THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



135 



My bees lived until the "cold dip," 

 and in my absence the room was lire- 

 less. But for that, they would have 

 survived longer. As it was, they 

 lived two months in their little prison. 

 If, under unfavorable circimistances, 

 they lived two months, I argue that, 

 under better circumstances, they may 

 survive four. I have learned some 

 lessons by this little experiment, 

 which willenable me to improve upon 

 it hereafter. That we shall find a 

 way of applying artificial heat for the 

 wintering of small colonies, is a 

 cherished dream of mine, though I 

 am free to confess that it may prove 

 " but a dream." 

 Listowel, Ont. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Experience With Cyprians. 



L. JOHNSON. 



I purchased an imported Cyprian 

 queen from D. A. Jones in October, 

 1880. During the summer of 1881, I 

 reared quite a number of queens from 

 her, 14 of which 1 placed in full colo- 

 nies in order to thoroughly test them. 

 Several others I placed in the hands of 

 bee-keepers who were capable of 

 judging of their qualities. From these, 

 as well as my own experience, I am 

 able to form a pretty fair estimate of 

 their character, etc. 



1. The proliticness of the queens is 

 quite noted, the imported mother, as 

 well as daughters, keeping a large 

 amount of brood until late in the fall ; 

 but their progeny seemed short-lived. 

 The increase of bees in the hive was 

 not equal to the amount of brood — 

 Italian colonies not having so much 

 brood, but increased in bees much 

 faster. All winter long, since brood- 

 rearing ceased, the Cyprians have 

 dwindled rapidly. The bottom-board 

 of most of them is often covered with 

 dead bees, while but few are dropping 

 from Italians. This characteristic 

 was especially noticeable during No- 

 vember and December. Whether this 

 feature will continue until spring, re- 

 mains to be seen ; but if so, there will 

 be but a handful of bees to begin, 

 operations ; but, as brood-rearing is 

 now commencing with us, we hope the 

 worst is over. 



2. Their honey-gathering qualities 

 are not equal to the Italians ; or, if it 

 is the vast amount of brood that con- 

 sumed it so rapidly, that the show for 

 surplus was poor indeed. 



3. The hard name some have given 

 Cyprians for irritability, has not been 

 verified in my experience. They are 

 quite nervous on first opening the 

 hive, but soon quiet down so as to be 

 easily handled ; but if a few robbers 

 are searching around, they soon be- 

 come so much excited that all opera- 

 tions must cease. In all other points 

 I see no difference between them and 

 Italians. Taking the two races to- 

 gether, I shall certainly prefer the 

 " old reliable " Italians, as bred by 

 such men as Salisbury, Brown, Alley, 

 and others. While I deeply sympa- 

 thize with Mr. Jonesinhisearnestaud 

 expensive efforts to imjtrove our bees 

 by introducing these new races, yet I 



very much question the success 

 attained. Undoubtedly, the bright 

 color and beautiful form of the Cyp- 

 rians will make them favorites with 

 many, yet by carefully selecting our 

 queen mothers among Italians, even 

 this latter point may oe rivaled if not 

 excelled. 



Each year I am more convinced that 

 " that coming bee " will be the purest 

 and best type of t he Italian race. 



Walton, Ky. 



For the American Bee .Toiirnal. 



Salicylic Acid and Foul IJrood. 



A. R. KOHNKE. 



In reply to Mr. Jones' proposition, 

 I must say that I am perfectly de- 

 lighted with his article. We agree, 

 it seems, on all but one or two points. 

 Mr. Jones says salicylic acid does not 

 cure foul brood, which cure I offered 

 to prove. Mr. Jones did not accept 

 my proposition, but has done the 

 other thing, which I expected he 

 would, to-wit: given us his remedy. 

 I am very well pleased with that sub- 

 stitution; but having had no ex- 

 perience with the starvation cure, it 

 will not do for me to say it can or can- 

 not be done. Perhaps all contagious 

 diseases can be cured by starving the 

 subject infected. Bee-keepers have 

 to choose now between three different 

 remedies. 1st, starvation, 2d, borax 

 and salicylic acid in water, 3d, salicylic 

 acid in alcohol, proportion one to ten. 

 If they wish to get wise by "ex- 

 perience, " I would advise them to try 

 in the above order, and report success. 



As Mr. Jones has declined my propo- 

 sition, he will certainly excuse me 

 from accepting his ; meanwhile, I 

 shall hold on to disinfectants if my 

 bees get the desease, for it is whispered 

 that foul brood made its appearance 

 in this county last summer. 



In his reply to my review, Mr. 

 Muth evidently wished to overthrow 

 the force of my argument by refer- 

 ring to my limited experience, as far 

 as he has observed, which dates from 

 the fall of 1877. It will probably avail 

 very little when I state that t have 

 handled bees from my very childhood, 

 for, as Mr. Ileddon says, "how can 

 you prove the experience? " Besides, 

 "experience is a dear school," and I 

 prefer to get mv knowledge some 

 other way if I can, as Mr. Muth sur- 

 mises. But my experience is not the 

 question at issue. 



If I have been obscure in my state- 

 ments in that article, I will briefly 

 state the several points I wished to 

 make, once more: 1. That the solu- 

 tion of one part of acid in eight of 

 alcohol is too .strong. 2. That Mr. 

 Muth on two different occasions gave 

 solutions of different strength of a 

 remedy of his own invention, which, 

 if the remedy had any effect, shows 

 inconsistency. 3. That the solution 

 of borax and salicylic acid cannot be 

 used with success in curing foul 

 brood . 



To prove the foregoing, I cannot 

 assert my own experience, for Mr. 

 Muth says I have none; so I must go 

 to some higher authority and will in- 



clude Mr. Muth himself. Mr. Muth 

 claims to have used the solution 

 recommended by Ililbert, thereby 

 killing his bees. Why, if it was the 

 same, did it not kill Ililbert's beesy 

 Again, it has been found to kill bees, 

 or rather brood, if used too strong; 

 now, as Mr. ISIuth's bees did die, I 

 infer he used it too strong, and he, not 

 I, has misunderstood Ililbert's direc- 

 tions. 



To prove the second point is, per- 

 haps, not necessary, as he gives a 

 little more precise directions how to 

 use the different solutions, under 

 different conditions, though he has 

 not done so on former occasions; at 

 least I am not able to find them. 



To prove the third point, I referred, 

 as authority to the dispensatory of the 

 United States, wliich is certainly a 

 higher one than the assertion of any 

 druggist to the contrary. This is a 

 standard work, published to guide 

 and instruct druggists ; and the 

 article on salicylic acid is given in 

 condensed form from Professor 

 Kolbe's book "On the Effects of Sali- 

 cylic Acid, " this gentleman being the 

 highest authority on the subject. 

 Hence, the assertion of Mr. Muth be- 

 ing able to cure foul brood with a 

 mixture of borax and salicylic acid, is 

 conti'ary to the experiments and ex- 

 perience of Professor Kolbe, and Mr. 

 Muth cannot deny assuming higher 

 authority than the above named 

 gentleman, if he persists in claiming 

 to be correct. Of course, if that is 

 the case, I must acknowledge to have 

 been mistaken. If my bees get the 

 disease next summer, I will call a 

 convention of bee-keepers to show 

 them liovv I open a hive and cure foul 

 brood, to prove " experience." 



Youngstown, O. 



For the American Bee JoumoL 



Bee Items from Mississippi. 



OSCAR F. BLEDSOE. 



Having been for some time engaged 

 in ginning my cotton crop, on my 

 plantation in the Yazoo Valley, let 

 me say that this Valley promises much 

 for the intelligent apiarist. The 

 bloom is very luxuriant and rich in 

 honey, such as the ratan, tupelo gum, 

 various climbing plants, maple, red- 

 bud, etc. 



I have thought of establishing a 

 large apiary down there, if I could 

 procure desirable help. Until I have 

 fully verified it, I will not say that 

 any Southern locality I know of would 

 be a good place to produce honey in 

 large quantities for shipment. I am 

 sure, however, that there is no risk or 

 extra trouble here in wintering; that 

 bees will always get enough honey to 

 live on and prosper, and that every 

 Mississippi farmer, by managing in- 

 telligently a few hives of bees, using 

 extractor, etc., could procure ample 

 surplus honey for his own use, if not 

 some for sale. I propose to persevere 

 in my attention to bees, believing that 

 there is remuneration in the business 

 here. 



' Last year I sold honey and bees 

 enough to pay me back all the cash I 



