1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



477 



know it should the symptoms be clearly de- 

 fined. 



By way of preliminary I will say that the 

 previous season, and up to that date, which 

 was June 8, was very unfavorable for bees, the 

 weather being too dry for plant-life develop- 

 ment ; there was a probability of this with 

 neglect on the part of the bee-keeper for the 

 demoralized condition of his apiary. At that 

 time he had 35 or 40 colonies alive out of 80 

 or 90 the previous year, and those remaining 

 alive were very badly diseased, both brood 

 and bees. Dead brood in all stages could be 

 found ; but it seemed more virulent in the 



it was probably caused by demoralization, and 

 advised feeding. This we did, and a good 

 rain which came the last of May started new 

 life in the plants, and the bees soon began to 

 gather honey from natural sources. As might 

 be expected, there seemed to be a let-up of the 

 disease, and the conditions improved, from 

 what I could learn from the owner of the bees, 

 who lived nearly 15 miles away, and I had al- 

 most forgotten the circumstance. When I 

 chanced to meet Mr. N , a few days ago, he 

 told me the disease had spread throughout his 

 entire yard, and desired me to make one more 

 visit and note developments that we might be 



PHILIP LARGE'S SOL.\R WAX-EXTRACTOR, HAVING A PROVISION FOR ARTIFICIAI. HEAT 



BENEATH. SEE EDITORIALS. 



brood in its advanced stages. Sunken sealed 

 cells with small perforations and without per- 

 forations were numerous, and scattered all 

 through the brood, and brood just commenc- 

 ing to gnaw out of the cell could be found 

 dead. In very rare instances we could find a 

 coffee-colored ropy cell, but they were so few, 

 and there being no glue-pot smell, we decided 

 it could not be foul brood. We also conclud- 

 ed that it might be demoralization, yet the 

 disease lurked in hives well supplied with 

 honey as well as in those scantily supplied. 



To further satisfy ourselves as to the cause 

 of the trouble we sent Prof. Cook a sample of 

 the brood, with a minute description of the 

 conditions as nearly as we could. His reply 

 was, that it was not foul brood, but thought 



enabled to locate the disease, and, if possible, 

 find a remedy ; and I will say that, after a 

 thorough investigation, we are still at a loss to 

 understand the malady, and now call upon 

 our big sai'anis to enlighten us. 



I will .say that all the old conditions still re- 

 main, only in more virulent forms, and there 

 have been 15 or 20 more colonies added to the 

 death-list. 



Another feature we noticed is that, in pull- 

 ing a larva from the cell, we occasionally found 

 its posterior of a greenish cast, and the old 

 bees do not seem to stay on and try to protect 

 their brood. Some of the old bees also seem 

 bloated while others are the reverse as they 

 tumble about the entrance in the agonies of 

 death. Some have a shivering, staggering ap- 



