150 
DR. MILLER^ 
are trembling or jerking and moving their wings. Sometimes they 
just turn around in a very small circle, and sometimes they lie 
on the ground for two days, kicking or moving their legs until 
they finally die. Some have greatly enlarged abdomens, almost 
as large as a young queen, while others look shiny like they had 
just crawled out of grease or syrup. They have considerable 
honey and brood, but do not gain any. 
(a) Do you think this is what they call May disease? 
(b) What is the cause? 
(c) Is it contagious? 
(d) Do you think it would do any good to requeen? 
(e) What can I do to get rid of this disease? 
A. (a) Your excellent description marks the disease quite 
clearly as the disease called in Europe Mai de Mai, or Maikran- 
heit (May disease), and generally called in this country bee 
paralysis. 
(b) It is believed to be due to a microbe called bacillus gay- 
toni, and also bacillus depilis. 
(c) .It is not considered contagious; yet sometimes affects a 
whole apiary. 
(d) I don t know. Some have claimed that as a cure ; others 
say it does no good. 
(e) I don’t know. Many cures have been reported successful, 
only to fail when tried further, and as the disease has a way of 
disappearing of its own accord, the supposed cures may have no 
effect. 
O. O. Poppleton sprinkles sulphur on the bees and combs. This 
destroys the sick bees, but it also destroys the unsealed larvte, 
unless the brood be removed. 
Mesquite. — Q. Where is the mesquite found, and what is its 
value? 
A. The mesquite, a low, brushy tree, is found in Texas, New 
Mexico and Arizona. It yields honey best during very dry 
weather. In Texas they have a crop of mesquite honey nearly 
every year. The honey is amber in color. 
Mice.— Q. I bought my partner’s share of the bees, and on 
opening the hive I found a mouse-nest in it. I thought that very 
strange, having never heard of it before. Have you any mice in 
your beehives? The colony is a strong one, and I thought the 
bees would keep the mice out. It never destroyed any comb 
while in there. 
A. Yes, indeed; I’ve had mice in hives, and they have not 
always been as considerate as yours, for they have sometimes 
gnawed the combs. You can keep them out by having the en- 
