80 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



suspected foul-brood would, or would 

 not, as the case might be, infect healthy 

 brood. 



There is no sure way of identifying 

 foul-brood in its early stages, from look- 

 ing at the suspected brood, but a test 

 does not fail to decide whether or not 

 the suspect is, in reality, foul-brood. 



Yes, I did know of some of Shoen- 

 feld's writings when I referred to him. 

 I knew he was, as I now know that he 

 is, a theorist — not infallible, but not so 

 fallible as to theorize — like Mr. Cornell — 

 that foul-brood spores float in the air at 

 all times, and that comb-foundation 

 made of wax from foul-broody combs 

 infects brood reared, or hatched, on 

 such foundation. 



There is no use in replying to Mr. 

 Cornell in detail, so " I have now done 

 with that gentleman " for the present, 



Richford, N. Y. 



Texas ABicnltnral Notes. 



A. C. ATEN. 



We are still having plenty of rain, and 

 quite warm weather. 



Bees have been doing well, but noth- 

 ing extraordinary. The horsemint sea- 

 son is about over. 



Crops of corn, wheat and oats are very 

 good, and cotton looks well. Corn is in 

 roasting ear, and a good rain last night 

 insures a good crop, no accident inter- 

 vening. 



I had a good opportunity, not long 

 since, to test the question sometimes 

 discussed in the Bee Journal, as to 

 whether a thunder storm influences the 

 honey-flow or not. There was an ordi- 

 nary thunder storm, and a week later an 

 electric storm of great magnitude, when 

 there was one continuous roar of thunder, 

 and not an instant without a lightning 

 flash, all high in the heavens, and as 

 grand a sight as I almost ever witnessed. 



On both of these occasions the bees 

 gathered honey as busily the day after 

 as they did the day before. I, therefore, 

 conclude that thunder storms do not 

 effect the honey crop. 



I witnessed something in my apiary 

 not long since that indicated that bees 

 have very little bee sense — at least 

 sometimes. I knew that they would try 

 to make queens out of drone eggs when 

 they had no other, but did not know 

 that they would do that when they had 

 plenty of worker eggs. I found a hive 

 with a laying worker. I carried the 

 hive about two rods and shook all the 



bees out on the ground, then returned 

 the hive to its stand, thus getting rid of 

 the laying worker. Having no queen- 

 cell at hand, I gave them a fine frame of 

 eggs and young brood. In a few days I 

 examined them, and found they had not 

 built a single cell on the frame I had 

 given them, but to my surprise, instead, 

 they had built some half dozen splendid 

 cells on a frame containing drone-brood 

 from the laying worker, which, of 

 course, would result in nothing more 

 than drones. 



I am now trying N. D. West's coil- 

 wire queen-cell protectors, and find them 

 very well adapted to the purpose for 

 which they were made. 



There is some inquiry on pages 677 

 and 678 in regard to black, shiny bees. 

 While old bees often lose all their hair, 

 especially robber bees, that are crawling 

 through all kinds of little cracks and 

 holes, yet undoubtedly there is a disease 

 which is sometimes called the nameless 

 or trembling disease, all of the bees 

 affected being hairless and shiny, as Mr. 

 Craig expresses it. 



These bees are carried out by the 

 well ones, sometimes in large numbers. 

 I have found salt very beneficial, throw- 

 ing a small handful in the entrance, but 

 a sure cure is to give them a young 

 queen. 



Round Rock, Tex., June 29, 1891. 



Erie Connty, New Tort, Conyention. 



ROBERT E. MEATYARD. 



The second meeting in 1891 of the 

 Erie County Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held at Sardinia, June 2. 



After the opening formalities were 

 over, President L. D. O'Dell requested 

 all apiarists present to give the number 

 of colonies of bees of both Fall and 

 Spring count. 



The President reported 98 Fall ; 

 52 Spring. S. S. Sleeper, 132 Fall ; 

 111 Spring. Chas. Penton, 75 Fall; 

 35 Spring. Milton H. Pitcher, 77 Fall ; 

 23 Spring. Edwin Rice, 86 Fall ; 76 

 Spring. Aaron Karney, 15 Fall; 11 

 Spring. Mrs. Crosby, 42 Fall; 42 

 Spring. A. Graves, 13 Fall ; 11 Spring. 

 Wm. Eastman, 13 Fall ; 6 Spring. Mr. 

 Briggs, 5 Fall ; 5 Spring. B. Briggs, 6 

 Fall ; 6 Spring. V. Johnson, 11 Fall ; 

 10 Spring. John G. Goodremote, 54 

 Fall ; 49 Spring. H. Butler, 16 Fall ; 

 10 Spring. Mr. Andrews, 51 Fall ; 41 

 Spring. B. Goodin, 22 Fall ; 14 Spring. 

 R. M. Ballid, 55 Fall ; 51 Spring. 

 Robert Meatyard, 63 Fall ; 23 Spring. 



