AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



365 



walking through my apiary, whether 

 my bees have foul brood or not. What 

 becomes of a colony having foul brood '? 

 What are the symptoms ? 

 Rodney, Mich. J. W. Miller. 



Answers. — We do not know that any 

 one has ever given a way whereby, in 

 walking through an apiary, you can de- 

 tect the presence of foul brood. Indeed, 

 those who seem most familiar with it do 

 not seem entirely agreed as to what foul 

 brood is, even when the hive is open be- 

 fore them. 



If you find a very bad smell on open- 

 ing a hive, and then find holes in the 

 center of the cappings over brood, and 

 on opening a cell find the larva rotten, 

 of a dark color, and of a ropy character, 

 so that on thrusting into it a toothpick 

 and then withdrawing it, the rotten 

 brood will string out, then you will do 

 well to get out your bee-books and study 

 up on foul brood. A good deal has been 

 said about it on these pages lately. 



As to what becomes of a colony having 

 foul brood, if nothing is done for it the 

 general opinion seems to be that it will 

 go "where the woodbine twineth." 



Dissatisfied with Their Queen. 



On Aug. 10th I placed a queen in a 

 hive, removing the queen then in the 

 same. She was in very poor condition 

 when received, in fact nearly dead, and 

 not one live bee In the cage with her ; 

 but I fed her and placed her on the 

 comb, and protected with a "box-lid" 

 cage. On Aug. 14th I released her, and 

 the bees received her. On the 30th, in 

 looking through the hive, I found seven 

 capped queen-cells. These I cut out. I 

 found considerable eggs in the combs. 

 To-day, Sept. 2nd, I find two cells 

 nearly capped. I found the queen, and 

 saw that the last joint of the right hind- 

 most leg was off. The colony is not ex- 

 tra strong. What do you suppose is the 

 matter ? I find some sealed drone- 

 larvEe, and one cutting away the cap- 

 ping of his cell. 



The queen's leg was off when she was 

 received. I then thought it would make 

 no difference. The swarming season 

 has been over nearly two months. 



Fair Dealing, Ky. D. L. Nelson. 



Answer. — Clearly, the bees are not 

 satisfied with their queen. As the 

 queen was nearly dead when you re- 

 ceived her, she probably never entirely 

 recovered, and so the bees took steps to 

 replace her. The loss of a leg need not 

 prevent a queen from doing good work. 



We have known several five-legged 

 queens, some of them cripples from 

 birth, some of them crippled by acci- 

 dent, but all good layers. 



CONDUCTED BY 



^Jl ^» 



Beeville, Texas. 



Always Take and Kead Bee-Papers. 



Mrs. Atchley : — After I have taken 

 a bee-paper, and read all the bee-books, 

 and have learned to make a success of 

 bees, could I not just as well leave off 

 my bee-paper ? or, of what use is a paper 

 after we have made a success ? 



Subscriber. 



Friend Subscriber, aren't you joking a 

 little ? Now, if you are energetic enough 

 to read the papers and bee-books until 

 you made a success of bee-keeping, you 

 have too much energy to quit reading ; 

 you would be a backslider in less than 

 no time, and it would likely take twice 

 the amount of preaching to get you re- 

 stored. Why, by no means ever think 

 of leaving off that which has brought 

 you up to where you are. I tell you, 

 without the influence of the papers, we 

 would soon run down, surely. I would 

 not do without my bee-papers, if they 

 cost me four times what they now do; 

 and, in fact, I do not know of any kind 

 of a paper but what is worth its sub- 

 scription price. Stick to your bee-papers, 

 and you will learn more and more, keep 

 posted, and make your bees pay better. 

 Jennie Atchley. 



Bee-Keeping in Missouri. 



Mrs. Atchley : — Bees wintered well 

 here last winter ; there was no loss 

 with some bee-keepers, while others lost 

 5 per cent, or less. The spring opened 

 cool and wet, The maple and elm are 

 the first bloom in this State for bees to 



