70 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



in bad weather they might occasionally 

 sting. Mr. Abram Titoff, the Russian rep- 

 resentative who has seen them in their 

 native clime, confirmed what Mr. Benton 

 had to say. But these bees had one fault, 

 he thought, and that was, excessive swarm- 

 ing. " If you take away the queen-cells to- 

 day," he said, "by to-morrow they will 

 make twenty or thirty more." Mr. Kretch- 

 mer, who had lately traveled through Ger- 

 many, gave a very unfavorable report of 

 them. He said they had been represented 

 to him as being stingless, but they did sting 

 him all the same. They swarmed so much 

 he was told that some were going to get rid 

 of them. 



Whatever might be their faults, the opin- 

 ion was expressed that they could be kept 

 in cities, with perfect impunity to the gen- 

 eral public. 



While on this subject it might be well for 

 me to say that Mr. Titoff, who is with us, 

 has already made arrangements to secure a 

 number of these Caucasian queens direct 

 from Russia. We will probably have some 

 imported, as well as daughters from import- 

 ed, ready for sale some time next summer. 

 We expect the queens here in late spring. 



HOLY-LAND BEES. 



Mr. W. H. Laws, a queen-breeder at 

 Greenville, Texas, spoke very favorably of 

 these bees. He had not found them as 

 cross as represented. This seemed to be at 

 variance with the experience of some. Mr. 

 Benton explained how this difference of 

 opinion might arise. He said that the bees 

 south from Mount Carmel were quite differ- 

 ent from those north. The term had been 

 invented by Mr. D. A. Jones to cover both 

 types of bees. The first bees sold under that 

 name were really hybrid crosses between 

 Cyprians and Palestines. Those southward 

 from Mount Carmel Mr. Benton called the 

 Palestine, and those northward the Syrian 

 races. 



BABY NUCLEI. 



Considerable discussion arose as to 

 whether these were suitable for the ordi- 

 nary honey-producer. Many thought not— 

 that these little boxes of bees were very dif- 

 ficult to handle, even by experts. Some of 

 the queen-breeders held the opposite view. 



BLACK BROOD. 



Some interesting discussions took place 

 regarding black and foul brood in York 

 State by representatives who were present. 

 It was shown quite clearly that there were 

 two diseases, one differing materially from 

 the other. Mr. Stewart, one of the inspec- 

 tors, stated that black brood first made its 

 appearance in Schoharie Co. from bees 

 brought from a Southern State. It was 

 confined to a small area, but soon alarmed 

 apiarists by the great mortality it caused 

 among bees. Unlike foul brood it gave off 

 a sour disagreeable smell, and unlike foul 

 brood too it refused to be drawn out in a 

 rubberlike string. The effect of the disease 

 varied greatly in different apiaries as well 

 as in different colonies. 



TREATMENT. 



His method of treatment was as follows: 

 All apiaries should be isolated as much as 

 possible. Colonies should not be set close 

 together. Diseased bees should be shaken 

 on clean frames of foundation as soon as dis- 

 covered, and fed a little sugar syrup for a 

 week to restore their vitality. He deemed 

 it advisable to establish a hospital apiary in 

 some isolated place for the treatment of the 

 diseased colonies. 



Mr. Stewart also explained that Italians 

 and some of the newer races of bees would 

 stand the disease much more readily than 

 the old-time blacks. In one apiary in par- 

 ticular of 60 colonies, 59 of them were black 

 and one was Italian. The 59 blacks all died 

 from the disease, while the one Italian re- 

 mained healthy, and stored a good lot of 

 sections besides. So noticeable was this 

 immunity of the yellow stocks that inspec- 

 tors had been in the habit of advising those 

 who had black and hybrid bees to Italianize 

 as soon as possible, and introduce Cyprians 

 or Carniolans - any thing in preference to 

 the old-fashioned black. 



W. D. Wright, one of the inspectors, sent 

 a paper in which he called attention to the 

 fact that in Quinby's book of 1865 the state- 

 ment was made that ' ' Italians are very much 

 less subject to foul brood than blacks;" that 

 "since their introduction," quoting from 

 Mr. Quinby, "in my apiaries the number 

 affected with this disease has diminished 

 five-sixths. ' ' Other evidence was introduced 

 showing how the yellow races were more 

 proof against foul brood. 



A NEW BEE DISEASE. 



Much testimony was introduced, showing 

 that a peculiar malady among bees had made 

 its appearance in various parts of the coun- 

 try. Thousands of bees would be found in 

 the grass, climbing up on timothy heads, or 

 hopping from one point to another, being 

 able to fly only two or three inches, and 

 then run in the grass as if they were in a 

 hurry to get somewhere. Some reported 

 that this trouble appeared before the honey- 

 flow, and others after. It would come sud- 

 denly, and disappear as suddenly. Indeed, 

 in one case Mr. Benton sent an expert to 

 look over an apiary that had had this trouble, 

 and before the man could arrive the malady 

 had entirely disappeared. Whatever it was, 

 it was somewhat serious. In some cases it 

 was reported that whole apiaries had been 

 depopulated of half their strength within 

 two or three days. When this occurred in 

 the honey-flow, it put a stop instanter to 

 honey-production. 



BEE PARALYSIS. 



A very interesting and valuable paper on 

 paralysis was read by Mr. 0. O. Poppleton; 

 but as we have already given his process in 

 full in these columns I will not rehearse it 

 again here. There can be no question that 

 Mr. Poppleton knows more about this dis- 

 ease than any other hving man in this coun- 

 try; and the fact that he has two methods 

 of cure, either of which is reliable, is very 

 suggestive at least. 



