0'^ 



CLi" 



M.h 



IN iWA-: ll:i.. i L'KE. 



■S9 



17,000 feet up. The climate is fine, varies 

 between 60 and 80 F. all the vear. In sight 

 is the great Magdalena Kiver, a great 

 plain, a swamp, a desert, several lakes, 

 and the ocean. Back to the east is range 

 after range of mountains to the Venezuela 

 border, all unexplored and uninhabited. 

 At one time they supported a dense popu- 

 lation of Indians, as is shown by miles of 

 stone-paved paths and dozens of village 

 sites. • 



The largest trees grow where the villages 

 once stood. What has become of the na- 

 tives, no one knows. All this and far more 

 is in easy reach of New York. The bana- 

 na-boats go regularly. 



The bees of that country are a study. 

 There is a big one; the common stingless 

 bee, and a little one that much resembles 

 Apis florea, as I remember. But I was not 

 so much interested in bees then as now. 

 It seems to me coffee would be a good bee- 

 plant. It blooms in profusion, and twice 

 annually, and there are hundreds of acres 

 of it. The}' raise some alfalfa near Santa 

 Marta. Will Simpson. 



Farmington, 111., July 21. 



IS IT FOUL BROOD OR A NEW DISEASE ? 



Your comment to my communication, page 

 683, has been well taken by the Muncy Val- 

 ley Bee-keepers' Association. The Associ- 

 ation held a meeting Saturday', Aug. 1, 

 when Gleanings was handed to the secre- 

 tary, with a request that he read the com- 

 munication to the Association. After read- 

 ing it a move was promptlj'^ made and car- 

 ried that we seek State aid in lighting the 

 disease. An effort will now be made to get 

 all the names of bee-keepers of the State, 

 and call a meeting next winter at Williams- 

 port, or some other place near the center of 

 the State, and proceed to ask for legislation 

 for stamping out foul brood and all conta- 

 gious bee-diseases. 



As our legislature does not meet till the 

 winter of 1894 we have plenty of time to 

 work up the matter. Of course, our local 

 organization will continue to fight the dis- 

 ease as heretofore. 



I had a pleasant call from Mr. Harry 

 Beaver, who has been in Cuba working for 

 W. L. Coggshall, and mentioned by Ram- 

 bler in his Cuban writings. He says that 

 our disease is not foul brood or black brood, 

 as he has had experience with both dis- 

 eases in Xew York and Cuba. He says it 

 is something that he never saw before, and, 

 in fact, that is my experience, as I had real 

 foul brood in my yard about eight years 

 ago, and I would rather have five colonies 

 affected with foul brood than one with this 

 disease. It spreads very rapidlj', and will 

 almost entirely depopulate a colony in about 

 a month or six weeks. It does not attack 

 sealed brood, but is confined to unsealed 

 brood and adult bees. The larva does not 

 become ropy or brown, but remains white 

 in most cases, and just shrivels up in the 

 side of the cell, and in badly affected colo- 



nies it has a 'very putrid smell, not at all 

 like foul brood. 1 hi treatment recommend- 

 ed for f jul brx)d does not seem to have 

 much effect on this disease. 



Gomly, Pa., Auf . 4, U. C. Fuller. 



THE WHITE-CLOVER FLOW IN NEW YORK. 



The past white-clover honej'-flow has 

 been uncommonly good; but owing to the 

 many cold rainy days during June, just 

 when the flow was at its height, bees had 

 not the chance to improve the opportunity. 

 Days at a time it was so cold that bees 

 hardl}' left their hives, and consequently 

 the crop gathered is not overly heavj'; but 

 thequalit)', both extracted and in the comb, 

 is good. 



I have run the solar wax-extractoriwith 

 lamp attachment during the past hot days. 

 It turns out wax on a " run." 



G. C. Greiner. 



La Salle, N. Y., July 16. 



bark of the shag-bark hickory for 

 smoker fuel. 



Let me say, for the benefit of the brother- 

 hood, that by far the most satisfactory 

 smoker fuel I have ever tried is the bark of 

 the shag-bark hickory, such as is partly 

 loose, and may be pulled off in strips. It 

 is very durable, gives plenty of smoke, and 

 absolutely no sooty drip. Kindle with dry 

 decayed wood; and when once it is well 

 lighted it never goes out. 



Lapeer, Mich. R. L. Taylor. 



THE SEASON NOT WHOLLY A FAILURE IN 

 AND AROUND IDAHO FALLS. 



The season, till within the last month, 

 has been very unfavorable for the bees. We 

 have lost about four-fifths of them in Bing- 

 ham and Fremont Counties, and hence we 

 are cut short in the hone}"^ crop. There 

 will probably be about 50,000 lbs. of honey 

 raised in the two counties. Prices will, 

 therefore, be somewhat higher. 



Wm. W. Selck. 



Idaho Falls, Ida., July 8. 



HONEY CROP IN WESTERN IDAHO. 



I can't understand those bees dying in 

 Eastern Idaho — nothing like it here. Crop 

 indications are the best in some years. 

 There will be about two cars of comb and 

 one of extracted in this part and Eastern 

 Oregon, of which local demand will use 

 one car. Prices are the same as last year. 



Parma, Idaho. F. R. FouCH. 



Do skunks catch bees? There is some- 

 thing that works around the hives at night. 

 McLean, N. Y. W. Hoaglin. 



[You will see b}' the ABC book that 

 skunks are mentioned among the enemies of 

 bees. But their depredations are only 

 slight, and usually a trap will soon finish 

 up their visitations. See previous page. — 

 Ed.] 



