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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 



till I proposed to take the stores out 

 of a strong colony and feed some 

 soured nectar to prove my conten- 

 tion as to the origin of the malady. 

 We selected a strong, healthy colony 

 and in a few days I produced for 

 him a perfectly typical case of par- 

 alysis. We had good luck, too, for 

 the experiment, as we had a spell of 

 bad weather during which the bees 

 could not fly and bring in new, fresh 

 nectar from the fields. The bees 

 will positively not use inferior or 

 damaged honey if the hives contain 

 good food, or if a source of supply is 

 available. If the bees upon which we 

 tried this experiment could have 

 brought in nectar during this time 

 I do not think the disease would have 

 appeared, as the nurse bees would 

 not have used the soured stuff we 

 furnished them. They will store any 

 sweet available at any time, but will 

 use only the choicest for brood rear- 

 ing. 



After it was established to the sat- 

 isfaction of Le Stourgeon that I 

 could produce the disease at will he 

 raised the point that where ihe dis- 

 ease was a menace to beekeeping it 

 had been described as being of a more 

 or less epidemic nature and that some 

 had even claimed it was contagions. 

 I then took the combs from the dis- 

 eased colonies and gave them to oth- 

 ers in the apiary which had plenty 

 of stores and at the same time gave 

 the diseased colony some sealed 

 frames of honey and a frame of 

 freshly made sugar syrup. 



The result was the immediate re- 

 covery of the diseased colony, and 

 none of the others developed the 

 symptoms or appeared in any way 

 affected by harboring the diseased 

 combs . This disposed of the conta- 

 gion theory and the epidemic feature. 



So far as our portion of South 

 Texas is concerned, and considering 

 my experience in Southern Califor- 

 nia, I would say that there is no use 

 being at all anxious about this dis- 

 ease, as the smallest amount of good, 

 wholesome honey or nectar furnished 

 to an affected colony will immedi- 

 ately stop its course. In fact, in our 

 own apiaries we do not pay any at- 

 tention to it, as we have always, in 

 fair weather, some nectar coming in. 

 The presence of new nectar, or of 

 good, wholesome stores, causes the 

 disease to immediately disappear 

 without any aid or manipulation on 

 the part of the apiarist. Often, late 

 in the fall, and sometimes in the 

 early spring, we cannot prevent the 

 bees from gathering sour syrups or 

 sweets that will sour from fermenta- 

 tion, such as decayed fruits, melon 

 rinds, etc. 



The above observations cover my 

 knowledge of the disease in the 

 South. I do not doubt at all the ex- 

 perience so often described by oth- 

 ers, and it may be possible that there 

 are two diseases with practically the 

 same symptoms. The best authori- 

 ties on bee culture seem to feel pret- 

 ty well assured of the epidemic, if 

 not actually contagious, nature of 

 the disease, and some of them place 



its origin in a specific bacillus as a 

 well demonstrated fact. They may 

 be correct, but I feel thoroughly con- 

 vinced that I have discovered the 

 cause and cure of the disease, as I 

 have seen it. 



One thing I wish to partiularly em- 

 phasize, in my belief that it is the use 

 of soured honey in brood rearing 

 that causes the disease, is the fact 

 that I have never noticed a non- 

 plumaged bee to have the swollen ab- 

 domen and other symptoms. I think 

 that only the nurse bees are affected 

 and then only when they are pre- 

 paring food from unfit stores for the 

 young. The young brood is also not 

 damaged in a colony having the dis- 

 ease, and apparently it is while the 

 soured nectar is in the stomachs of 

 the nurses that the harm is done. 



E. G. Le Stourgeon says : 



"Our own experience has been that 

 this disease only appears in damp 

 weather, or just after a protracted 

 rainy spell, and usually upon exam- 

 ination of the affected hive we have 

 found it to be one of the most popu- 

 lous in the apiary and that some of 

 the combs are musty from lack of 

 ventilation. This suggested open 

 ventilation and sunshine as a cure 

 and many experiments have proven 

 it. Our opinion is that soured or 

 partly soured honey is eaten by the 

 bees, causing the paralysis above de- 

 scribed. A few days of good hot 

 sunshine will usually check the trou- 

 ble. The cure can be aided by trans- 

 ferring into a dry, clean hive and 

 providing plenty of ventilation. Es- 

 pecially is it well to raise the hive off 

 the damp ground." 



If Mr. Le Stourgeon's plan of 

 treatment should prove equally effec- 

 tive in other hands, beekeepers will 

 owe him a debt of gratitude, espe- 

 cially those living so far south that 

 bee paralysis is a very serious mat- 

 ter. But it need not be wondered at 

 if there be some skepticism in the 

 case, since so many cures have here- 

 tofore been offered with great confi- 

 dence, only to fail when tried later. 

 The sulphur treatment has been 

 given, not because very certainly 

 known to be infallible, but because 

 endorsed by O. O. Poppleton, one of 

 the reliable veterans of great experi- 

 ence. 



"The statement that bacilli are to 

 blame for the disease is given on the 

 authority of Cheshire, who, on page 

 568, Vol. II, describes the disease and 

 says that in every case he has found 

 the diseased bses filled with a bacil- 

 lus that he has named Bacillus Gay- 

 toni. It may not be out of place to 

 remark in passing that even if Mr. 

 Le Stourgeon should be entirely 

 right as to sour honey causing the 

 disease, that by no means establishes 

 an alibi for the bacillus in question." 

 C. C. M. 



(Let us add, also, that the Isle of 

 Wight disease, which is very similar 

 to paralysis, and to the May disease 

 of the European continent, is cer- 

 tainly a contagion for which the 

 "nosema apis" has been held respon- 

 sible. We are still in the dark on all 

 these points. — C. P. D.) 



Introducing Virgins 



I HAVE just been reading the 

 American Bee Journal, and find 

 an article with this heading: 

 "Care of Queens," by C. C. Miller, 

 where a correspondent asks : "Could 

 you not give some advice in the 

 American Bee Journal as to how vir- 

 gin's should be handled from the 

 hatching cage to egg laying?" 



The doctor and the editor seem 

 to think it is rather a knotty problem 

 to introduce virgin queens. (January 

 American Bee Journal, page 17.) 



Allow me to answer that question. 



Let us suppose I have 12 virgins, 

 all hatched. I want these queens in- 

 troduced just as soon as I can do so, 

 but some other work may delay the 

 game, and I won't have the time to 

 spare until some of them are 4 or S 

 days, perhaps 8 or 10 days old. I 

 don't worry about them, having them 

 caged with plenty of food in the 

 cage. 



When I have the time to do this lit- 

 tle stunt of introducing, I go to a 

 strong colony, touch them up a little 

 with smoke, knock a few times on 

 the hive to let them know I'm com- 

 ing, so they will eat a little, and be 

 in good humor when I get inside. I 

 first look for the old queen and place 

 the frame she is on outside of the 

 hive opposite the side I am working, 

 so she will be safe. I have a box 

 made of screen wire the same as bees 

 are shipped in when sold by the 

 pound, with a hole in the end of the 

 cage, the wood part, which admits a 

 large funnel, 12 inches at the top, 

 tapering to about 2 inches at bottom. 

 This funnel is placed so the small 

 end will go down through the hole in 

 the cage for 3 or 4 inches, so the bees 

 can't find their way out. The box 

 also has a large lid for removing the 

 bees when desired. Be sure and have 

 this funnel-box ready before doing 

 anything with the bees. 



When the frame with queen and 

 adhering bees is placed gently out- 

 side, lift out another frame that is 

 well covered with bees and shake 

 them off the comb into the funnel, so 

 they will all tumble down through 

 the hole into the cage. Then get an- 

 other frame covered with bees, and 

 do likewise. Then put the queen 

 back where you got her and close the 

 hue. Proceed to another strong 

 colony and do the same thing; keep 

 going till you have about 3 quarts of 

 bees in the cage. I never take more 

 than 2 frames of bees from each 

 colony. Bear in mind the bees that 

 go through the Funnel are so fright- 

 ened that there is no danger of their 

 quarreling. 



Now take out the funnel and close 

 the hole so the bees can't get out. 



Take this cage of bees to the cellar, 

 or any dark, cool place, and leave 

 them there for about 24 hours. I 

 have been successful by leaving them 

 thei i for only 8 or 10 hours, but I be- 

 lieve 24 hours is safer. 



Have in readiness 12 small boxes 

 about 6 inches square, with an en- 

 trance about 1 inch long by three- 

 eighths of an inch deep, covered with 

 screen wire; drive tacks in the bot- 

 tom of these small hives, so that they 



