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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



This disease is most prevalent at the 

 close of Winter, and usually ceases en- 

 tirely when new honey comes in ; but in 

 some cases is found to continue as long 

 as there is any old honey in the hive. 

 We have read in some old book the 

 advice given of curing the bees of dis- 

 eases contracted during the Winter, by 

 feeding them with syrup to which a 

 slight quantity of grape wine has been 

 added. Although we have never tried 

 this remedy, we are of opinion that a 

 dose of good sugar syrup, with or with- 

 out wine, would usually cure a colony 

 effected with this disease, although it 

 seems next to impossible to cure those 

 bees which are so effected as to be 

 unable to drag themselves. There is 

 nothing of an epidemic nature in these 

 diseases, and we do not think they will 

 become dangerous to the apiarist. 

 Hamilton, Ills. Dadant & Son. 



First Poor Season in Ten Years. 



Last Fall I put 89 colonies of bees into 

 the cellar, but 20 colonies perished dur- 

 ing the Winter. May was cold and windy 

 and some of the remaining colonies 

 Spring dwindled, until only 30 of them 

 were left. I now have 64 colonies but 

 the bees get no nectar from clover nor 

 basswood, and some of the swarms had 

 to be fed ; but now they are gathering a 

 little more honey than they need for 

 immediate consumption. This is the 

 first season during ten years' residence 

 in this part of the State, that I did not 

 get a paying crop of honey. 



Edwin Bump. 



Marshfield, Wis., July 25, 1891. 



Milkweed and the Bees. 



I bought two colonies of bees in 1890, 

 and they did well, considering the poor 

 season we had. They filled their brood- 

 chamber full of stores for Winter, and 

 in the Spring were strong, healthy and 

 clean. On June 7 one of the colonies 

 cast a swarm, which I hived, but the next 

 day they left to seek a home for them- 

 selves. The other colony has cast no 

 swarm yet, and the bees in both hives 

 start to work strangely. They always 

 hung out, and did not work as they ought 

 to. I examined them, and found lots of 

 rotten brood, from which I send you a 

 sample, and would like to know the 

 cause. Some persons say the brood got 

 chilled, others say the place where the 

 hives stand is too hot. They stand in a 

 corner where either north or west wind 

 can strike them, but It is a clean, dry 



place in the garden. They work a good 

 deal on milkweed, and I often see bees 

 drag others out of the hive on account of 

 some substance sticking to their legs. 

 Will you please give me a little informa 

 tion on the subject ? I like bees and am 

 not afraid of them; but 'everything 

 seems to go wrong. All other bees in 

 this neighborhood are doing well. 

 LaCrosse, Wis. C. F. Lang. 



[It is not foul-brood, but simply a case 

 of chilled brood. Milkweed yields honey 

 plentifully, but it also has queer masses 

 of pollen, which attach themselves to 

 the bees' feet, and cripples or kills them. 

 This has, no doubt, caused the trouble 

 mentioned above. These pollen masses 

 attach themselves to the bees' feet by a 

 glutinous substance .which hardens 

 quickly, and is difficult to remove after 

 hardening. — Ed.] 



Good Yield from Basswood. 



For the past 18 days we have •been 

 having a large yield of honey from bass- 

 wood, the trees being literally covered 

 with blossoms, and it was one continual 

 roar day and night. The weather has 

 been cool and very dry, and although 

 the season has been cold and backward, 

 the bees have built up remarkably well, 

 and were in splendid condition for this 

 basswood flow. I have not found it 

 necessary to use any outside case or 

 shell for Spring protection of bees, if 

 they were strong and well supplied with 

 stores when taken out of the cellar. I 

 find that about 90 per cent, of my colo- 

 nies have their hives full of sealed honey 

 and brood, and have made from 20 to 

 48 pounds of surplus. I shall take off 

 all surplus, extract one frame from each 

 hive,and prepare for our Fall yield. If the 

 season is warm, I shall run for comb- 

 honey ; if cold, for extracted-honey. 



N. P. ASPINWALL. 



Harrison, Minn., July 26, 1891. 



Adulteration of Beeswax. 



We read a good deal about the adul- 

 teration of honey, which is bad enough, 

 if true, but I have every reason to 

 believe that the adulteration of the 

 product from the honey-bee does not 

 stop with honey. Bee-keepers, or ex- 

 bee-keepers, must be mixing their bees- 

 wax with lard and tallow. I have 

 repeatedly seen cakes of wax which had 

 been brought to store-keepers, contain- 



