n Jmtrnal, 



DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HONEY. 



VOL. XX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., NOVEMBER 19, 1884. 



No. 47. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



EDITOR AND Proprietor. 



Research Concerning Foul Brood. 



Several weeks since we re-published 

 from the Brithh Bee Journal the very 

 interesting article on the Cause and 

 Cure of Foul Brood, by Mr. Frank 

 Cheshire, which was read before the 

 Health Congress in London, England. 

 Ill the present number of the Bbte 

 Journal we re-publish another arti- 

 cle from Mr. Cheshire, giving addi- 

 tional particulars concerning his ex- 

 periments and method of treatment 

 of Bacillus alvei, commonly called 

 foul brood, which we feel certain will 

 be read with an extraordinary amount 

 of interest. His experiments, critical 

 examination, and scientific research 

 are very valuable to the pursuit of 

 bee-keeping, and should receive the 

 general commendation of apiarists 

 the World over — no matter whether 

 his conclusions are correct or not. 



Particularly will his remarks be 

 interesting to apiarists on the point 

 contained in the first part of the 

 article, where he concludes that the 

 disease is sometimes contained in the 

 ovaries of queens as well as in the 

 eggs and larv». If this is so, we may 

 the more easily account for the many 

 strange cases of " foul brood " re- 

 ported from time to time. 



Mr. Cheshire concludes that " Bacil- 

 lus alvei is a disease affecting all and 

 every condition of bee-hood." His 

 proofs seem to be quite conclusive, 

 and if this is the case, it shows how 

 " some have blundered " even in giv- 

 ing it a name I If the disease is con- 

 tained not only in the brood, but also 

 in young nurse-bees, in old woni-out 

 bees, in drones, in queens, and in the 

 egg yet unlaid — how incorrect it is to 

 call it foul brood, when we are en- 



deavoring to "call things by their 

 right names!" But this more fully 

 illustrates the position we have so 

 often taken, that the science is ever 

 advancing, and will not permit any 

 "stakes" to be " driven" by saying 

 to it " Thus far shalt thou go, but no 

 further." It "bursts all our bonds 

 asunder," and " casts all our cords 

 from " its onward-marching develop- 

 ments. 



In accounting for the prevalence of 

 the disease, we have often said that 

 it might have been communicated by 

 healthy bees in search of honey, ap- 

 propriating it from some " tree in the 

 woods " where the bees had the so- 

 called " foul brood." Now, if this be 

 so, a still wider field presents itself 

 when we consider that young queens 

 from a perfectly-healthy colony may 

 have mated with diseased drones from 

 a neighboring apiary, or with diseased 

 drones from " the woods." 



Another point of interest is the in- 

 quiry whether there may not be 

 danger to apiarists who are constantly 

 handling diseased bees. Mr. Che- 

 shire's answer to this inquiry is posi- 

 tive and re-assuring. He says : " Bac- 

 illus alvei, about which we know as 

 yet the most, is utterly unlike any 

 disease-germ affecting men or ani- 

 mals. Bees are almost certainly its 

 only habitation, Mr. Watson Cheyne 

 has up to now failed most completely 

 in his endeavor to influence cats, 

 rabbits, guinea-pigs, or mice by it." 



We would commend the article by 

 Mr. Cheshire, in this issue of the Bee 

 Journal, to every bee-keeper for 

 careful perusal ; no matter whether 

 it begets approval or condemnation, 

 it will pay every apiarist well toread 

 it carefully. 



after due manipulation, as genuine 

 tea. It seems to be a popular delusion 

 that these little lacquered packages 

 indicate pure contents, put up with 

 the nicest care and the most scrupu- 

 lous honestv in the native lands of 

 the plant. " The boxes, however, are 

 made by Xew York manufacturers, 

 and their wide distribution shows the 

 great expanse of the trade in the 

 home-packed and home-manipulated 

 article which imitates so closely the 

 genuine tea of China or Japan. 



Yes ; but parties who have any rep- 

 utation dare not put their names on 

 such bogus packages ! To label honey 

 or other goods with a producer's name 

 is a safeguard against imposition. 



Qrocer remarks 



1^" The California 

 as follows : 



Packages now-a-days afford no cri- 

 terion as to the character of their 

 contents. It is said that much of the 

 tea that is sold in fancy little boxes, 

 artistically adorned in Chinese and 

 Japanese designs, is made up of vege- 

 table debris and chemicals that pass, 



Bees & Honey at Franklin Co. Fair. 



The Franklin County Chronicle gives 

 the following notice of a Honey Show : 



One of the principal attractions at 

 the County Fair was the Bee and 

 Honey Show exhibited by Dixon & 

 Dillon, of Parrish, 111. They had two 

 thousand pounds of comb and ex- 

 tracted honey. Their comb was neatly 

 arranged in a pyramidal shape in the 

 center of the building, which extended 

 about 12 feet high. The niches be- 

 tween the crates of honey were filled 

 with books on bee-culture, smokers, 

 photographs of bee-keepers, cans or 

 extracted honey and comb foundation, 

 bleached and unbleached. On one 

 side was the name of Dixon & Dillon 

 neatly cut in fine, yellow comb-foun- 

 dation, which gave the whole thing a 

 fine and neat appearance. Their 

 extracted honey was in Mason fruit 

 jars, and were in a pyramidal shape 

 on the platform on the west side of 

 the north wing of the hall, which was 

 occupied by them also, it being filled 

 by apiarian supplies, such as honey- 

 extractor, foundation-mill, hiving- 

 box, section boxes, smokers, frames, 

 wire and comb foundation. They also 

 showed Italian and native bees in 

 observatory hives. The Italian queen 

 was reared from their imported queen. 

 Many persons saw the first queen dur- 

 ing the Fair. They distributed 500 

 Leafiets entitled " Why Eat Honey," 

 by Thos. G. Newman, of Chicago, and 

 the consequence was, they sold $114 

 worth of honey on the Fair grounds. 

 They were awarded 10 first premiums 

 out of 12 ; the other two were carried 

 off by l\v. W. Hutchison, who had on 

 exhibition about 200 pounds of boney 

 and a good many apiarian supplies. 



