THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



531 



Mites are not true insects, but are 

 the most deRiacled of spiders. The 

 sub-chiss Arachnida are at onee rec- 

 ognized by tlieir eight legs. The or- 

 der of mites (Accariiia) wliich in- 

 cludes the wood tick, cattle tick, etc., 

 and mites, are quickly told from the 

 higher orders— true spiders and scor- 

 pions—by theirrounded bodies, which 

 appear like mere sacks, with little ap- 

 pearance of segmentation and their 

 small, obscure heads. The mites 

 alone of all the Arachnida, pass 

 through a marked metamorphosis. 

 Thus the young mite has only six- 

 legs, while tlie mature form has eight. 



The bee-mite is very small, hardly 

 more than Hve m. m. (1-50 of an incli) 

 long. The female is slightly larger 

 than the male, and somewhat trans- 

 parent. The color is bhick, though 

 the legs and more transparent areas 

 of the females appear yellowish. As 

 will be seen by the figure, which shows 

 the form and structure very accu- 

 rately, the anterior legs are the long- 

 est. All the legs are flve-jointed, 

 slightly hairy, and each tipped with 

 two hooks or claws. Each of the 

 moutli organs is tipped with a tuft of 

 fine hairs. 



The eggs which show tnrough the 

 body, as seen in ttie drawing, are 

 mere specks of a red color, and from 

 the fact that there are several sizes in 

 the gavid females, indicating separate 

 crops, it is probable that these females 

 are not creatures of a day, but possess 

 quite a longevity. Tlie mites were 

 sent me in a bottle, and when they 

 arrived there were very numerous 

 eggs and several of the yotmg six- 

 legged mites occupying the vial with 

 the more mature forms 



REMEDIES. 



The fact that what would be poison 

 to the mite would probably be death 

 to tlie bees, makes this question of 

 remedy quite a difficult one. I can 

 only suggest wliat Mrs. Squire has 

 tried — frequent changing of the bees 

 from one hive to another, after which 

 the hive can be freed from the mites 

 by scalding. The trouble with this 

 cure is the rapid increase of these 

 Liliputian pests, and the fact that 

 many would adhere to the bees, and 

 so be carried along with them, and so 

 escape the hot- water bath. Or course, 

 the more frequent the transfer, the 

 more thorough the remedy. 



IMPORTANT SUGGESTION. 



I would suggest placing pieces of 

 fresh meat, greased paper, etc., in the 

 hives in hopes to attract the pests, 

 which when massed on these decoys 

 could easily be killed. If thought 

 bestj the traps could be screened by 

 placing them in a box made of tine 

 wire gauze so that the bees could not 

 reach tliem. In such screens I should 

 try placing paste- board smeared with 

 a thin coat of thick syrup, to see if 

 the mites had a sugar tooth to lure 

 them to destruction. On such a sticky 

 surface it would be well to sprinkle 

 flour, sugar, etc. If we can find in 

 this manner some substance that will 

 attract these little destroyers, and 

 call them off of the bees, the battle is 

 won. 



Lansing, Mich. 



si£^ms^Mm 



WS^'Se tiiffiR^WP 



The Michigan Convention. 



Dear Mji. Editor :— May lask you 

 to call special attention to our next 

 annual meeting to be held in Flint, 

 Dec. 6 and 7, of the Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association. We expect to 

 have by far the best nieetinfj ever held 

 in the State. It is expected that the 

 Rev. L. L. Langstroth will be present. 

 To see and hear him will pay any one 

 for the trouble and expense incident 

 to the journey. We also expect D. A. 

 .Jones, A. I. Root, C. F. Muth, and 

 hope to have C. C. Miller and T. G. 

 Newman. From wliat I hear, Michi- 

 gan bee-keepers are to be out in force. 

 Hotel rates are to be $1.00 a day. Far- 

 ther particulars as to programme, will 

 be given soon. We expect to get re- 

 duced rates on the railroads. To aid 

 in this, and that I may know how 

 many certilicates on railroads to ask 

 for, will every one in this or other 

 States who expect to come, drop me a 

 card at once to that effect V 



A. .1. Cook, President. 



Lansing, Mich., Oct. 15, 1883. 



The colony at Mr. Lincoln's should! 

 be burned at once, hive and all. Other 

 colonies in the neighborhood should 

 be examined, and if the disease shows 

 itself, it will be most wise to burn all 

 such colonies. It may be best in a 

 large apiary to try to cure by the 

 salicylic acid method, as explained in 

 my book, or by the starvation plan ; 

 but with but a few afflicted colonies, 

 a man owes it to himself, and surely 

 to his neighbors, to burn at once. I 

 have given such advice to several suf- 

 ferers this summer, and all who have 

 tried it seem to have succeeded well. 

 This stampingout process should be 

 prompt, for let the " foul brood " once 

 get into the trees in the woods (and 

 what is to hinder), and it will be like 

 Banquo's ghost, " it will not down." 



Foul brood seems to have a wide 

 range. Within a week I have received 

 a sample of it from Louisiana, where 

 it is creating sad havoc— A. J. Cook.] 



Foul Brood. 



Prof. Cook, Sir: Hearing of the 

 case of foul brood in Mr. Rider's 

 apiary, at Howell, Mich., I gave an 

 account of it at tlie Northern Michi- 

 gan Bee - Keepers' Convention, re- 

 cently held at Sheridan. Another man 

 present gave an account of a case 

 thought to be foul brood near Grun- 

 ville, where the man had destroyed 

 them. He also thought that there 

 was a disease of the brood at a Mr. 

 Lincoln's, near the same place. I 

 being appointed one of a committee, 

 I will try and tell you what I found, j 

 went to Mr. Lincoln's accompanied by 

 Hiram Rossman, a friend of II. M( on. 

 We found a colony of bees in an old 

 style of hive, badly diseased. Brood- 

 rearing was in progress to quite an 

 extent, but nearly all of the capped 

 brood was dead, and in most all of 

 them was a dark, ropy substance, and 

 very offensive in smell. I will mail 

 vou a sample of the same. Mr. Ross- 

 inan told me that in 1876, 17 years ago 

 in the spring, that he and Mr. Moon, 

 while transferring a colony from a 

 box hive for a Mr. Taylor, that they 

 came across wliat Mr. iloon said was 

 a case of foul brood ; there was a large 

 amount of brood, and it was a mass of 

 corruption, and the smell was bad. 

 jSIr. Rossman says the two cases are 

 identical. Please send this with your 

 answer to tlie Bee Journal, and 

 oblige many bee-keeping friends. 



S. J. YOUNGMAN. 



Cato, Mich., Oct. 13, 1883. 



[The sample sent is plainly " faul 

 brood." The characteristic odor, the 

 concave cappings,the central puncture 

 to the cap, and the decaying brood, 

 which, when drown out, is brown and 

 stringy, all indicate but too plainly 

 that the full destroyer is at hand. 



The Cure of Foul Brood. 



How about foul brood, and who is 

 bothered with it among their bees ? 

 If any there be that have thus been 

 troubled, we suggest that a doctor be 

 sent for at once. But not that doctor 

 who had it in his own apiary for ten 

 years, tusseling and testing in his way 

 many remedies, and linally made a 

 failure. (This happened in Cincin- 

 nati, Ohio.) How does this sound 

 coming as it did from a bee-keeper 

 who thus reported last fall at a North 

 American Bee-Keepers' meeting ? 



[Editor Bee Journal : — Above 

 please find a slip from the Orange 

 Bulletin, of Sept. 20, which please re- 

 produce. It sounds so mucli like a 

 slur that it requires a reply. You 

 know I have never charged a cent for 

 giving my experience to otiiers. 



We all know that the greatest ig- 

 norami are the most apt to exagger- 

 ate and to belittle others. There are 

 such folks among bee-keepers, but I 

 do not wish to put Mr. Hicks in that 

 class ; will rather take it for granted 

 that he meant a goo<l-natured joke, 

 yet his joke needs a reply, and I will 

 give it as follows : 



I will put fifty dollars against his ten 

 that he will not cure a colony of bees 

 infected with the malignant foul 

 brood unless he uses my remedy, 

 giving him his own time for the work, 

 lie can select a place within 20 miles 

 of Cincinnati with some reliable man; 

 I furnish the infected colony. I don't 

 think that I have a case of malignant 

 foul brood in my apiary, but I know 

 where to get it. Furthermore, I will 

 put Ave dollars against one, that Mr. 

 Hicks cannot prove ever to have seen 



