AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



17 



midst of a good honey-flow, but it has its 

 lessons, and we may profit by them. I 

 now firmly believe this trouble is a dis- 

 ease, and I am fearful that it is a con- 

 tagious one. 



My apiary is on a gently-sloping spot 

 of ground, and on the hexagonal plan, 

 with the hives eight feet apart. Last 

 fall the disease made its appearance in 

 one of the upper rows, and gradually 

 worked its way downward, not missing 

 a colony, until now the diseased colony 

 spoken of is in the lower row. The dis- 

 eased bees are driven out like drones at 

 the close of the honey season, and will 

 take shelter in any colony that will suf- 

 fer them to enter ; and as they are nat>- 

 urally driven down from the mouth of 

 the hive, they are ready to enter the 

 first hive below, and thus I account for 

 the spread of the disease downhill, as in 

 my apiary. 



With good management, in keeping 

 the queen laying, the diseased colonies 

 usually come through, build up, and 

 make good colonies, or at least this has 

 been my experience ; but with careless- 

 ness the result would be otherwise. 



I give it as my opinion, and I don't 

 think I am far wrong, that one-half, or 

 more, of the winter loss in this locality 

 is traceable to this disease. In the fall 

 it so depletes the colonies that they 

 easily succumb to the cold of' winter, 

 and if this be true, how essential it is 

 that close attention be given at the 

 proper time. 



USING PULLED QUEENS. 



Did you ever use a pulled queen in a 

 colony of bees that had just cast a swarm?^ 

 It works like a charm with me, and if 

 you have never tried it, you would do 

 well to do so. The plan is this : 



As soon as the swarm is properly 

 hived, go to a colony that has queen- 

 cells ready to hatch, select a nice one, 

 take It to the colony that cast the 

 swarm, open the end of the cell, and let 

 the young queen crawl out and go down 

 among the bees, and your work is done. 



The bees seem to think that this is the 

 natural way of doing things, and will 

 accept the young queen and be con- 

 tented. You then have a queen six or 

 eight days earlier than by waiting for 

 one to be reared in the usual way, which 

 is quite an item, whether running for 

 bees or honey. 



It is not every time, even after the 

 first swarm in the season, that we can 

 have cells ready to hatch when a swarm 

 comes out, but in the swarming season 

 we usually have them in some shape, 

 and if we have none that are ready to 



hatch, we can still expedite the matter. 

 The old colony will, as a general thing, 

 accept any kind of a cell just after 

 swarming, and by giving them a cell 

 more advanced than those they have, we 

 can get a queen earlier than by waiting 

 for them to rear one in the usual way. 



These things, of course, are not new 

 to the experienced bee-keeper, but they 

 are new to many, and are worthy to be 

 remembered by all. 



Sneedville, Tenn., May 23, 1893. 



Are Bees Aiiinial§ ? — A Correct 

 DeciMOii Wanted. 



Written for the A.merican Bee Journal 

 BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



On page 752 a writer says, " Bees are 

 not animals." Some time ago, I think 

 the same statement was made in the 

 Canadian Bee Journal. Occasionally, 

 however, some one speaks of them as 

 animals, and it would be a good thing if 

 we could decide what is correct in the 

 matter. 



If we should hear some one say, " John 

 has gone out to feed the animals," I 

 think very few of us would think of bees 

 as the things John was about to feed. 

 Indeed, whether a wild or tame animal 

 is spoken of, we are likely to think of 

 some four-footed affair. 



Let us see what the Dictionary says. 

 Turning to the word "animal," we find 

 an animal i "an organized living being 

 endowed w.uu sensation," etc., the full 

 definition clearly taking in a bee as an 

 animal. A second definition is : "One 

 of the lower animals, a brute or beast, 

 as distinguished from man ; as, men and 

 animals." But while this gives a use of 

 the word that throws out man, it does 

 not throw out the bee. 



Starting at a different point, we find 

 in the Dictionary that a bee is an insect; 

 that an insect is one of the Insecta, and 

 that Insecta in its most general sense 

 includes the Hexapoda or six-legged in- 

 sects, and in a more restricted sense the 

 Hexapoda alone ; and we are distinctly 

 told that bees are among the hexapod 

 insects ; and finally, on turning to 

 " hexapod," we find it is an ANIMAL 

 having six feet. 



So if we are to take the Dictionary as 

 a guide, I hardly see how we can deny 

 that bees are animals. If any one can 

 bring any kind of proof to the contrary, 

 I should be glad to see it, for I confess 

 to some prejudice against the common 

 use of the word in that way. 



Marengo, 111. 



