June 1. 1911 



333 



Kifif. 22.— \V. S. Ilarf s honey-room, showing part of the season's crop. 

 20% tonsi of honey from 116 colonies— over 350 lbs. per colony. 



In all, there were 101 barrels lor 



infj of brood-combs from ai)i)arently lieiilthy 

 colonies for any cause whatever, as many 

 times tlie disease exists unrecofinized, and 

 it misjhl i)e tlie means of s])reading it to 

 colonies that jiossibly might have escaped it. 



Another source of s])readini;; the disease is 

 through the use of natural (jueen-cells given 

 to reijueen colonies that have cast swarms 

 during the season. I have found colonies 

 which showed symptoms of trouble only in 

 iiueen-cells. and then not until the larvtp 

 were sealed. I account for this in two ways: 

 First, the queen larva consumes a greater 

 anrount of food than the worker larva, which 

 increases the chance of receiving tlie germ: 

 and, again, since the (|ueen larva is sealed 

 at an earlier age than the worker larva there 

 is less chance for discovery on our inirt. as 

 usually a (pieen larva dies after being seal- 

 ed, while the greater part of the diseased 

 worker larvae die before. And some colonies 

 will remove the dead larvse at once; and by 

 their doing so we would not discover tlie 

 presence of the disease until too late. 



Those colonies that are shaken at the 

 opening of the honey-flow, with the ((ueen 

 that was present at the time the colonies 

 became affected, should be dequeened and 

 a laying Italian queen introduced. Xo 

 queen should be kei)t whose colony allowed 

 the disease to get a foothold, as such a colo- 

 ny will certainly take the disease again, it 

 matters not what treatment is given. Such 

 queens are either affected Vjy the disease or 

 their progeny will not resist the disease. I 

 have taken (lueens from diseased colonies 

 and introduced them in healthy colonies, 

 and the disease appeared in those colonies 

 in a very short time. Again. I have de- 

 queened a diseased colony, allowed the bees 

 to raise a queen from their own brood, and 



later found the brood from this young queen 

 badly affected from the very beginning. 

 This fact led me to believe that the fault was 

 in the strain of l)ees instead of the queen 

 herself. The hees I am referring to were 

 hybrids. 



When a larva is first attacked it turns 

 from pearly white to a creamy color. At 

 the center there will l)e a distinct yellow or 

 brownish spot, and the larva will soon move 

 to the bottom of the cell and die. Then it 

 flattens and grows darker in color. At this 

 stage the substance becomes watery, and it 

 is difficult for the bees to remove it; but it 

 soon dries to a dark scale. The larva is usu- 

 ally attacked after the fifth day. sometimes 

 not until after it has been sealed; and it is 

 these sealed diseased larve that the bees are 

 loath to carry out. In fact, it is almost im- 

 possible for them to remove such a soft 

 sticky mess. After a time the air dries it so 

 that the bees can carry it out. It is these 

 cells that ]iroloirg the jiresence of the dis- 

 ease after the treatment. 



When lilack bees are treated there should 

 be at least twenty-five tlays of no egg-laying 

 within the hive. 



Camillus, X. Y, 



Sour Smell Caused by a Species of Mushroom. 



l.ast Aueiist I noticed a very sour smell near the 

 hives, and lofiked over every thine in vain. Final- 

 ly I started to tlie lK)nse: b>it iii)on coins back 1 no- 

 ticed a sn(jw-white oliject sticicing iii) out of tlie 

 ground. It was three-foiutlis of an inch thick, hol- 

 low, and shaped like a finger — a kind of niushroom. 

 This proved to be the source of the fearful smell, 

 which was noticeable 15 feet away. After remov- 

 ing it the odor was gone. About two weeks later 

 there was the same sour smell in the yard lin Xew 

 Jersey). On going to the old spot I found that tlie 

 plant had grown again. It looks like cooked mac- 

 aroni. 



Brooklyn, X. Y. H. Krone. 



