392 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tions to this rule cause dysentery '? 

 Throughout all nature, healtli is the 

 rule, and sickness the variation from 

 that rule, so to speak. The inherent 

 tendency is to live. Tlie outward 

 tendency that you die so others can 

 live. From this line of reasoning my 

 first statement was " dysentery, pro- 

 duced by an over amount of animal 

 or vegetable matter in the food." 



At that time I supposed that bac- 

 terium wasan animal germ, but now I 

 believe it, from good authority to be 

 vegetable, but it is one of those ac- 

 tive forms, as mold, etc., that possesses 

 the calamitous capability of reproduc- 

 ing itself in vast hordes, in a space of 

 time proportional to its size. As I 

 use the words " vegetable matter," I 

 mean solid, such as bee-bread, or 

 floating pollen in the honey. Of 

 course, I am aware that honey itself 

 belongs to the vegetable kingdom. 

 From my first thouglits and proposi- 

 tion upon the subject. I have not as 

 yet seen any cause, either from ob- 

 servation or the reasoning of my con- 

 temporaries, to change my mind. 

 Through the grounds of the original 

 proposition I have been forced to 

 vascillate from one idea to another 

 according as new evidences and de- 

 ductions were brought up. Such 

 oscillations should be approved, and 

 not censured, for they are the neces- 

 sary results of honest investigation, 

 and the leaders to the solution of the 

 problem. But, then, we have among 

 us men that, though not celebrated 

 for their experience or logic, are 

 wordy and vigorous, and this energy 

 must be exercised, and it finds it's 

 outlet in making up faces and carica- 

 turing the supposed unpopular. 



But Mr. Grimm says tliat " disease 

 in the human race does not in all 

 cases necessarily originate from the 

 same source." True; but some dis- 

 eases do (scarlet fever), and these 

 that do are distinguished from those 

 that do not, by their specific symp- 

 toms. No disease heired by human 

 flesh has more specific svmptoms than 

 bee dysentery. Mr. G. thinks that 

 the following conditions may either 

 by themselves, or variously coupled 

 together, all have more or less efl:ect 

 to produce dysentery, if I understand 

 him correctly : Eating too much 

 pure bee-bread, fermented honey, 

 fermented bee-bread, long confine- 

 ment, with variable temperature, im- 

 pure air, and dampness. Others add 

 to the list many other conditions, 

 among which are cold, cider, and 

 Langstroth hives, and some even 

 credit it to human laziness. 



Now that most of tlie conditions 

 mentioned above may act as aggrava- 

 tions upon the cause, I do not deny, 

 and if bacteria is tlie cause, 1 am free 

 to admit, that dampness and warmth 

 at some time, and in some place, 

 caused the bacteria to germinate! 

 But I have never been convinced 

 that cider would produce dysentery. 

 Added to my own experience is that 

 of Mr. Grimm, and all point to the 

 fact that cider is not a cause direct, if 

 at all. I have to-day more belief in 

 the pollen theory than the bacteria 

 hypothesis. 



1 will hastily run over a few facts 



for the reader to draw his own deduc- 

 tions from. Cider— I have had my 

 bees winter nicely with much cider in 

 the combs. 



Pure air and dampness— I saw Mr. 

 Balch's bees come from a close un- 

 ventilated room, ^'ripping with water, 

 and combs all moldy, in excellent con- 

 dition. I have seen the same on 

 other occasions. I had bees winter 

 well under ground, in a hole like a 

 grave, when the combs were nearly 

 ruined witli moldy rot. I saw about 

 40 colonies come from a little unventi- 

 lated clamp, made so small that tliey 

 filled it almost solid, in the best con- 

 dition I ever saw bees enjoy in April. 

 I saw about the same number come 

 from the same clamp, one year later, 

 all dead with dysentery— every bee. 



Cold and long confinement— I liave 

 seen, and have many credible reports 

 of splendid successes in out-door win- 

 tering where severe cold and long 

 confinement were present. In the 

 northern part of this State, where 

 their losses are hardly as great as in 

 southern Indiana, s"ch a state of af- 

 fairs is to be expected. 



Varying cold and long confinement 

 —I am not so sure about. I do not 

 now recall a case of the kind here, for 

 in varying winters the variation is 

 usually great enough to prevent long 

 confinement. That is the class of 

 winters that I should most dread, be- 

 cause early breeding would likely re- 

 sult, and then the handling and con- 

 sumption of pollen in confinement, 

 and consequent dysentery follow. 



Fermented honey— How can I look 

 on this as a cause, when I have never 

 known it to exist in any apiary only 

 as an effect. I have found that the 

 honey soon gets thin, after the 

 warmth of living bees is exchanged 

 for the damp carcasses of dead ones. 

 In this climate, out-doors rivals our 

 poorest cellers, for a damp atmos- 

 phere; in fact, it far exceeds them. 

 Yet in a cellar of the driest nature, I 

 have had my colonies die like rot, and 

 leave plenty of thick, rich basswood 

 and other honey, with combs dry, 

 but badly daubed. I never saw a 

 moldy comb in that cellar. 



I ask you to believe me that I, as 

 well as many others, have seen all the 

 possible causes referred to by Mr. 

 Grimm present in a radical form, and 

 many in various combinations where 

 no dysentery resulted. I have also 

 seen it in its worst form, where not 

 one of these causes existed that I 

 could discern, except healthy appear- 

 ing bee-bread, and nearly always 

 brood. Now, all tiiat has to be done 

 to shut this theory out in the cold 

 with the rest, is to sliow us a case of 

 dysentery where the bees have no 

 bee-bread in the combs, nor floating 

 pollen in the other stores, as in case 

 of pure, properly made granulated 

 sugar-syrup. It will not do to point 

 to a case of survival, where the combs 

 contained pollen. We all know that 

 all winds do not blow away houses, 

 but we further know that they bounce 

 up into the air from no other cause. 

 If colonies thus prepared with pure 

 stores free from pollen in all shapes 

 do have the disease under any other 



circumstances, I shall be forced to 

 admit that the main cause is some- 

 thing else, and, at best, pollen only 

 an adjunct or aggravation, if any 

 damage at all. I would say to the 

 " Jack Horners," do not rake up any 

 old half-forgotten cases, where sugar 

 was fed with honey, or on top of it, 

 or in combs that contained pollen ; 

 hold your explosive desire to beat 

 somebody, till some man like Prof. 

 Cook, who has the close practical 

 ability to make a compreheusive test, 

 and the acknowledged integrity to 

 make his decisions satisfactory to us 

 all, will put ttie matter to a test that 

 shall wind up all further discussion. 

 Dowagiac, Mich. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Reply to Mr. P. L. Vlalloii. 



PEOF. A. J. COOK. 



Mr. Paul L. Viallon, Dear Sir:— I 

 take pleasure in replying to your 

 courteous letter ; the more so as you 

 are one whose tact, energy and supe- 

 rior skill, coupled witli sterling hon- 

 esty, has done very much to brace the 

 "dollar queen business" into its 

 present proportions. 



I cannot see how that any observing 

 bee-keeper of experience can hold that 

 the laws which govern in tlie breeding 

 of the higher animals do not prevail 

 in the breeding of bees. Surely bees 

 vary. Surely they transmit their pe- 

 culiarities. Then certainly, here as 

 elsewhere, selection guided by close 

 study and observation is all import- 

 ant. Mr. Viallon recognizes these 

 facts practically, and hence his well- 

 earned reputation. I wish prices 

 would sustain him in exercising even 

 far greater care. I do think that we 

 are enabled by care to select our 

 drones to a large degree now. In our 

 apiary only two or three colonies now 

 have drones. I believe that if there 

 was pecuniary inducement, that such 

 wise and painstaking breeders as Mr. 

 Viallon, could even now select his 

 drones. It would require great skill, 

 much pains and no small labor, but it 

 could, I think, be done. I will not 

 tell how, as no one could afford to 

 practice if I did. If I am mistaken, 

 a method would be forthcoming if 

 the prospective gain therefrom would 

 warrant the labor and study requisite. 

 Alas 1 under the present system it 

 will not. 



True, breeders of cattle, etc., do 

 have to weed out. Breeders of bees 

 will have to do the same to reach per- 

 fection. You know, Mr. V., that a 

 queen— no queen— will always repro- 

 duce all of her good qualities. I would 

 have you know, also, how to breed 

 from the best drones only, and select 

 as carefully in your males as in your 

 queens. 



To sum up then : 1st. I have not 

 the least doubt but that the laws that 

 govern in breeding are uniform in all 

 animals. 2d. It is as important to se- 

 lect our drones as to select our queens. 

 I believe it is possible to do this now, 

 with great labor, and if not, that man 

 can invent a way if the inducement is 

 offered. 3d. Selection and weeding 



