72 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



is incorrect in his reasoning {having 

 had no experience with dysentery ex- 

 cept what he purchased), and that my 

 first convictions were correct, viz: 

 that older bees, when by adverse cir- 

 cumstances are induced to eat any 

 pollen during confinement, will have 

 dysentery as the result. Those whom 

 I have looked up to as authority have 

 taught that bee-bread was essentially 

 a larval food. We know that the food 

 that young babes, calves, and colts 

 live on exclusively would, if used to 

 the same extent by the adults of their 

 species, produce dysentery and death. 



This illustrates why pollen may be 

 "ever ready to produce life " at one 

 time and under certain conditions, 

 while at other times it kills. The 

 dinner that strengthens you to-day 

 may kill you if duplicated one week 

 hence, under other conditions. 



I have but little doubt but that 

 moisture is a great aggravator or pro- 

 ducer of bad effects from its favor- 

 able influence toward the production 

 of bacteria. Whetjier chaff, cellars, 

 houses with stove& in them, hives 

 lined with lime cushions, will prevent 

 this fermentation when the pollen and 

 honey are most imfavorable within 

 themselves, we cannot yet reasonably 

 decide ; but I, for one, have fears as to 

 the practical and ready means of pre- 

 vention, just as soon as we get a clear 

 understanding of the cause, and 

 causes of the cause. I believe we are 

 coming at it, slowly but surely. 1 be- 

 lieve that my first conception of the 

 cause will turn out to be true. Some 

 other form of life is working for the 

 ascendancy over the life of our bees. 



If it would not be asking too much 

 of Prof. Cook, I would ask him in be- 

 half of tlie .science-loving apiarists of 

 the world to give us through these 

 columns as elaborate an account of 

 the late French experiments with that 

 low form of life so destructive to 

 stock, as his valuable time will afford. 

 When relating the experiments in our 

 State Convention, we felt a tingling 

 sensation run over the brain, and 

 thought surely these scientists are the 

 saviors of men. 



Dovvagiac, Mich. 



For Ibe American Bee Joamal. 



Those Fine Bees in Canada. 



W. p. HENDERSON. 



The American Bee Journal, of 

 the 11th inst. reached me the 12th 

 inst.,andin looking over it I find from 

 the pen of W.F. Clarke, tlie following: 



" We have organized a company in 

 this town, and started an apiary as a 

 tentative business venture. * * * * 

 Thus far we have only bought 44 hives 

 of bees, being the sum total of tliat 

 nice little apiary at Kincardine, with 

 which I fell so desperately in love last 

 July." 



In looking at his communication in 

 No. 29, July 20th, which 1 noticed at 

 the tune, that Mr. Clarke, visited "an 

 excellent Canadian apiary," and 

 found, as he says, " a uniform, nicely 

 marked, even-tempered lot of Italian 

 bees." * * * * " We opened some 20 

 hives to inspect the queens. In sev- 



eral cases we had no need for a puff 

 of smoke, so quiet were the bees." 



Now, if Mr. Clarke's company intend 

 to rear queens for sale in Canada, I 

 know of no better stock than the 

 Sturgeon stock to rear from. There 

 are many queens, however, of the 

 same stock in different apiaries of tlie 

 Dominion. 



But the funny part to me, Mr. Editor, 

 in the different articles of Mr. Clarke, 

 published in the Bee Journal and 

 elsewhere, is his recollection of all 

 those islands in Canada, covered with 

 nothing but bees, and his remember- 

 ing all those Syrian, Cyprian, Parry 

 Sound, Apis dorsata and Apis Caiui- 

 densis, hard names, but failing to re- 

 member that of little Tennessee, or 

 tlie name of that little Tennesseean 

 who furnished Mr. Sturgeon with 

 those fine queens. 



When tlie tentative Canadian queen 

 apiary advertises, I will, with pleasure, 

 extend the right hand of welcome to 

 them upon the platform for public 

 patronage, with a wish that Apis 

 Americana the coming bee, may be 

 produced in a much shorter period 

 than many are predicting. 



Murfreesboro, Tenn., Jan. 12, 1882. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Exact Reports of Honey Crop. 



I have before me a report of a honey 

 crop from a very honest man, of a 

 very superior strain of bees, resulting 

 from a hybrid cross, which gathered 

 just 40 lbs. of honey per colony, from 

 red clover, when ordinary Italians did 

 not get one pound. These bees un- 

 derstood themselves, and put in just 

 that convenient multiple of pounds, 

 that would not puzzle the brain of 

 buyer or seller. Five colonies equals 

 200 lbs.; 10 colonies equals 400 lbs. 

 How convenient y Then again, three 

 swarms from one old colony, last sum- 

 mer. These together make four colo- 

 nies, all in splendid order for winter, 

 except they have about 1.5 lbs. of honey 

 per colony" too much, for wintering. 

 Four times 1.5 His., are 60 lbs. It is so 

 easy to count the surplus inside the 

 hive ! Then these four united give 

 just 400 lbs. of white comb honey, and 

 exactly 300 lbs. of dark comb honey; 

 all nearly built in two pound sections. 

 Just 17.5 lbs. to the hive; STJj sections 



Eer colony — 22 sections per month, in 

 ox honey; besides the extra 1.5 lbs. 

 inside of brood-chamber — just two 

 pounds per working day (these bees 

 don't work on Sunday) all summer, 

 wet or dry, cold or hot, blossoms or no 

 blossoms; besides filling the brood 

 chamber. 



There was one colony that far ex- 

 celled these. It stored just 400 lbs. 

 It didn't go into fractions at all. Just 

 400 lbs., 200 boxes or sections; 50 sec- 

 tions per month — a whole crate and 

 four sections over, every 15 days. 



Brothers of the bee-keeping frater- 

 nity," That coming bee have ariv in 

 another State," and the breeder has 

 written a letter announcing this to an 

 apiarist of Michigan. 

 Wilton, Iowa. 



For tbe American Bee JournaL 



Foul Brood and its Cure. 



A. K. KOHNKE. 



As some bee-keepers may be led to 

 believe, by Mr. Townley's assertion, 

 that he cured foul broody colonies, by 

 simply putting them into a clean hive, 

 that they also may succeed by the 

 same proceedure, I wish to say that I 

 consider such a tiling impossible. 



Foul brood means bacteria of putri- 

 faction which do not only pervade 

 brood but also honey, pollen, and the 

 body of the old living bees. A pa- 

 tient having small-pox cannot be 

 cured by moving him into another 

 house, not by starving him. Where- 

 ever he is taken he carries the con- 

 tagion with him, in his body, until he 

 is cured. It is the same with bees. If 

 Mr. Townley's bees got well after be- 

 ing removed to other quarters, it 

 would simply prove that there was nO' 

 contagious disease about. Mr. Town- 

 ley admits of having had no faith in 

 nor success with that method and re- 

 sorted to cremation, also substantially 

 admitting what he seems to deny, viz : 

 that he cannot tell whether or not he 

 has eradicated the disease, for when 

 it takes a bee-keeper three years of 

 repeatedly burning his infected bees, 

 hives, and all, at a loss of $200, he 

 may rest assured, that by that method 

 he has not yet burnt his last hive and 

 colony, which are as liable to catcb 

 the contagion as those before them 

 which were burned before the last 

 ones showed signs of the disease. 



Youngstown, O., Jan., 1882. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Foundation for Sections. 



H. C. FARWELL. 



In Mr. Doolittle's article on page ft 

 of the Bee Journal for this year, I 

 was sorry to see tliat the Given foun- 

 dation, made on the Given press, 

 should be left out of his test. The 

 great trouble with the thin founda- 

 tion for sections is that it does not 

 contain scarcely any wax in the wall. 

 It is plain enough that foundation as 

 thin as 10 square feet to the pound 

 cannot contain much wax in the wall. 

 You would not think of putting such 

 foundation in the brood-chamber be- 

 cause there is not enough wax in the 

 wall to much more than give the cell 

 a fair start. Then why put it in the 

 sections ? The reason is that all the 

 heavy foundation made on the roller 

 mills has so thick a base or septum 

 that the bees leave the so-ciUed " fish 

 bone " in the center of the comb. 



This difficulty has been overcome by 

 the Given press. The great pressure 

 brought to bear on the sheets of wax 

 makes the septum exceedingly thin 

 and at tlie same time making a heavy 

 wall. The septum of this foundation 

 is as thin in that which measures 6 

 square feet to the pound, as in that 

 which measures 10 square feet to the 

 pound, if properly made, and fully as 

 thin if not thinner than natural comb. 

 Mr. Doolittle says : 



