252 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIE* 



Two processes suggest themselves : Since 

 the disease resides chiefly in the grown bees 

 it is probable that salicylic acid administered 

 in syrup, or some other antisepic, would de- 

 stroy the disease. The other consists in re- 

 moving the queen to be sure she cannot 

 transmit the disease to her brood through 

 her eggs or otherwise ; and at the same time 

 spraying the bees and combs with some anti- 

 septic (salicylic acid, phenol, sulphur, or 

 perhaps salted water) in order to destroy 

 what spores might be in the hive, and repeat- 

 ing the process until all the diseased bees 

 should be gone. 



The bees themselves help a good deal in 

 checking the disease, by ejecting and liter- 

 ally carrying out the diseased bees ; and 

 since bees void their excrements outside, 

 and also die generally outside of the hive, 

 most of the spores are thus carried away. 

 Somebody has insisted, however, that the 

 dead bees ought to be collected and burnt, 

 so as to avoid any danger from that source, 



I have not tried anything yet. 



Knoxville, Tenn., July 20." 

 [In a later issue of the Journal Mr. Getaz 

 contributes the following : — Ed.] 



" I must say positively and emphatically 

 that Prof. Cook is mistaken when he says 

 that feeding will cure bee paralysis. The 

 disease is in all the apiaries of this section 

 of the country, more or less ; and been in 

 mine since I bought my first bees. It has 

 shown itself as well in fed colonies as in 

 others, and often in strong, well-provisioned 

 colonies as much as in weaker ones. 



It is early in the spring that the malady is 

 the worst. It is shown by a large number, 

 often the majority of bees, being black, or 

 rather hairless and shiny, as if they had been 

 polished. At the same time they are slug- 

 gish, and as if half paralyzed in their move- 

 ments. Those in which the disease is less 

 advanced, show it by uneasiness, frequent 

 scratching and twisting of their wings and 

 legs, as if they were itching. As the season 

 advances, the old, shiny bees gradually die 

 out, brood-rearing increases, young bees are 

 born by the thousand, more or less diseased ; 

 but in all cases not so much as the old ones, 

 or at least they do not show it so much. La- 

 ter on the number of young and healthy, or 

 at least comparative healthy bees increase 

 considerably, and the management of the 

 hive, if I may use that term, falls into their 

 hands. They soon realize that something is 

 wrong with the old bees, and proceed at once 

 to throw them out of the hive. This, in this 

 locality, and with the average colonies, oc- 

 curs during May and June. The diseased 

 bees are thrown out gradually, occasion- 

 ally in large quantities, and the process is 

 kept up as long as other bees show signs of 

 the disease. 



During the summer bees wear out too rap- 

 idly to have time to show much of the sick- 

 ness ; young bees come in rapidly, and as 

 the season advances less and less diseased 

 bees are seen, until when the winter comes, 

 none but apparently healthy bees are in the 

 apiary. 



By that time the inexperienced (?) apiarist 

 thinks that the disease has run out of itself, 

 or if he has applied salt or sulphur, or some- 

 thing else, he imagines that he has found a 

 sure cure, and immediately writes so to some 

 bee paper. But, alas, for his hopes — the fol- 

 lowing spring, black, shiny bees will be as 

 numerous as the previous years. 



In a recent article in Gleanings, Dr. Brown 

 of Georgia, describes some disease of bees 

 that he thinks was caused by poisonous hon- 

 ey from the yellow jasmine. According to 

 his description, his bees must have the bee 

 paralysis ; the fact that the yellow jasmine 

 is in bloom at the time the bee paralysis is 

 most shown, does not prove that the poison- 

 ous ( ?) honey is the cause of it. We have no 

 yellow jasmine here, and yet our bees show 

 the same symptoms as his do. 



Knoxville, Tenn.. Aug. 24." 



The Changed Conditions in Bee Cnltnre and 



How They Should Be Met, 



Over a considerable portion of the United 

 States has come a change as regards the cer- 

 tainty of the honey crop. Only so short a 

 time ago as when I began bee-keeping there 

 was as much certainty of a honey crop as of 

 a crop of potatoes. Some years the yield 

 was much better than that of other years, 

 but a crop of some kind was almost a cer- 

 tainty. This is no longer true. I presume 

 that this change has been brought about by 

 the clearing up of the country. The cutting 

 away of the forests destroys a very impor- 

 tant source of nectar and brings about cli- 

 matic changes. For years I have believed 

 in specialty, and have argued for it, and I 

 still believe that the highest success is at- 

 tained only by specialty, but I am forced to 

 admit that there are localities where a poor 

 man cannot depend upon bee-keeping alone 

 for his support. It must become a side-issue 

 if followed at all. Even in those localities 

 that are blessed with a reasonable certainty 

 of a crop, the specialist must be ever on the 

 alert for improved methods. To show that 

 I am not alone in holding these views, and 

 because of the good advice it contains, I 

 copy the following from Farm, Stock and 

 Home. It was written by one of the Re- 

 view's correspondents, Mr. B. Taylor : 



" We have now had four seasons of light 

 honey crops. In the early years of the set- 

 tlement of Minnesota a good honey crop, 

 when the colonies were properly managed, 

 was almost a sure thing. A great crop of 

 wheat was not more certain, but there has 

 already a great change taken place in both 

 the wheat and honey crops. The bread for 



