1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



43 



The old adage, that an ounce of prevention 

 is better than a poxmd of ciu-e, will apply 

 most emphatically, to dysentery. It may be 

 that we cannot always "prevent dysentery, for 

 some cases seem rather difficult to account 

 for, but I think we can in the great majority 

 of cases. 



THE AGE^rCY OF THE APHIDES I^ PRODU- 

 CING DYSENTERY. 



Perhaps the most productive cause of dys- 

 entery, is the honey from the aphides ; or 

 at least most complaints have been made of 

 this honey. As bees seldom touch this, ex- 

 cept during drouths or unfavorable seasons, 

 it is quite likely it has been the cause of 

 much of the mischief. If the early honey is 

 all extracted from the brood combs, and the 

 bees left with nothing but this bad honey, 

 gathered late in the fall, the matter is much 

 worse ; and many cases have been reported, 

 of colonies dying where the extractor had 

 been used, while those untouched had been 

 free from the disease. The moral is, to re- 

 frain from extracting too closely from the 

 brood apartment. I would, at least, let the 

 bees fill their brood chamber with clover or 

 linden honey, just before the yield ceases, 

 extracting only from the combs in thq, upper 

 story, toward the close of the harvest, un- 

 less you choose to feed them up for winter, 

 on sugar or candy. We have had one or 

 two favorable reports of wintering on the 

 aphide honey, from which we may conclude 

 it is not always deleterious. 



EmClMtlXIS OF BEES. These are, so 

 far as I kn(nv, taking them alphabetically, 



ANTS, BEE-MOTHS, bilds, KING-BIRDS — miCC, 



parasites, skunks, toads (and frogs) and 

 wasps. Perhaps I should also add, wicked 

 boys, or men who have so little regard for 

 the rights and faithful hard earnings of their 

 fellows, that they sometimes steal hives, 

 honey and all, just for the trifling amount of 

 honey to be got from the mashed up ruins, 

 which they generally make of the bees and 

 hives. To be frank, I should add patent 

 hive men ; and these latter have, so far as 

 my experience goes, been woi-se enemies of 

 the bee than any I have yet enumerated. It 

 has been said, and with much jiistice, that 

 ignorant bee-keepers were the bee's worst 

 enemy. If igTiorance had coupled with it, 

 wilful deceit and fraud, I do not know but 

 that I should subscribe to the assertion ; but 

 as those who have been igiiorant, are now 

 very rapidly becoming educated and intelli- 

 gent bee-keepers, I have much charity for 

 them. The man who is persistently and wil- 

 fully bad, is not only the worst enemy of 



bees, but of all mankind, himself included; 

 and of this class are the greater part of those 

 who take money for their pretended inven- 

 tions in bee hives. I am speaking severely, 

 I am aware, but could you, year after year, 

 hear the statements of those who have taken 

 up the pursuit with all honest enthusiasm, 

 as I have, and hear them tell of how they 

 have invested money and time, all in a 

 WTong direction, of how they have been kept 

 purposely in the dark in regard to what was 

 really known about bees, of how they have 

 been told that the bee-moth is the one great 

 enemy, and that no one else has the secret 

 of its banishment, I think you would agree 

 that these land sharks in human form are 

 worse enemies than all the moths, birds and 

 toads combined, that ever infested the 

 neighborhood of bee-hives. 



Ants and beemoths, have been noticed al- 

 ready in their respective places ; under the 

 head of king birds, we shall mention what 

 is known of the depredations the feathered 

 tribes make on bees. 



MICE. 



Mice, only do harm when they get into the 

 hives, and this part of the subject has been 

 sufficiently noticed under the head of en- 

 trances. It may be well to remark that 

 mice sometimes make sad havoc among sur- 

 plus combs, when stored away with small 

 patches of honey in them. The combs will 

 be completely riddled during the winter 

 time, if they are left where mice can get at 

 them. On this account the honey house 

 should be mouse proof, and for fear that a 

 stray one may by accident get in, it is well 

 to keep a trap ready baited with toasted 

 cheese. If yon have not a tight room, make 

 a tight box, sufficiently large for the purpose. 



PARASITES. 



The only parasite we have ever seen, is 

 the Brmda, or Italian bee-louse, and we 

 have never seen them except on bees just 

 imported from Italy. I feel safe in saying 

 no fear may be anticipated from them, if the 

 bees are kept in strong colonies, and in clean 

 tight hives, with no old refuse and rubbish 

 accumulating about them. One or two re- 

 ports have been received of bee-lice in our 

 own country, but I think they were excep- 

 tions. • 



Wasps and hornets, sometimes capture and 



carry off honey bees, but unless they should 



take part in the work in great numbers, I 



i would have no solicitude in regard to them. 



BEE-HAWK, {Asihis Missouviensis), 

 , A large fly called the bee-hawk has been 

 1 mentioned by our Southern neighbors, but 



