602 



T-mm mmimmi^mm mmm jiQ>J3mmmi^. 



I prefer sulphuric acid when mixed 

 1 part to 700 parts of syrup, and fed to 

 the bees ; because the cure is easier, 

 quicker and cheaper. The price of one 

 ounce of salicylic acid is 50 cts., one pint 

 of the best quality of alcohol cost 90 cts. 

 — in all 11.40. Now one ounce sulphuric 

 acid costs only from 5 to 10 cents, and 

 the curative elject will go as far as the 

 other acids do. With little expense 

 and little labor, I cured my foul broody 

 bees in Germany in 1838 (50 years ago), 

 and I think that I can do it yet ; because 

 there is no difference between foul 

 brood in Germany and in America. 



Several prominent beekeepers have 

 recommended to give the foul bees a 

 new, clean hive with foundation ; treat 

 them as a new swarm, and burn the 

 combs of the foul brood. I have no 

 doubt that foul brood can be cured by 

 this method, but it seems to me unnec- 

 essary, and it is doubtful to me that the 

 cures by burning, spraying, and starva- 

 tion would pay. 



Marietta, O., Sept. 1, 1888. 



SCIENCE. 



Indefensibility of Criticlsini 

 True Science. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



I was surprised and as deeply pained, 

 to read the article from our friend, Mr. 

 G. W. Demaree, on page 568. Prof. 

 Wiley's article in the Popular Science 

 Monihhj was not science. It was worthy 

 censure, for it taught glaring mischiev- 

 ous error, and dressed this in science's 

 garb. But to censure or ridicule true 

 science is like discourtesy or rudeness 

 to one's mother — utterly indefensible. 

 Science has been one of the most potent 

 factors in the Nineteenth Century civil- 

 ization. To it we are all indebted more 

 than we can tell. What base ingrati- 

 tude, then, to defame it. "How worse 

 than an aching tooth is a thankless 

 child." 



Honey is "Digested Nectar." 



I was also surprised that the same 

 gentleman should contradict one of the 

 demonstrated facts of science — that 

 honey is digested nectar. "No uncrazed 

 thinker on the earth possessing brains 

 enough to frame a thought could be- 

 lieve such an impossibility." That is a 

 strong sentence for a man of Mr. 

 Demaree's intelligence. He might as 

 well say the same of the belief that I can 

 talk with, and recognize the voice of, a 

 friend 200 miles distant. Oh, friend 

 Demaree! "There are more things in 

 heaven and earth than are dreamt of 

 in your philosophy." Nectar is neutral; 

 honey is acid. Nectar is cane-sugar; 

 nectar invert sugar. They are -not the 

 same. 



That all honey is equally digested 

 is very likely not true ; but that honey 

 is more or less perfectly digested nectar 

 is as certain as that the world is round. 

 To proclaim truth, should do injury to 

 no man or industry; if it does, all the 

 worse for the man or the industry. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



QUEENLESSNESS. 



Removing Queens from Colonies 

 to Save Honey. 



Written for the American Dee Journal 

 BY ALEX. W. STITH. 



On page 504, is an article from my 

 pen, on removing queens to save honey, 

 and I will say, in "justice " to myself, 

 that it was meant for surplus alone ; I 

 produce only extracted honey, and to 

 this only, I intended the rule to apply. 



On page 521, appears an article by 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, embodying nearly 

 the same principles, yet differing some- 

 what in its practicability, both he and 

 I seemingly unaware of each other's 

 production, as they were published on 

 nearly the same date, and the reader 

 will be left to solve the problem. 



But lo, there ariseth the "wise man 

 of the East "—Mr. Friedemann Greiner, 

 who has an article on page 538. He is 

 probably not as well known to the 

 readers of the Bee Journal as Baron 

 Von Berlepsh, Dzierzon and others, to 

 whom he refers so much. Mr. G. seems 

 free to let Mr. Hutchinson alone, but 

 perhaps Mr. H. is too good authority to 

 tackle, if he does not "cage the queen." 

 But Mr. G. seems ready to correct one 

 whom he may consider a " mossbacked 

 Kentuckian," with the experience and 

 conclusions of Dzierzon, Ililbert, and 

 Pollmann, but at the same time disre- 

 garding the advice of the great Baron 

 Von Berlepsh, whose untiring investi- 

 gations I have no reason to disregard ; 

 and with due justice to the above dis- 

 tinguished apiarists, I will say that if 

 the idea originated with Berlepsh, or 

 any one else, why, Mr. G. will please 

 flatter the right one (or himself, as the 

 dictates of his conscience will permit). 



I have been a reader of the Bee 

 Journal, if I mistake not, for the 

 past eight years, and I had not seen in 

 print, prior to my article alluded to, the 

 method I described, and I am not so 

 desirous of notoriety as to state any- 

 thing but facts which developed under 

 my own observation, Mr. G's. article 

 on page 538, to the contrary notwith- 

 standing. 



I am aware that myself or Mr. G's. 

 writing the experiences and conclusions 

 of others will not interest the reader ; 

 if it would, why need we go to Europe 

 or South America V Have we no 

 practical or scientific bee-keepers in the 

 IJnited States, to test the method de- 

 scribed y Where are our Cooks, New- 

 mans, Heddons, Doolittles, Secors, 

 Abbotts, Demarees, and many others 

 whose names are so familiar, and whose 

 scientific researches and practical ex- 

 periences have been of so much benefit 

 to the agricultural world — perhaps as 

 much as those renowned pioneers of 

 Europe, whose talent no one appreciates 

 more than I ? 



What I may write on bee-keeping is 

 for the sole purpose of benefiting bee- 

 keepers in general (especially the nov- 

 ice), and it is from my own experience 

 in managing an apiary, consisting of 

 from 50 to 100 colonies each year, for 

 the past ten years — in Kentucky, not 

 Germany, or South America, or in the 



State of New York. I write of what I 

 have tested to my own satisfaction in 

 my own apiary, and I will practically 

 answer all of Mr. G's. criticisms, Imt 

 respectfully request him, to describe 

 his own experience in detail, of " caging 

 queens " in full colonies, to be 

 smothered by her own bees in extreme 

 hot weather, such as we have in the 

 months of July and August. Probably 

 such. procedure may do in New York, 

 but not in Kentucky. 



In conclusion I will add that no one 

 enjoys a friendly discussion more than 

 I, for in a diversity of opinion the 

 reader is most likely to be enlightened. 

 So my thanks are hereby tendered to 

 Mr. G., not for his practical method of 

 "caging queens," but for criticizing 

 my error, if it is one. 



Portland, Ky. 



OLD COMBS. 



The Condition of the Bees in 

 Northern Iowa. 



Written Jiir the American Bee Journal 

 BY' WILLIAM CLEARY. 



Generally speaking, bees wintered 

 well liere last winter, but got very weak 

 in the Spring, and some dwindled. It 

 was so wet until the middle of June, 

 that they did not get enough to keep 

 up breeding. We got no honey from 

 white clover, and very little from Bass- 

 wood. There was no surplus, and on 

 August 1, half the bees in the county 

 did not average two lbs. per colony. 

 We were " blue," but with buckwheat 

 and fall flowers they have stored about 

 20. lbs per colony so far this month. 

 Some of my neighbor's bees have been 

 swarming continually for the last three 

 weeks, and he has cut out all the queen- 

 cells several times, but they would 

 swarm the next day, and every fine day. 

 I increased my bees one-third by divid- 

 ing. They have not swarmed, but are 

 in good working condition now— about 

 as they should be in June in a favorable 

 season. We expect very little surplus 

 unless the fall is extra good and late. 

 I want to ask a few questions : 



1. Would you use old black comb that 

 the bees died in, or empty frames, if 

 the combs were straight and otherwise 

 good y Last year and this I hived most 

 of my new swarms on old comb, and a 

 neighbor put his on new empty frames, 

 and he got the most honey. 1 have al- 

 most lost faith in saving old combs. 



2. Some say that you can keep the 

 bees from swarming by cutting out 

 queen-cells ; but my neighbor cannot. 

 Why is it V 



3. Is it advisable to keep putting 

 bees back, where they persist in swarm- 

 ing in June and the first of July ? 



4. I noticed a great many small shiny 

 bees, and my neighbor spoke of the 

 same thing. What were they, and what 

 caused them ? They were mostly 

 among weak colonies. They died, or 

 were killed off, as they are all gone. 



5. I also noticed that when there was 

 no honey coming in for several days, 

 the bees left some brood they did not 

 cap over, and I found dead brood in 



