718 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. is 



there is so much difference, and so many 

 stages of this malady. 



Changing queens has been recommended 

 a great many times, and in many cases it 

 proved effectual, inasmuch as the new 

 queen would soon supply a different work- 

 ing force, and the new queen perchance a 

 better layer, and furnished more larvie to be 

 fed. But in cases when the new queen was 

 no better than the one taken out, the matter 

 was not remedied, and paralysis kept on. 

 If there are enough of the old bees left to 

 start up a colony which have not been poi- 

 soned by the chyle, when new honej' and 

 pollen come in, then the queen is stimu- 

 lated to a greater degree, and plenty of lar- 

 vae are furnished to take up the food pre- 

 pared by the nurses, and paralysis stops 

 at once. Bees in cellars sometimes get ex- 

 cited from different causes, and the bees at 

 once begin preparing chyle, but the excite- 

 ment does not last long enough for the queen 

 to begin to lay, and disease begins, and 

 sometimes nearlj' ruins the colony before 

 brood-rearing begins. I have seen hun- 

 dreds of Italian nuclei, which were queen- 

 less and broodless, make queen-cell stubs 

 all over the pollen portions of their combs, 

 arid nearly all the bees swelled up with 

 nurse food, and all soon die, because they 

 had no place to use the food. Salt has been 

 used as a remedy, but I know that it is not 

 worth any thing, as paralysis is not really 

 a disease, but onl}' a condition brought on 

 by each individual colony, more or less, ac- 

 cording to their several characteristics, or 

 breeding propensities, out of seJ-son. I 

 think that if bees could be placed in cellars 

 without pollen, absolutely, there would nev- 

 er be a single trace of paralysis, no differ- 

 ence how much excitement they received. 

 There is no such thing as paralysis being 

 a catching disease, as there is nothing to 

 catch, and a colony affected can be placed 

 over a healthy one; and where there is 

 brooding going on, and all is well, no more 

 sickness or death from full and bloated 

 stomachs will result. 



In 1880 I suggested to A. I. Root that I 

 thought that pollen was the cause of what 

 we then called the nameless bee-disease, 

 and I came pretty close to it, but did not go 

 far enough; as, certainly, if there was no 

 pollen there would be no paralysis. Bee- 

 keepers all over the land have just about 

 used all the remedies, to my notion, and this, 

 too, without knowing the cause; and that is, 

 changing queens, placing sick colonies over 

 well ones, etc. After once knowing the true 

 cause, some practical apiarists over the 

 land may be able to figure out a complete 

 remedy. If paralysis were a disease, then 

 the queens and drones would have it too, as 

 they all sleep in the same room, eat at the 

 same table, sip out of the same cup, as it 

 were; but nothing except the workers are 

 affected; and as drones and queens are 

 bees, and it being mature bees that get 

 sick, certainly all would be subject to the 

 same affection; but there is no disease, and 

 no danger of one colony catching it from 



another. If I had a few foul-broody colo- 

 nies on which to experiment, and could get 

 a place where there would be no danger of 

 its getting spread to other bees, I would be 

 glad to try my hand in ferreting out its. 

 cause also; but as foul brood does not orig- 

 inate in this countr}', and as there is no 

 condition known under which foul brood 

 could start in this region, I think it would 

 be quite difficult to get at the cause unless 

 one were where its origin is. 

 Beeville, Tex. 



■«#«» 



PHACELIA— HOW IT LOOKS. 



BY E. F. ZAHLER. 



I see several inquiries about phacelia. 

 As I have a nice collection of flowers, also 

 a book, "Wild Flowers of California," I 

 will write you a few lines. 



Wild heliotrope, vervenia. — Phacelia ta- 

 nacetifolia, Benth. Babj'-eyes, or water- 

 leaf family. 



Stems. — One to three feet high; rough 

 and hairy. Leaves. — Much divided. Flow- 

 ers. — Bright violet to blue; in clustered, 

 scorpioid racemes. Calyx-lobes. — Linear or 

 linear-spatulate. Corolla. — Six lines long; 

 style, two- cleft. Habit. — Throughout the 

 western part of the State. 



The wild heliotrope is one of the most 

 abundant flowers of mid-spring, especially 

 in the South. It afl'ects the gravelly bank 

 of streams or the sandy soil of mesas, or 

 grows all along the railroad embankments, 

 making great mounds of foliage, thickly 

 sown with the bright violet-blue blossoms; 

 or it rriay very often be seen clambering up 

 through small shrubs, seeming to seek the 

 support of their stiff branches. It is need- 

 less to say that this is not a true heliotrope, 

 but belongs to the closely allied genus Pha- 

 celia. The specific name, " tanacetifolia," 

 meaning " with tansy-like leaves," is more 

 applicable to the variety tenuifolia, Thur- 

 ber. Among the Spanish Californians it is 

 known as vervenia. It is a very important 

 honey-plant. 



P. Douglasii, Torr., is a species with lav- 

 ender corolla, with much the aspect of the 

 baby blue-ej^es. This is common in the 

 western part of the State, south of Monte- 

 rey, and is found sparingly north of that 

 point. There is also — 



1. Large-flowered phacelia, P. grandiflo- 

 ra. This is the largest- flowered of all the 

 phacelia. Llabit. — From Santa Barbara to 

 San Diego. 



2. Another, which resembles the above, is 

 Phacelia viscida, wild Canterbury bell. 



3. Phacelia whitlavia, Graj'. Habit. — 

 Los Angeles to San Bernardino. It is one 

 of the most charming flowers to be found 

 an3'where. 



Another, which also resembles closely 

 the above, is the Phacelia Parryi, Torr. 



If you wish, from the last four known, 

 more particulars about leaves, flowers, etc.^ 

 please let me know, as I am only too glad 

 to answer the same. 



Napa, Cal., Feb. 1, 1903. 



