THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ing left there two days they were 

 shaken into clean hives, and what 

 comb they had made was melted into 

 wax. In no case did tlie disease ap- 

 pear again in tlie colonies so treated. 

 The objection to it was the liability 

 to spread the disease (it being con- 

 tagions) to healthy colonies, especially 

 so, if tlie worli was done wlien bees 

 were flying and were not ,gatliering 

 honey. After my experience with 

 this malady, I think one who has no 

 experience with it would be more than 

 likely to lose by tooling with it in his 

 own "apiary, in any way, shape or man- 

 ner wliatever. 



I seldom found more than 4 or 5 

 affected colonies at any one time, but 

 in a few weeks after treating them, 

 as above described, more would be 

 found, so that at the end of the season 

 I was no better off so tar as getting 

 rid of tlie malady is concerned tlian at 

 its conniiencenient. The next season 

 I made short work of it by either 

 burning, or burying every diseased 

 colony, with all that belonged to it, as 

 soon as it was found. The third year 

 I found only one colony diseased in 

 my apiary of more than 100 colonies. 

 Since then (.July, 1H79), during tlie 

 breeding season every colony in my 

 apiary has been overhauled as often 

 as once in from S to G weelvs, the bees 

 sliaken from the combs, and the brood 

 carefully looked over witliout finding 

 a diseased "cell," so that I think I 

 am now entirely rid of foul brood not- 

 withstanding the assertion of Mr. 

 Kohnke to the contrary. 



I was very much gratilied with 

 meeting Mr.' .Tones at the Michigan 

 OonveiUion, and listened to his re- 

 marks tliere with a great deal of 

 pleasure. I think he gave us much 

 valuable information and hope he 

 will attend tlie future meetings of the 

 Association. But, if salicylic acid 

 will cure foul brood, and he has dis- 

 eased brood in his apiary so much 

 worse than foul brood that the acid 

 will not cure it, 1 hope he will leave 

 it in Canada ; we don't want it in the 

 United States V 



In conclusion, althougli foreign to 

 the subject, we are apt to be too posi- 

 tive in our assertions ; to make asser- 

 tions that we would not make if we 

 knew all the facts. Even the best 

 and most experienced apiarists some- 

 times make not only assertions that 

 they have no facts to prove, but also 

 inconsiderate assertions, that are dis- 

 proved by tlie experience of others. 

 Although numerous instances of this 

 kind might be referred to, I will re- 

 fer to only one— that of Mr. Lang- 

 stroth, in I'lis letter to Mr. A. I. Root, 

 as publislied in Gleaninfis, vol. 14, page 

 ol9, and afterwards published in tlie 

 Bee Journal; viz: "In the very 

 cold winter of 1872-78, [ wintered in 

 tlie open air in hives only '« thick, 

 until February, a number of colonies 

 wliich were estimated not to liave 

 over two quarts of bees per liive. All 

 the bees of a liive were placed between 

 two combs full of honey, which were 

 kept nearly three inches apart, and 

 they formed a single cluster, shaped 

 like a ball. If the combs of these 

 colonies had been left in tlieir sum- 

 mer position, no amount of cliaff used 



in any fashion could have saved them." 

 If Mr. Langstrotli had visited my 

 apiary about March 20th, in 1873, and 

 seen me open hive after hive of very 

 much such colonies as he mentions, 

 that had been used for queen-rearing, 

 in 1872, and in which tlie combs were 

 left ill their suiiiiner position — colo- 

 nies so small that they occupied only 

 a small part of two spaces between 

 the combs — only one comb running 

 througli the cluster of bees; and all of 

 them successfully wintered on tlieir 

 summer stands i>acked in chaff, he 

 never would have made the above 

 assertion. 



For tho American Bfe Journal. 



Is Parthenogenesis Proven? 



.1. W. K. SHAW. 



While awaitmg the arrival of tlie 

 " Apis Americana," permit a puer 

 Americana to dissect an article by Dr. 

 W. R. Howard, in the Bee Journal 

 for Sept. 14, 1881. 



I also deny (with Mr. Robinson) that 

 parthenogenesis is a fact proven in 

 nature. All admit that the (jueen bee 

 is not bi-sexual ; therefore all her eggs 

 must be fertilized by the spermatozoa 

 of a male to produce fruitfulness. 

 This is the rule in nature, whether in 

 human, animal or insect life. When 

 once they are bi-sexual. they ever re- 

 main so. ^^o embryo can start into 

 existence witliout the interposition of 

 the spermatozoa of the male, even in 

 bi-sexual insects. Asexiuil,?'. c, with- 

 out sex, is not a law of nature. Aga- 

 mic, i. f., without marriage, or ;iga- 

 mous, is applied only to vegetable life, 

 as having no visible organs of fructili ■ 

 cation. There is. and can be, no bud- 

 ding process in the re-i»roduction of 

 animal or insect life ; all are furnished 

 with the organs of re-production, bi- 

 sexual and sexual, for the preserva- 

 tion and procreation of their species. 



A budding luocess in jelly lish, is 

 (uily the development of a bi-sexual, 

 and not of an agamic process, or asex- 

 ual, if you will. Asexual is contrary 

 to all laws of nature, in insects, ani- 

 mals or tish, and is conlined to botan- 

 ology alone. Asexual, having no vis- 

 ible organs of generation. 



He also says "it is impossible to 

 draw any absolute lines of demar- 

 cation between ova and buds." Such 

 a line is not necessary ; nature in all 

 its workings, points with an unerring 

 finger, as absolute and unchangable 

 as the hand which directs the move- 

 ment with unerring wisdom, and pro- 

 vides for all, through and by general 

 laws, established to germ productive 

 nature. Again he says : " Eggstliat 

 you wish to hatch must be left to the 

 care of the bees." No egg in our 

 apiary will hatch if they do not care 

 for it. To produce a perfect female, 

 or queen bee, they build a special cell 

 for it, and feed it with royal food; 

 they build tor the drone, or male, a 

 special cell also. Can any one say 

 they have no especial food for the 

 male bee V Neuter cannot be applied 

 to the worker bee, for they are unde- 

 veloped females ; they, too, have a 

 different cell, and who is able to prove 



that the bees do not feed the workers 

 with a special worker food. When it 

 is so hard to prove where truth lies 

 hidden, it is easy to say: " We pin 

 our faith to the skirts of scientists." 

 But are they not human ? Being hu- 

 man, they are fallible ! And since 

 parthenogenesis is a myth, and in no ■ 

 conclusive manner a reality, and since 

 reproduction of the species is the pro- 

 duction of living individuals by actual 

 congress of the species, I wish that 



good common sense," common to 

 all "enlightened, intelligent apia- 

 rists," may seek for a solution of the 

 mystery in that well " where truth 

 lies hidden." and be not astonished if 

 you hnd at the well— the jmer 

 Americana! 



Loreauville, La. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping as an Occupation. 



WM. CAM.M. 



It seems not only possible, but 

 practicable, to meet bad seasons by 

 judicious sowing and planting for 

 honey. An attempt to examine colo- 

 nies with a view of transmitting you 

 a report, last September, was frus- 

 trated by robbers. I commenced the 

 winter with 29 colonies, .S being Cyp- 

 rians, and 2 Syrians. The little ex- 

 perience I had with these bees was 

 favorable, especially with Syrians. 



Bee-keepers have no more reason to 

 be discouraged than those following 

 other rural occupations. Wheat was 

 comparatively a failure; corn was 

 badly injured by drouth, and on clay 

 lands, where the juices contained 

 more sugar, tlie chinch-bug played 

 havoc witli it. ilaiiy, to save what 

 they did raise cut up all their corn, 

 and then came the soaking warm 

 rains and spoiled that. Where corn 

 was good the cholera has killed hun- 

 dreds of liogs to which it was being 

 fed. Bugs, insects and drouth, so in- 

 jured the vegetables and fruit, that 

 one is hai'dly surprised to hear of cab- 

 bages being imported from Holland, 

 potatoes from Ireland and beans from 

 Italy. 



Had I been able to Italianize in 

 1879 I should, in spite of the season, 

 have gotten about TOO lbs. per colony. 

 The drouth had continued so long 

 that I felt sure of copious rains in 

 summer and destroyed my black 

 queens just as white clover came in, 

 and tlie drouth stopping the .secretion 

 of nectar suddenly, bees were very 

 perverse in raising ipieens and in re- 

 ceiving those bought, so that several 

 were destroyed after laying one or 

 tvs'o weeks ; this made it necessary to 

 draw upon my few Italians continu- 

 ally. Started with 21 colonies; took 

 no honey but changed all black for 

 yellow queens and increased 8 colonies. 



Murrayville, 111. 



I®" The Indiana State Bee-Keepers 

 Association is called to meet in annual 

 session, Wednesday and Thursday, 

 Jan. 24 and 2.5, 1882, in the rooms of 

 the State Board of Agriculture. By 

 order of Executive Committee. 



