538 



T^HE) rn'mmmi^mn mmm j®^mkmi,. 



Monthh/, and to the other papers, that 

 he was regretful of the consequences of 

 his low joke. But he seems to be void 

 of the sense of right to make such an 

 apology. His haughty language shows 

 that he thinks himself far above all of 

 us bee-keepers, since he finds nothing 

 but insults in answer to the reproba- 

 tions of those whom he has slandered. 

 1 doubt whether he could find a gentle- 

 man in the whole United States who 

 would dare to excuse him. 



It is perhaps necessary to add for the 

 instruction of the professor, that when 

 extracted honey is worth from 4 to 8 

 cents, adulteration is not possible, for 

 It does not pay. We find the proof of 

 It in the closing out of most of the 

 manufacturers of glucose, and in the 

 failing of Hoge, who had gone to Eng- 

 land, where his adulterating business 

 was so ruinous that he left about two 

 nulls to the dollar to be divided among 

 his creditors ! 



As to the adulteration of comb honey, 

 not only its manufacture is impossible, 

 but bees cannot be induced to put glu- 

 cose into the combs if there is a drop of 

 honey in the fields ; and the rearing of 

 brood when bees are fed during a 

 scarcity, employs too much food to 

 leave a profit. Therefore, we bee- 

 keepers beg the illustrious (V) chemist to 

 let our business alone, for he has 

 already injured it too much. 



Hamilton, Ills. 



ROBBING. 



^Vlien once started, It is very 

 Dillicult to Control. 



Written for the Southern Cultivator 



BY J. M. JENKINS. 



When the honey-flow is over, and 

 there is very little to be gathered, there 

 JS danger of one colony of bees robbing 

 another. If, in an unguarded moment, 

 a pilfering robber is allowed to enter a 

 hive and escape with a load to its own 

 hive, the bees' there will be quick to 

 detect it, and the robber will go back 

 with a dozen excited bees determined 

 to have some of that honey or *(, and 

 if the entrance is not strongly guarded 

 they will be apt to get it. 



Then a still larger crowd comes next 

 time ; the excitement runs high ; bat- 

 tle ensues, and bees of other hives are 

 drawn into the fuss, and the long and 

 short of it is, they make a " run " on 

 the unfortunate colony and clean it up 

 in a few mimttcs. Like a lion that has 

 tasted blood, their fury is aroused and 

 they are ready for other victims, and 

 woe unto the colony that is unable to 

 withstand the first assault. 



To guard against such disastrous pro- 

 ceedings, we must be particular in 

 opening hives during a dearth of honey- 

 flow, and not let robbing commence. We 

 must see that there are no cracks where- 

 by a prowling robber-bee may sneak in 

 to get the coveted treasure. Then keep 

 the entrance contracted to correspond 

 with the strength of the colony, so that 

 they may be able to guard it. The man 

 that has one real good case of whole- 



sale robbing on his hands, will never 

 forget it ; and for the time being, at 

 least, he will wish he never saw a bee. 

 Wetumpka, Ala. 



RACES OF BEES. 



Different Varieties of Bees and 

 the Plants tiiey Prefer. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY C. A. BUNCH. 



Quite likely a great many bee-keepers 

 have noticed that certain kinds of bees 

 prefer some kind of dowers, while other 

 races of bees work on different kinds of 

 bloom at the same time, and as a gen- 

 eral thing brown or German bees work 

 on weeds more than the Italians do. I 

 have all Italian queens, except one 

 which is a Syrian queen ; some of those 

 queens are pure Italian, and some were 

 mated with black drones. 



One Italian queen I have reason to be- 

 lieve was mated with a Syrian drone, on 

 account of the different markings on 

 the abdomen of the workers, and the 

 great number of queen-cells that they 

 Will build ; also their different disposi- 

 tion. This queen was reared in 1886 

 and last year through the month of 

 August its colony of bees gathered 

 about 15 lbs. of comb honey from the 

 common blue-thistle (this is not a large 

 amount of honey, as we had a drouth at 

 that time) and was capped a pale white 

 but the honey was quite while. ' 



The cross between the black and 

 Italian races were hauling in and seal- 

 ing the yellow (or amber) honey, the 

 cappings of which were so much differ- 

 ent when the sections were mixed with 

 the sections from the Syrio-Italian 

 colony ; they could very readily be 

 picked out, though they were not built 

 down so nicely at the bottom, there be- 

 ing more space between the bottom of 

 the sections and the bottom of the comb 

 I noticed this more on account of the 

 dark bees having a reputation for cap- 

 ping their honey whiter than the yellow 

 bees, but it was the reverse this time. • 



The dark hybrids and black bees seem 

 to work well on fall flowers, such as 

 asters, Spanish-needle, smart-weed, and 

 other fall flowers. After the thistle 

 was out of bloom, there was but little 

 difference in the looks of the honey. 



There is always lots of timberland 

 being cleared around here, as this was a 

 heavily timbered country, and these 

 clearings are mostly covered with 

 thistle, besides lots of swamp land with 

 fall flowers, and of course the bees have 

 their choice. 



Now, as I have had the German or 

 black bees, the Italians in their purity 

 and also the Syrian bees, and watched 

 them closely as to disposition, honey- 

 gathering and comb-building qual- 

 ities, I much prefer the best strains of 

 Italians. The bees that are my choice 

 are, first, bees that are gentle; second, 

 bees that are industrious and pay well 

 in dollars and cents for their keeping ; 

 and third, bees that are jellow and 

 three-banded, for beauty, as I am a 

 great lover of the beautiful. 



La Paz, Ind. 



FOUL BROOD. 



"IVhat is tiic Cause of that 

 Dreaded Disease 'i 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 B\^ O. B. HUNTINGTON. 



In a monthly bee-paper before me it 

 is stated that "foul brood never starts 

 in an apiary unless there has already 

 been some of it in the vicinity," etc. 

 It further states that foul brood cannot 

 "originate itself;" but says that it is 

 not the result of certain conditions ; 

 and any of us can state that it " is not " 

 the result of many other conditions, 

 and no person would be any wiser as to 

 the real cause of foul brood. 



1 have not found any positive state- 

 ment, by any one, as to the cause of 

 foul brood. I have had very little ex- 

 perience with the disease, but so far as 

 I have observed, in cases where the 

 body of the brood is in full form, the 

 inward parts are consumed with the 

 disease, and the sharp end of the brood 

 is presented, which, to me, accounts 

 for the puncture in the cap of the cell. 



I would like to know if any other 

 man has made similar observations on 

 the subject ; and if he has, may we not 

 calculate that foul brood is caused by 

 certain conditions similar to what 

 physicians would call "a wrong pre- 

 sentation ?" 



One writer assumes that foul brood 

 does not exist except by contact with 

 affected parts. How does it start ? or 

 how did the first in a certain locality 

 originate V I presume that no one will , 

 attempt to say that the disease is co- 

 equal with the bee, or that it does not 

 break out in localities far removed 

 from any possibility of contact. 



Then what is the cc(usc of foul brood? 

 Now if any man knows, I hope he will 

 tell, so that we can all hear it, and 

 oblige many, as well as the writer. 



Springville. Utah. 



QUEENLESSNESS. 



Removing Queens from Colonies 

 to Save Honey. 



Written for the American Bee Jowmal 



BY FUIEDEMANN QEEINBR. 



A. W. Stith may flatter himself in 

 the idea of giving us something new in 

 his article on page 504— depriving vig- 

 orous colonies of their queens to " save 

 honey." I would say that this old 

 practice has been known to us for 

 years ; was advised over 15 years ago 

 by Baron von Berlepsh, and many 

 others ; it also formed a part of the dis- 

 cussions at the German bee keepers' 

 convention at Strassburg, in 1875. Such 

 men as Dzierzon, Ililbert and Foll- 

 mann, there and then gave us the re- 

 sults of their experience, and their 

 views on the subject, the substance of 

 which was this : 



" Removing queens for the purpose 

 of increasing the honey crop is a risky 

 and dangerous business, too much de- 

 pending upon the season." Dzierzon 



