18 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Fonl Brood— Visit from tie Inspector. 



D. CHALMERS. 



The most dreadful disease amongst 

 bee-keepers is li:nown as foul brood; and 

 although not of modern origin, yet it has 

 become so prevalent that there was at 

 the last meeting of the legislature an act 

 passed for its suppression and the Ontario 

 Bee-Keepers' Association was authorized 

 to appoint an inspector. At a directors' 

 meeting in the Spring, Wm. McEvoy, of 

 Woodburn, was appointed to the office 

 for 1890, as he had had a good deal of 

 experience with the malady. 



He is paid by the Government, and any 

 who desire his services, either for the 

 inspection of his own or his neighbors' 

 bees, must communicate with Mr. Allen 

 Pringle, Selby, Out., President of the 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association, under 

 whose instructions the inspector acts. 



Wednesday, Nov. 12, found him wend- 

 ing his way to my apiary ; but as for the 

 fact of who applied to the president to 

 have him sent here, he and I are both 

 ignorant. However, be it who it may, 

 Mr. McEvoy and the writer had a good 

 time, interchanging ideas — of which he 

 is the possessor of many good ones — 

 seemingly making no reserve, and readily 

 admits when he is beaten. Of the 

 hundreds of diseased colonies inspected 

 this Summer, he has caused only 6 to be 

 cremated. 



When he visited me I told him that I 

 would not allow any one to examine and 

 inspect my whole apiary at this season 

 of the year (as such would be to their 

 injury), but would allow him to select 

 and examine a few. He most readily 

 admitted that I was right, but said also 

 that orders are rushing in for him and 

 the president sends him out, and what 

 else could he do, but go ? He only 

 inspected one colony, in which I said 

 dead brood had been found the last time 

 they were examined, and in it he could 

 find no trace of any disease. He and I 

 pronounced the colony queenless on 

 account of being somewhat weak ; but 

 the following day, being fine, found me 

 giving them a close examination, and 

 was astonished to find that the queen 

 (which is one of this year) had com- 

 menced laying, the result, no doubt, of 

 the previous day's excitement and had 

 deposited eggs in fine regular order, in 

 something like 8 square inches of worker 

 comb, which would mean about 200 

 eggs ; the chances are that the workers 

 will eat those eggs, as it is not good for 

 them to^be^breeding at this time of year. 

 Mr. McEvoy promises another visit next 



May or June if re-appointed (which by 

 the way, he has a right to be, to give his 

 theory a chance), and will then give a 

 close inspection. 



Should this dread disease be found 

 at that season of the year there is time 

 during the Summer to treat and cure it, 

 but if found now nothing can be done to 

 cure it ; hence the lack of wisdom of 

 sending for the inspector on the verge 

 of Winter. 



Poole, Out. 



Tbe Use Of Essays at Conyentions. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



In his essay at the Keokuk Convention, 

 Rev. W. F. Clarke, says I accused him of 

 being long-winded. The statement came 

 in such an official and circumstantial 

 way that I was left in too dazed a con- 

 dition to offer any refutation, although 

 I am utterly innocent of the charge. I 

 wonder if I have not in some way been 

 mixed up with the "big doctor" that 

 was there. 



The incident, however, has set me to 

 thinking in such a way as to use that 

 essay as a text. I raise the question, not 

 whether it was too long-winded, but 

 whether it should have had any place at 

 all on the programme ? I do not raise 

 any question as to the interest of the 

 subject, nor as to the masterly manner 

 in which it was handled. I do not think 

 that Brother Clarke will think of it as a 

 personal matter, and if I hold erroneous 

 views, no one more ably than he will set 

 me right. Lest any one else should 

 think anything personal is involved, I 

 will include in the same category the 

 essays of Mr. Newman and Prof. Cook. 



As some of the friends know, I am 

 something of a prohibitionist as to the 

 matter of essays at conventions. It is so 

 hard to have them always right, that on 

 the whole I think it is better never to 

 have any. I hardly know of a quicker 

 way to kill the usefulness of a conven- 

 tion than to fill up all the time with 

 essays. 



It is urged that essays are useful as 

 introducing discussion, and those who 

 urge this (notably Prof. Cook with whom 

 I am scarcely on speaking terms on this 

 subject) say that they should be short, 

 and right to the point. If all essays 

 were of this kind I do not know that I 

 could hold my ground. 



But now take Prof. Cook's essay. He 

 cannot write upon a subject without 

 making it interesting. It is not in him. 

 But what was there to discuss in his 



