286 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



them a frame of hatching brood from some 

 other colony. Thus I have not had it fail 

 to cure. The rest of the combs I have used 

 in any place in the yard, and have never 

 seen any ill effects from using them thus. 



If the disease is of long standing the 

 combs have a very foul smell. They should 

 first be exposed to the light and air, -when, 

 in a few days, they will have lost this smell, 

 and are ready to use. I notice that where 

 there are only a few bees left with the 

 queen the brood hatched from the frame 

 given them will soon supersede the queen; 



so in severe cases the queen becomes weak- 

 ened. 



I hope that all readers of this the coming 

 season will give it a trial ; . and if my di- 

 rections are minutely carried out, there is 

 no need of losing a single colony. 



Le Mars, la. 



[From what we have read of this disease 

 in other localities we are not so sure that 

 the lime treatment would be an infallible 

 cure. It is worth trying, however, as it is 

 so simple to apply. — Ed.] 



NOSEMA APIS, OR BEE PARALYSIS ; A NEW WAY OF APPLYING THE 

 SULPHUR CURE THAT SEEMS TO BE A SUCCESS 



BY J. SAMUEL COX 



On page 784, Oct. 1, I came across the 

 following question : " Noscma apis, Bee 

 Paralysis, or what?" and reading the sub- 

 ject following I was surprised to see that, 

 altho far away in another country, I am not 

 alone, but like those who have suffered and 

 are suffering. Altho I am not altogether 

 out of the woods I can safely say, " Thank 

 you, that the worst is over, for my workers 

 are no longer dying as heretofore by this 

 strange disease. On the contrary, all my 

 weak colonies are getting strong again, from 

 many of which I am now extracting a full- 

 depth super of honey, and, from a few 

 others, two. The only thing I have not yet 

 got rid of altogether is the dying of the 

 brood ; but even this I have reduced to about 

 5 per cent, and I am confident in a very 

 short time I shall get rid of the disease 

 entirely." 



According to descriptions given, my api- 

 ary has suffered from the same thing, and 

 I can confidently say that the brood of this 

 apiary has not died either from neglect or 

 starvation; for as soon as I noticed this 

 dying of the bees I made a general examina- 

 tion of all my colonies; and while some 

 were greatly reduced in bees, the majority 

 were still crowded with busy workers; and 

 even among these vei-y strong ones the dead 

 larvce and some brood were found in some 

 combs more than others. Just a little before 

 this a light flow started, and the bees were 

 working fairly well, insomuch that, when I 

 first saw the bees crawling on the ground 

 in the morning, I concluded that they had 

 come home laden with honey and had fall- 

 en on the ground; and as my hives are 

 about 6 or 7 inches from the ground I got 

 sti'ips of board cut to convenient lengths 

 and leaned them up from the ground to the 

 alighting-board; but none of the bees would 



go up or showed the least desire to return 

 to their hives. 



I do not remember exactly what date I 

 first noticed this dying of workers; but some 

 time about the last week of June I noticed 

 here and there a few bunches of dead bees 

 which increased daily until the giound of 

 the entire apiary was nearlv covered. 



Seeing the victims crawling on the ground 

 much the same as with paralysis, I was in- 

 clined to tliink it was that disease. Altho 

 I have had to do with that disease several 

 times years ago, I have never seen such a 

 scourge among bees as I was then having in 

 all my beekeeping days ; for surely if I had 

 not found a cure, this apiary must have 

 been wiped out ere this. 



I went from hive to hive, watching the 

 entrance to see the bees taking out their 

 sick ones, but never could I see any. It 

 seemed as if as soon as they felt sick they 

 rushed out, and, not being able to fly, drop- 

 ped and walked around until they died. 



I examined the brood-nests, and found 

 several gi'eatly reduced in bees ; and in some 

 colonies I found one or two combs with 

 dead larvae here and there ; in others, more ; 

 but these dead larvae were not confined to 

 weak colonies alone, for even among the 

 strong ones, upon examination of these 

 larvae, not the slightest sign of ropiness was 

 visible. When pierced with a pin a liquid 

 of a light brown color would drop out as 

 freely as a drop of water. This color was 

 not confined to all, but each had its own, 

 according to age. The larvae of about four 

 to six days are perfectly white. In some 

 frames I found the lai'vae were perfectly 

 dry, and did not stick on to any part of 

 their cells, as they would shake in the cells 

 if the frame was shaken. 



Seeing the bees dying out so rapidly I 



