314 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



AVINXER ENJOYMENTS. 



What cheer is there that is half so g-ood, 

 In the suowy waste of a winter night, 



As a dancing- fire of hickory wood, 

 And an easy-chair in its mellow light. 



And a pearmain apple, ruddy and sleek, 



Or a jenneting- with a freckled cheek ? 



A russet apple is fair to view. 



With a tawny tint like an autumn leaf. 

 The warmth of a ripened corn-field's hue. 



Or golden hint of a harvest sheaf ; 

 And the wholesale breath of the finished > ear 

 Is held in a wiuesap's blooming sphere. 



They bring you a thought of the orchard trees. 

 In blossomy April and leafy June, 



And the sleepy droning of honey-bees, 

 In the lazy light of the afternoon ; 



And tangled clover and bobolinks. 



Tiger-lilies and garden pinks. 



If you've somewhere left, with its gables wide, 

 A farm house set in the orchard old. 



You see it all in the winter-tide 

 At sight of a pippin's green-and-gold. 



Or a pearmain apple, ruddy and sleek. 



Or a jenneting with a freckled cheek. 



—St. Nicholas. 



Topics of Interest. 



Single-Walleil Hlyes and Ponl-Brooi, 



T)K. G. L. TINKER. 



There are a number of facts bearing 

 upon the origin and prevention of foul- 

 brood, that, it seems to me, should be 

 considered at this time. 



It appears to me that in all cold and 

 damp countries, like England, Canada, 

 and the northern part of this country, 

 foul-brood prevails with greater viru- 

 lence than in southern countries, since 

 pretty much all of the reports of the 

 prevalence of the disease come from the 

 northern localities. If the history of 

 foul-brood shall prove, as now seems 

 probable, that it prevails mostly in 

 northern climes, then wc shall be war- 

 ranted in suspecting that the cool and 

 damp Springs of northern localities, by 

 chilling the brood of weak or insuffi- 

 ciently-protected colonies, may lead to 

 the invasion and development of the dis- 

 ease-germs that are now thought to be 

 the cause of the malady. 



At all events, the proof now seems con- 

 clusive that foul-brood may be, in a great 



many cases, traced to dead or chilled 

 brood, in the Spring. If this shall prove 

 to be true, the remedy of greatest con- 

 cern to those bee-keepers whose apiaries 

 are now free from the malady, is preven- 

 tion; and that prevention will be found 

 in proper protection and care of bees in 

 the Spring, when most colonies are re- 

 duced in the number of bees, and brood- 

 rearing is extended rapidly. 



As a carefully protected colony will 

 not be liable to chilled-brood, it seems to 

 me that the first step in wiping out this 

 disease, is to give the Spring protection, 

 which has proved to be so advantageous 

 to the bee-keeper in developing strong 

 and vigorous colonies for the harvest. 



If we are to have laws upon the sub- 

 ject, let us have one to compel bee-keep- 

 ers who winter in single-walled hives in 

 cellars, to protect their bees by suitable 

 packing on setting them out in the 

 Spring. Since cellar-wintered bees are 

 not as vigorous and hardy in the Spring 

 as those wintered out-of-doors, in pro- 

 tected hives, such a law would be par- 

 ticularly appropriate. 



New Philadelphia, Ohio. 



Fernientatioii in Honey— Trade-Mark, 



(;. W. DEMAREE. 



The answers to Query 751, indicate 

 that honey, in a very large portion of 

 the country, is singularly exempt from 

 the seeds of fermentation. Out of 18 

 answers, but 8 of them leave it possible 

 to the mind that fermentation maj' take 

 place in the flower cups, or in the combs, 

 under certain conditions of weather, or 

 electric changes. In fact, not more 

 than 5 of the number speak sufficiently 

 clear to indicate that they have had 

 personal experience on the subject of the 

 query. 



I account for this in view of the fact 

 that but few people, comparatively, are 

 critically observant. Many persons 

 speak of their honey as not " first-class;" 

 " not as good as usual ;" or, " the honey 

 is bad," etc., without observing the cause 

 of the danuige. Color alone is not 

 always a safe indication of quality, es- 

 pecially as pertains to the wax capping. 

 Thoroughly cured honey, when taken 

 into the mouth, meets the palate with- 

 out the slightest shock, and is exquisitely 

 satisfying ; but honey that has caught 

 ferment, either in the flower cups, or in 

 its thin form, while curing in the combs, 

 gives a "twang " to the taste that is any- 

 thing but agreeable. 



