578 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



originates from fermenting dead brood, 

 that it never originated otherwise, quite 

 probably my intimate and most highly 

 esteemed friends are sanguine in the 

 belief just the reverse of mine. 



Certainly, editors ought to be guided 

 by acknowledged rules recognized by 

 courts the world over, in searching for 

 truth and facts in cases in dispute. 

 Witnesses are not allowed to speak of 

 their belief. Expert testimony is admis- 

 sible under rules, but it seldom counts. 

 Writers are regarded in the light of 

 winesses, and they should (and many 

 do) regard their writings as testimony 

 given on the witness stand. Of course, 

 logical theorizing is all right. 



The teaching that " foul-brood can no 

 more originate itself than can a hill of 

 corn," sounds very illogical, for the com- 

 parison is not well taken, there being no 

 similitude — in nowise analogous. Corn 

 had an origin, and hills of corn is a re- 

 production of itself. Foul-brood never 

 came into existence in the organic nature 

 of " itself," nor is any putrified sub- 

 stance a created organism, but all 

 putrid matter is disorganized bodies, 

 whose elements have been newly ar- 

 ranged, forming new compounds, such 

 as foul-brood and other decomposed 

 bodies. Foul-brood is neither plant nor 

 animal, and it has no semblance in 

 nature with corn. 



There are several close-observing bee- 

 keepers, equally as competent as the 

 editor, and who record substantially the 

 allegation that foul-brood originated in 

 one or more of their colonies. The 

 allegation can be read in bee-periodicals, 

 and it has been discussed in conventions. 

 The expert bee-keeper, Wm. McEvoy, 

 who is the competent official foul-brood 

 inspector for the Province of Ontario, 

 Canada, declares that he discovered that 

 foul-brood originated in his apiary. This 

 positive testimony does impeach all 

 recorded opinions offered, holding that 

 foul-brood " never stents in an apiary 

 unless there has already been some of it 

 in the vicinity." 



The editor states that he has "con- 

 versed, in regard to the matter, with our 

 best professors of entomology, and with 

 scientific men familiar with the prob- 

 lems of spontaneous generation and 

 vegetable life." 



Well, how can this be properly offered 

 as argument pertaining to the problem ? 

 Really, what has professors of ento- 

 mology — as such professors — to do with 

 the case ? The issue made by the editor 

 in nowise pertains to entomology, nor to 

 raising corn. It is a noticeable circum- 

 stance that none of the " professors and 



scientific men " have uttered one word 

 that prompts readers to believe that 

 they corroborate the editor's doctrine as 

 he recorded it. Prof. Cook, the scientific 

 entomologist, who is a hundred times 

 more competent to deal with the prob- 

 lem, and who wrote much concerning 

 foul-brood, has not broached the subject 

 of the origin of the disease.* He is 

 learned and sound, so he does not "rush 

 in where angels fear to tread." 



The importance of the truth concern- 

 ing the origin of foul-brood, being laid 

 before readers of bee-periodicals is evi- 

 dent when it appears very probable, or 

 possible, that it is liable to originate 

 from neglected dead brood in colonies. 



If discussing the subject prompts in- 

 vestigation, and thus light creep in and 

 dispel the dark parts of the problem, the 

 result must prove of untold benefit to 

 the whole world. 



Richford, N. Y. 



* See editorial note on page 566. 



Perforated Zinc Qiieen-Excliiilers. 



DR. G. L. TINKER. 



Now that queen-excluders are coming 

 into use so extensively, both in this and 

 other countries where bees are skillfully 

 managed, bee-keepers are naturally de- 

 sirous of knowing what material makes 

 the best queen-excluder, and how they 

 are constructed. 



I have found every kind of queen-ex- 

 cluder made of wood alone impracticable, 

 on account of propolis, and in this my 

 experience is corroborated by that of all 

 others who have fully tested it. 



As perforated sheet zinc is without ob- 

 jection in this respect, is cheap, durable 

 and easily manufactured, it is preferred 

 to any other metal. It has been exten- 

 sively used in whole sheets, and in the 

 one and two-rowed wood-zinc combina- 

 tion. 



The whole sheets make the cheapest 

 queen-excluders, but are not without 

 several objections. They easily sag down 

 in the center, and must be supported by 

 a strip of wood underneath and crosswise 

 of the brood-frame, or in some other way. 

 They are also a slight obstruction to the 

 passage of the worker-bees. Their prac- 

 tical advantages, however, are so great 

 in other respects that their use is uni- 

 versally conceded to more than off-set 

 any objection that may be urged against 

 them. 



The one-rowed wood-zinc combination 

 was that first invented and used by the 

 writer. In strips 3^-inch wide the wood 



