1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



551 



that most of our bi^ bee-men are such de- 

 vout and fearless Christians. That letter 

 of Rambler's to Mr. Clemans, pag-e 288, is 

 pure g-old to those who, like the writer, have 

 lost loved ones ( I should not say lost). How 

 any one having- been parted from a dear 

 one by death, and having- no hope of a fu- 

 ture life after this one, can endure the 

 thoug^ht is beyond my comprehension. 

 Stapleton, N. Y. A. D. Jacot. 



HOW SALT CURED A BAD CASE OF BEE-PA- 

 RALYSIS. 



I had a case of something develop last 

 fall that I suppose, from the best of my 

 knowledge, was paralysis (I know only 

 what I have read about bee diseases). They 

 would swell up and get to be almost as 

 large as two bees ought to be, and crawl 

 around and die. It seemed that their 

 bowels would become clogged, and they 

 could not void them. Some warm days in 

 winter the}' would drag out half a pint of 

 bees that would crawl away and die. The 

 brood was healthy. 



About the first of March I made some 

 syrup, and put enough salt in it to make a 

 pretty strong brine, and poured a few 

 spoonfuls of it down between the frames on 

 the bees about sundown one evening. Next 

 morning there seemed to be at least twice 

 as man}' dead ones about the entrance as 

 usual: but in two or three days they seem- 

 ed to be a great deal better. In a few days 

 I repeated the dose, and in a week it had 

 entirel}' disappeared, and has not returned. 

 I believe if I had not got it stopped it \^ould 

 have entirely destroyed the colonj' in a 

 month longer. 



I think the reason salt is good for it is 

 that it is a disease of the bowels, and salt 

 is a purg-ative; and when we get the bowels 

 open and regulated we have no more bee-pa- 

 ralysis. L. C. Rousseau. 



Waxahachie, Tex. 



SULPHUR FOR BEE-PARALYSIS. 



I have just read what Mr. Crum saj's on 

 page 396 about sulphur and bee-paralysis. 

 Some time ago I wrote to you about the 

 same thing-. You advised me to burn them 

 if I had onl}' one. I had six that had it 

 bad. I tried sulphur, and m}' experience 

 is about the same as Mr. Crum's. 



J. S. Patton. 



Havana, Ala., May 14. 



MOVING BEES A SHORT DISTANCE. 



In your issue for April 15 you spoke of 

 moving bees a short distance. The sim- 

 plest manner is as follows. The idea was 

 gotten from Mr. Danzenbaker, some years 

 ago, and the reason for the effectiveness is 

 given below: 



Thoroughly' smoke and shake the bees, 

 after all have returned from the field, tak- 

 ing care not to mash them by the too rough 

 handling of the hive. Vhen the bees have 

 thoroughl}' gorged themselves with honey, 

 and are settled, carry them rather roughly 



to the new position. When the hives are 

 well firmed and level, set up bushes or 

 plants so thick that the flight of the bees 

 will be broken when they emerge the fol- 

 lowing day. This is absolutely necessary 

 for success. If the bees are allowed to fly 

 uninterruptedly from their entrances they 

 will not mark the position of their new 

 stand, thinking, probably, all things are as 

 before; but if they are forced to pick their 

 way through interrupting twigs or plants, 

 then they will know that things are not as 

 they were, and, with the disturbance the 

 night previous, will deem it necessary to 

 mark their new location. 



Albert D. Warner. 

 Warsaw, Va., April 20. 



ANOTHER TILTING-FLOOR BOTTOM-BOARD. 



I see on page 1024, 1902, a description of 

 a new Danzenbaker bottom-board. I have 

 been using a rising and falling floor-board 

 for five years, with great success. My first 

 invention was something like your illustra- 

 tion. It proved to be defective, owing to 

 propolis, ants, weather, and hindrance to 

 workers that fall on the ground. I can see 

 some of the same defects in yours. The 

 next season I made one in which I overcame 

 these defects; and in cheapness and sim- 

 plicity, and, greater than all, in keeping 



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down swarming, and inducing- bees to enter 

 the super, it excels ever}' thing that I have 

 ever used. I have been working with bees 

 for twenty years. 



I send you a model of my bottom-board. 

 You will see that the floor-board is remova- 

 ble by lifting the board nearly level with 

 the top of the side rails, and then gently 

 pull forward. You will note how easily the 

 floor-board comes out without pinching or 

 killing a single bee. The construction of 

 the pivot-blocks keeps the board tight 

 against the back-board in every position. 

 The board can be fastened, if desired, by 

 two screws at the rear for pivots. The bev- 

 eled edge keeps ants and moth-worms from 

 having any place to hide or making nests, 

 and, like the Hoffman frame, bees can not 

 or do not fasten a sharp edge with propolis 

 as they do a square one. The pinching and 

 killing of bees is also avoided. You will 

 also see that it is not necessary to lift the 



