292 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Illinski, and asked them if they had 

 anthing to say. If so, to send it on 

 and have it published in the same 

 paper, so that our readers would not 

 be troubled with a prolonged personal 

 controversy. The following is their 

 reply : 



The best and most careful of us are 

 liable to blunder, and do, uninten- 

 tionally, that which we would not 

 knowingly do for any consideration. 

 We can truthfully say that we never 

 saw (to our knowledge) a cell of foul 

 biood until last May. When the dis- 

 covery was made, prompt and efticient 

 measures, as we then thought, were 

 taken to eradicate it. We were mis- 

 taken, however, as events proved, 

 for as seen above, Mr. Trester claims 

 that we sent him 20 nuclei, some 

 having foul brood, and demanded the 

 modest sum of S1,000 damages. At a 

 iiersonal interview with him at Chi- 

 cago, in October, he moderated his 

 claim to §500. On asking him, if we 

 paid the sum demanded, whether that 

 would be the end of the matter, he 

 answered, " That he would not forego 

 the pleasure of exposing us, if we 

 paid him S1,000." All this because, 

 by accident or oversight, we had un- 

 fortunately sent him a few (2 or 3 

 perhaps out of 20) nuclei (taking his 

 word for it) infected with foul brood. 



After consulting some of the best 

 bee-keepers of our country, who had 

 been troubled by this disease, and had 

 been successful in getting rid of it, 

 and after carefully weighing the whole 

 matter, we deemed it fair and right 

 to return the purchase money, and 

 we sent him $95, the full amount re- 

 ceived from him for 20 nuclei. This 

 money he refused to receive, but tried 

 to levy on, or attach it,so that he may 

 obtain it without giving us a receipt 

 in full of all damage ; but the money 

 was returned to us before he could 

 accomplish his design. 



At the meeting, where the foregoing 

 resolutions were passed, his denuncia- 

 tions, etc., were so violent, that when 

 strangers to us, who did not like such 

 unfair treatment, tried to take our 

 part, they were speedily " sat down 

 on " These facts are susceptible of 

 proof; and show, better than any 

 words of ours, the spirit which actu- 

 ated him. ^, ^ 



Any man of business can see that, 

 to knowingly sell diseased bees would 

 be suicidal and would justly result in 

 utter ruin, financially and otherwise. 

 We liave too many thousands of dol- 

 lars invested in this business, and our 

 reputation is too dear to us, to be 

 guilty of such folly. We certainly are 

 as much interested in the suppression 

 of this pest as any one can be, and 

 perhaps more so, as our interests are 

 larger. It is very unjust to report 

 that we are scattering it through the 

 land Flanagan & Illinski. 



Belleville, 111., April 2.5, 1884. 



P. S. I wish to add that if any one 

 has blundered, any mistake made, or 

 any one wronged, that I alone am to 

 blame for it, and that my partner, A. 

 X. Illinski, M. D., is not responsible 

 for my mistakes, as I have had the 



entire control and management of the 

 business, and if any are blame- worthy, 

 it is I. I make this statement with- 

 out the Doctor's knowledge, because 

 I deem it but just. I will also say 

 that had I acted with ordinary judg- 

 ment, I would have laid the whole 

 matter before the Northwestern As- 

 sociation, held in Chicago last Octo- 

 ber, and I regret exceedingly tliat I 

 did not do so. I have tried to act 

 fairly, and have nothing to take back 

 ordeiiy. E.T.Flanagan. 



Having given both sides of this con- 

 troversy, we cannot consent to bur- 

 den our columns with any arguments 

 pro or con. The disease is much to be 

 dreaded, and the action of the Con- 

 vention in taking measures to " stamp 

 it out," is praise-worthy, and in the 

 interest of the bee-keeping public. 

 To do this, and still preserve friendly 

 feelings on all sides, is quite an un- 

 dertaking—perhaps an impossibility. 

 The only way to arrive at an amicable 

 adjustment, is for each one interested 

 to do exactly as he would be done by ; 

 and when stipulating for that adjust- 

 ment, to " put himself in the other's 

 place." 



Dry Sugar for Bees. 



On page 24-5, Mr. 11. Kichey has 

 credited me with a wrong statement. 

 He quoted me thus : " Mr. Henry 

 Alley thinks dry sugar is the best 

 food for bees, if water also be given." 

 If Mr. R. will read my article again, 

 he will see that I made no such state- 

 ment. ^Ir. R. recommends syrup 

 made from granulated sugar and 

 water, for wintering bees. Well, I 

 know that is good, and said so, cer- 

 tainly 20 vears ago, as Mr. R. will find 

 if he will'look over the Bee Journal 

 as far back as that time. If it were 

 not for sugar, I could not winter my 

 bees sometimes. That is all the food 

 they have had here for the past two 

 years. Henry Alley. 



Wenham, Mass., April 23, 1884. 



My Bees are Booming. 



The bees in this locality are doing 

 splendidly now. I put into the cellar, 

 last fall, o4 colonies, some of them 

 rather scant in stores. This spring I 

 took out -51 alive, and 3 of which were 

 quite weak. Of the 3 I lost, the rats 

 destroyed 1, and 2 starved. There 

 was no diarrhrea, except a little in 2 

 colonies, which have done well since 

 they were set on the summer stands. 

 I have sold 8 colonies, leaving me 40 

 ill healthy condition, and which are 

 now liooming. The prospects are 

 splendid for a general good time with 

 the pets this year. 11. J. Scoles. 



Knoxville, Iowa, April 26, 1884. 



Bees Separated all Right. 



The bees which were so heated in 

 March, separated all right, and came 

 out without the loss of a colony, that 

 had a queen when put into the cellar. 

 I found .5 in the lot of 22-5 tliat did not 

 have a bee in their hives, and in each 

 case they had not had a queen since 

 last June. Ira Barber. 



DeKalb June, N. Y., April 26, 1884. 



Bee-House Burned. 



On April 23, my bee-house contain- 

 ing some fixtures, was destroyed by 

 tire. If the wind had been in the 

 south, my bees would have been 

 burned, as they were within 10 feet of 

 the house. On tlie same evening they 

 were gathering pollen as if nothing 

 had happened. Box-elder is in full 

 bloom. H. Clark. 



Palmyra, Iowa, April 25, 1884. 



Dearth of Honey in Cuba. 



We are having a slight dearth of 

 honey now, the first in six months, 

 and yet it is not what we used to ex- 

 perience in California ; for, now the 

 bees begin work in the morning just 

 as soon as there is a bit of light, and 

 work till about 8 a. m., then lay off 

 till about 5 p.m., when honey flows 

 again, and continue until it is so 

 dark it would seem impossible for 

 them to find their hives. They work 

 with great ambition, so they are hold- 

 ing their own, and want does not stare 

 them in the face very badly yet. The 

 honey flow for the last six months 

 has excelled any thing I ever saw in 

 any country. I am not yet prepared 

 to tell the readers of the Bee Jour- 

 nal what we have done in the way of 

 modern bee-keeping in Cuba ; but if 

 Providence spares my healtli till the 

 year is up, I will then tell to the 

 world, through the columns of the 

 Bee Journal, what I know about 

 bee-keeping in the West Indies. The 

 weekly visits of the Bee Journal are 

 refresliing to one so far removed from 

 home and friends, and the perusal of 

 its pages is a rare treat; and one 

 pleasing feature is, it never fails to 

 come when it is due. 



A. W. OSBURN. 



San Miguel. Cuba, April 16, 1884. 



Cold Spring. 



Spring is backward and cold. I put 

 4-50 colonies into winter quarters, last 

 fall. I have not yet set all of tliem 

 out, and so cannot say how they have 

 wintered, but I think the prospect is 



good. J. R. TURNICLIFF. 



Van Homers ville, N. Y., April 23. 



Wintered without Loss. 



Our bees wintered without loss ; 

 also those we had taken out of trees 

 and transferred to movable comb 

 hives, wintered all right. One was 

 taken out and transferred as late as 

 September. Some of my neighbors 

 have lost heavily, and some lost all. 

 AVe use chaff protection. Drones are 

 flying to-day. N. E. Cottrell. 



Burdick. Ind., April n, 1884. 



