186 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



ing fornialdeliyde. I liold that the ya!> 

 caimot penetrate into the mass of mat- 

 ter that dries down in the cell nor can 

 it penetrate the honey or oappings. 

 Undoubtedly the honey is full of the 

 spofes; besides if it were possible to 

 combine anything with the honey that 

 would go through it or mix with it 

 suffieiently to kill the spores it cer- 

 tainly would kill the larvae and bees 

 also by feeding on it. My first ex- 

 perience with foul brood was in Can- 

 ada. My bees had died out completely 

 or nearly so, and 1 had made arrange- 

 ments with Mr. J. B. Hall to let me 

 have swarms at $1.50. I to furnish 

 hives and combs. I took some half- 

 dozen or so hives to his place to have 

 swarms- put in. He was not at home 

 but a couple of days after I got a letter 

 from him telling me I had foul brood 

 and to come and get the hives. On 

 the colonies I had left I tried salycilic 

 acid, which they claimed at that' time 

 would cure it. Of course I lost "all 

 I had. Then again I bought an apiary 

 at Lake Charles. La. Did not examine 

 all the colonies, but it seems I got it 

 with the bees. I got them in the fall 

 and it develoiied the following spring. 

 I went after it with the McEvoy plan 

 and rooted it out: only part of the yard 

 was infected. I also treated a neigh- 

 bor's bees the spring following and 

 found it in one light colony which 

 I promptly destroyed. I extracted all 

 the honey from diseased colonies, cut 

 the combs out, scraped the frames and 

 scalded the hives thoroughly. The 

 bees I put on foundation starters, then 

 in two days shook them into clean 

 hives on full sheets of foundation. Am 

 using those same hives and frames to- 

 day. No signs of the disease since. I 

 boiled the honey for about an hour and 

 fed it back and they raised brood with 

 it. That was seven years ago. 



As to our cro]) here this year, it will 

 not be more than one-fourth to one- 

 third of last year, or about 4.1 to .10 

 IiDunds. and dark (most of it) at that. 

 Yours, etc.. 



H. FMner. 



In regard to Punic l)pes, we have said 

 all our knowledge will justify. The 

 ones we have are very gentle. Both 

 queens and workers are black. In this 

 namber of The Bee-Keeper will be 

 found quite a long article upon the 

 subject by Mr. John Hewitt. Avho ii;- 

 troduced them into England. — Editor. 



September, 

 12. 1004. 



Naples, N. Y., Auj. 

 Dear Sir: 



I am afcaid buckwheat will not 

 count much for us this year. It is cool 

 and wet most of the time and the bees 

 lie still with lots of bloom about them. 

 We have not had a smell of buckwheat 

 so far. 



Yours respectfully, 



F. Greiner. 



Haverhill. Mass., Julv ID. l'J04. 

 Brother Hill— 



I would consider it a favor if you 

 should see fit to publish in the Bee- 

 Keeper a satisfactory method of mak- 

 ing soft candy for queen cages. 

 Very truly yours, 



J. W. Small. 



The most satisfactory candy for 

 cages of which we know is sim- 

 ply a combination of i^ure pulverized 

 sugar and good ripe honey. Some 

 powdered, or pulverized sugar, used 

 for frosting cakes, etc.. by bakers, con- 

 tains starch, which is injurious to 

 bees, and should therefore be avoided. 

 Coarse granulated sugar is decidedly 

 preferable to the adulterated variety 

 referred to, in powdered form. The ad- 

 vantage of having it powdered is that 

 it more readily absorbs the honey, and 

 in combination therewith forms a 

 dough- like confection which the bees 

 are al)le to eat entirely; while the 

 coarse granules of the ordinary granu- 

 lated article are too large for them to 

 take. The in'ocess of making is sim- 

 ply mixing and kneading the honey 

 and sugar together thoroughly. It 

 should be made quite stiff — working in 

 all the sugar the honey will take. The 

 inexperienced manipulator will more 

 likely err on the side of making it too 

 thin than getting in too much sugar; 

 and greater danger lies in the possi- 

 l)ility of the bees l)ecoming drabl)led 

 in the honey than in their inal)ility to 

 use a candy containing an excess of 

 sugar. It should be pressed firmly in- 

 to the cage, the walls of which should 

 be made non-al)sorbent l)y an applica- 

 tion of paraffin or wax. — Editor. 



NEW ZELAND. 

 Marton. N. Z., July 12, 1004. 



Dear Mr. Hill 



At the present time we are in the 

 midst of our winter, which lias been 

 fairly good so far as l)ee-keei)ing inter- 

 ests are concerned. Our last honey sea- 

 son closed rather suddenly in March, 

 with but a small croii. 



