis in the South is some- 

 thing to be dreaded — much more so than foul 

 brood; but if Mr. Poppleton has a method 

 whereby he can cure it, he has something that 



bee-keepers have not heretofore known of. It 

 will prove to be a real boon, and I hope he 

 will tell our readers just how he stays the 

 ravages of this disease. Heretofore we have 

 regarded it as practically incurable; indeed, it 

 has already driven two bee-keepers to my 

 knowledge out of the business because they 

 could not stop the ravages of the disease. — Ed. ] 



LARGE HIVES. 



A few Interesting Figures Showing the Superiority 

 of Large Hives for Winter and Brood- 

 rearing. 



BY J. N. HARRIS. 



I have read with much interest the discus- 

 sions in Gleanings in regard to large hives ; 

 but as the Dadants have so thoroughly dis- 

 cussed the large-hive idea I do not care to say 

 any thing further in regard to it, but simply 

 give in my report in regard to wintering, in 

 favor of large hives. 



I went into winter quarters with 241 colo- 

 nies in three apiaries, all in single -wall hives. 

 They were wintered on summer stands with 

 no other protection than chaff in upper stories, 

 and tight board fences about the yards. They 

 were in four sizes of hives on L. frames. 

 37 colonies in 8-frame hives, winter loss 8 

 16 " " 10-frame " " 



156 " " 12-frame " " 9 



32 " " 16-frame " " 13 



AVERAGE AMOUNT OF BROOD PER COLONY, 

 APRIL 25. 



8 frame hives 3 frames of brood. 



10-frame " %% 



12-frame " 5 



16-frame " 2 1 /; " " " 



It will be seen by the figures that I had the 

 best success wintering in twelve-frame hives, 

 which is my favorite size. 



The most of the eight frame and all of the 

 ten-frame hives were in the yard where the 

 bees wintered best. I have always had fair 

 success wintering in the sixteen-frame hive 

 until this last winter. 



The previous winter I had 103 colonies all 

 in large hives, and lost but one colony. Losses 

 were very heavy in this section of the country 

 during the past winter. 



St. Louis, Mich., May 16. 



[It would seem that the 16-frame hive was 

 too much of a good thing. I suppose because 

 it is too roomy ; that is there is too much cu- 

 bic capacity to keep warm. The figures show- 

 ing the proportion of brood-rearing up to the 

 16 size are somewhat significant. It is facts 

 like these that should have some weight. — 

 Ed.] 



....•«♦..- 



LARGE HIVES IN CANADA. 

 Importance of Good Queens. 



BY J. CANUCK. 



Being a user and advocate of a large hive it 

 is needless to say I have been much interested 



