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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



pearance, while others simply turn over on 

 their backs and die. All this while their hives 

 are well supplied with honey, the present 

 winter and spring being very favorable in this 

 respect. Mr. N. states that his first know- 

 ledge of the presence of any disease in the 

 apiary was three years ago. He purchased 

 some bees from a party ten miles distant. 

 Shortly af ter he had brought them home he 

 discovered one unhealthy colony. They were 

 diarrhetic, and had symptoms of bee-paraly- 

 sis. The brood also appeared diseased as stat- 

 ed. He says he is not sure, but he believes 

 this colony inoculated the apiary. That this 

 disease is highly infectious there can be but 

 little doubt. 



Now, friend Root, let us hear your opinion 

 as well as others. There are no bees within 

 three miles of this apiary. Mr. N. has one 

 five miles distant, and he says they are per- 

 fectly healthy, and he knows of no other dis- 

 eased bees in the vicinity ; and I will say that 

 in my experience I have met with nothing 

 like it, and want some light shed upon this 

 important case. 



Escondido, Cal. 



[The malady or disease, or whatever it is, is 

 evidently not foul brood, neither do the symp- 

 toms seem to indicate black brood. Taking it 

 all in all, I should consider this a new bee-dis- 

 ease. I would suggest that samples of the af- 

 fected brood and bees be sent to Dr. Howard, 

 of P'ort Worth, Texas ; that similar samples 

 also be sent toThos. Wm. Cowan, now in your 

 State, editor of the British Bee Journal. His 

 address is Pacific Grove. 



In the mean time your friend should take 

 every precaution that the disease does not 

 spread beyond his own yard ; for according to 

 his experience it must be a very infectious and 

 serious disease ; and if it should perchance 

 get among the wild bees there is no telling 

 where the disease would spread. — Ed.] 



AN IDEAL LOCALITY IN FLORIDA. 



Objections to the Thick Top-bars in Hoffman 

 Frames. 



BY M. W. SHEPHERD. 



Mr. Root : — Bees are doing well in this part 

 of Florida, and to-day we have our hives 

 built up three stories high, all full of honey. 

 "We have not yet extracted, having been too 

 busy putting on supers and removing comb 

 honey. The flow first started from ti-ti, fol- 

 lowed by black tupelo, black gum, holly, haw, 

 red bay, and yet to come are white tupelo, 

 gall-berry, snowvine, palmetto, and several 

 others of less importance. However, the 

 white tupelo is the main source from which 

 the great flow is obtained. It is usually ex- 

 tracted before it is sealed, and will weigh, 

 when thrown from the comb, 12 lbs. per gal- 

 lon, and will class as No. 2 ; and as it never 

 granulates it is being taken very readily by 

 the more extensive dealers, and at prices com- 

 paring very favorably with that of white clo- 

 ver. Just how many colonies could be profit- 



ably kept in one place here has not yet been 

 settled ; but we know that 600 have been kept, 

 and I have no doubt 1000 could be. The 

 sources from which honey is obtained are al- 

 most unlimited. Of course, a poor season for 

 gathering the nectar comes once in a while ; 

 but the nectar is there all the same. We have 

 been keeping bees for the past 30 years, and 

 our experience has been gained in Ohio, Cali- 

 fornia, Colorado, back to Ohio, and, later, in 

 Florida ; and when we say that this section of 

 Florida is ahead of any other place we have 

 ever seen, we say it understandingly, knowing 

 what goes to make a locality in which a bee- 

 keeper will be successful. 



It is not every place where the greatest yields 

 are produced that always bring in the most 

 money to the producer of the honey. Alder- 

 man & Roberts have kept 3000 colonies with- 

 in a radius of a few miles, and have grown old 

 in the business. There are many bees kept in 

 box hives, and we have a few bee-men who 

 say flowers produce no honey, but that it is 

 honey-dew that falls on the bloom. They 

 don't tell us why the dew never hits the leaves 

 of the plant, but only the bloom. Perhaps 

 the " king-bee" doesn't have it done that way. 

 All bees have to be set up on trestles about two 

 feet high, as the ground often gets overflowed 

 with water ; and sometimes two feet is not 

 high enough, and hives, bees, and all start for 

 some other place via the river and gulf. 



Concerning the merits of the thick-top-bar 

 frames to prevent burr-combs, we will say that 

 on some colonies it does prevent, and on oth- 

 ers there could be no more burrs, braces, and 

 bridges built if the top-bar were but % inch 

 thick. The Hoffman frame is no good down 

 here. In fact, we want no self-spacing frame. 

 We are told that the Hoffman frames can be 

 picked up in pairs ; and what of it if they can ? 

 How often do you want to pick them up in 

 pairs ? And what do you want to pick them 

 up that way for ? We fail to see any weight 

 of argument in the idea. When we manipu- 

 late a hive we want to know what is on both 

 sides of each frame, so we have to pick them 

 up one at a time, and we don't want to have to 

 pry each one off the rest. No doubt in many 

 places self -spacing is all right, but not here. 



Marchant, Fla., Apr. 17. 



[Ivook here, friend Shepherd ; you had bet- 

 ter be cautious about telling how good a local- 

 ity you have in your vicinity. It may be you 

 will have others flocking to your field to " di- 

 vide the spoils." It is interesting to know, 

 however, that the locality is so good that it 

 would support 1000 colonies in one place or 

 3000 within a radius of a few miles. 



Referring to thick top-bars, I am well aware 

 they are not absolutely proof against burr- 

 combs, and that some colonies will build them 

 in spite of them. Having traveled all over the 

 United States, and inspected various apiaries, 

 I am very sure you are wrong in thinking 

 that thick bars are no better than those ^ 

 inch thick ; but with a majority of the colo- 

 nies I have seen with thick top-bars, burr- 

 combs were built very sparingly — so few, in- 

 deed, we may say they practically do away 



