July 27, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



467 



ceptible in the food, while in the weig-ht of the bees it is not 

 seen. 



In all of the above we see the wisdom of Him who 

 created the bees, for were it otherwise they could not stand 

 the rigors of our Northern latitudes at all, inasmuch as 

 they are too clean to soil their hives, while the weather 

 will not admit of their leaving- them, often for months in 

 succession. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Queen-Breeders Defended— Jiidg-ing" from the 

 Progeny of a Queen. 



BV J. M. DONALDSON. 



HASTY judgment is a failing that mankind is more or 

 less heir to, and bee-keepers not being exempt, the 

 queen-breeders, like the supply and commission men. 

 are often the victims. Sometimes it may be deserved, but I 

 will venture to guess that nine times out'of ten it is entirely 

 uncalled for. 



I do not put forward the claim that all queen-breeders 

 are strictly honest. We have good and bad in almost any 

 calling-. No doubt there are a few men who rear queens for 

 market that are careless and slipshod in their methods, 

 their only aim being the accumulation of the almighty dol- 

 lar ; but of this I am not qualified to speak. 



We have a class of queen-breeders who are careful and 

 considerate— men who have devoted the best days of their 

 lives to the study of the honey-bee, its habits, and the best 

 methods for rearing queens. Such men are not only a credit 

 but a benefit to the bee-keeping- fraternity, because they are 

 doing what the rank and file of bee-keepers have neither the 

 time nor the patience to accomplish, namely, improving- the 

 present race of honey-bees by breeding out the poor quali- 

 ties and breeding in the good ones. Men of this class could 

 not afford to injure their reputation by misreprcsenting- 

 their stock or by sending out poor queens. I do not think 

 they would knowingly do .so, still I have received queens 

 from this very class of men that fell far short of ii/y expec- 

 tations, as far as egg-laying was concerned ; but I do not 

 think the one I bought them from was trying to swindle me. 



I am thoroly convinced tliat a queen that has been very 

 prolific while in the yard of the breeder may, after making- 

 a journey in the mails, turn out almost useless as an egg- 

 layer. I never studied entomology, and cannot explain -^vhy 

 this should be, but I will relate' an experience I had, oil 

 which I base ray opinion : 



Three years ago I wanted to improve my stock, so I sent 

 an order for a select-tested queen of the previous season's 

 rearing. This order was placed with one of the best-known 

 breeders. The queen arrived and was safely introduced. 

 As this was the highest priced queen I had ever owned, I 

 was much interested, and kept a close watch of her. I was 

 somewhat disappointed when I found she was not keeping- 

 up the strength of the colony. But there were other things 

 I noticed, which saved me from the common error of writ- 

 ing a saucy letter to the man from whom I bought her. Her 

 progeny was as handsome as any bees I had ever seen, and 

 in proportion to the number the hive contained they were 

 the best hustlers in my yard. They were the first out in 

 the morning and the last in at night. I concluded to try 

 breeding from her before making any complaints ; there- 

 suit was as good queens as it had ever been my pleasure to 

 own. 



That season a friend of mine (who is also a bee-keeper) 

 made me a visit. He took quite a fancy to my nice, yellow 

 bees, and askt me if I would send him a queen'. I pickt out 

 one of the very best I owned, and sent her to him. Last 

 summer my friend paid me another visit ; of course I askt 

 him how he liked the queen I sent him. Imagine my sur- 

 prise when he told me that if he were buying them, he 

 would not pay one dollar a dozen for queens such as she 

 was. 



From the above facts I came to the conclusion that 

 when buying queens, should they not quite meet my expec- 

 tations, I would always breed from them and see how their 

 queen progeny turned out before I entered my complaints 

 to the queen-breeder. Worcester Co., Mass. 



Langstroth on the Honey = Bee, revised by the Dadants, 

 is a standard, reliable and thoroughly complete work on 

 bee-culture. It contains 520 pages, and is bound elegantly. 

 Every reader of the American Bee Journal should have a 

 copy of this book, as it answers hundreds of questions that 

 arise about bees. We mail it for $1.25, or club it with the 

 Bee Journal for a year — both for only S2.00. 



Foul Brood Germs— Difference Between Spores 

 and Bacilli. 



BY THOS. \VM. COWAN. 



SINCE I wrote to you on this subject I have received 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture for April 15. and in it I find 



two letters in reference to which I should like to make a 

 few remarks. Mr. Harry S. Howe, writing with regard to 

 the several boilings in order to secure the sterilization of 

 honey, points out that •' the spores of Bacillus alvci do not 

 develop in honey, nor can they live in honey except in the 

 spore condition." I would agree with this entirely if it 

 were restricted to honey in a normal condition. But it 

 would indeed be a bold person who would venture to say 

 that honey is always in this state, and that it cannot be in 

 such an abnormal condition as to form a suitable medium 

 for the germination of spores of bacilli. We know the liv- 

 ing spores remain dormant, and bacilli cannot grow in 

 honey, because in a normal condition it has an acid reac- 

 tion ; but should it, from any cause, become even slightly 

 alkaline, there would then — if other conditions obtained— 

 be no hindrance to their germination and development. It 

 was with a view to the possibility of such a condition that I 

 wrote advisedly in my last letter respecting several boilings 

 of hone_^ — " supposing a. nutrient medium to exist in the 

 honey, the unaffected spores would germinate into bacilli, 

 and could be destroyed in the next boiling." 



On page 310, there is " A new treatment of foul brood " 

 by our old friend Rambler, and a recommendation to uncap 

 a comb affected with foul brood, and wash it under a faucet 

 of water running with considerable force. I should like to 

 point out the great danger of this plan. The combs that 

 are uncapt contain thousands of spores; and in washing 

 many of these would be driven out of the cells and spread 

 by the running water, we kno%v not where ; and as the3- are 

 not destroyed they are at any time ready to restart the'mis- 

 chief. When the combs are in this condition it is always 

 safer to burn them, as we thus destroy all the spores. 



Then as to formalin, I do not think it would have any 

 more effect upon the spores than any of the other drugs 

 have, altho it may be equally efficient in destroying bacilli. 

 It seems to me that, in many cases, the non-success of drugs 

 has been owing- to not properly unc^erstanding the great 

 difference between spores and bacilli. 



Now, in any inquiry into the influence of one drug or 

 another on micro-organisms, it is necessary to bear in mind 

 that the influence of certain conditions on the micro-organ- 

 ism may be a twofold one. First, the condition may be un- 

 favorable to the growth of the organism ; and, second, the 

 condition may be fatal to the life and existence of it. The 

 second condition involves, a fortiori, the first ; but the re- 

 verse is not the case. A great deal of confusion has arisen 

 on this subject, owing to the failure to distinguish between 

 these two propositions. We constantly hear of this or that 

 substance being an " antiseptic," which means that it is 

 inimical to the g-rowth of micro-organisms, or that it is a 

 " germicide," meaning that it kills the organi-sms. The 

 scientific man, of course, knows and understands the dift'er- 

 ence between the two : but the great bulk of people do not, 

 therefore they expect drugs to perform impossibilities. 



I see Rambler calls formalin an antiseptic, therefore it 

 is probable that it will prevent the growth of spores only 

 while in contact with it, or kill the bacilli. This is pre- 

 cisely the behavior of all the other drugs used, and they 

 can do no more. Spores are invested by a thick, double 

 membrane ; the external sheath is supposed to be cellulose, 

 and the internal one probably of a fatty nature, both being- 

 bad conductors of heat. It is this double membrane that 

 gives spores this great resistance of high and low tempera- 

 tures to acids and other substances. I do not think any 

 amount of soaking in water would render the spores open 

 to the influence of diluted formalin. Now, we know there 

 are manj' antiseptics, and these can be used effectually 

 against foul brood. Carbolic acid, phenol, thymol, salicylic 

 acid, naphthol beta, perchlorideof mercury, and many other 

 substances, even when considerably diluted, prevent the 

 growth of bacilli. 



Now we have had considerable success in England in 

 our treatment of foul brood, which involves the use of 

 drugs. We call this an antiseptic treatment, because it is 

 the same in principle as the antiseptic treatment in sur- 

 gery, which has made it possible to perform with success 

 the marvelous operations of the present day, and such as 

 could not have been effected without almost certain loss of 

 life from blood-poisoning- induced by the growth of various 

 micro-organisms. We insist on an antiseptic always being- 

 present in the hive or in the food we give to our bees. No 



