268 
SUMMER. 
THE CAUSE UNCERTAIN. 
But when I attempted the next link in the chain, 
(to wit,) What caused the death of this brood just at 
this stage of development ? I was obliged to stop. 
Not the least satisfaction could be obtained. All in- 
quiries among the bee-keepers of my acquaintance 
were met with profound ignorance. They had “ never 
heard of it !” No work on bees that I consulted ever 
mentioned it. 
Subsequently, I had more stocks in the same situ- 
ation. I found, whenever the disease existed to any 
extent, that the few bees matured were insufficient to 
replace those that were lost ; that the colony rapidly 
declined, and never afterwards cast a swarm ! 
REMEDIAL EXPERIMENTS. 
As for remedies, I tried pruning out all those combs 
containing brood, leaving only such as contained 
honey, and let the bees construct new for breeding. 
It was “ no use,” these new combs were invariably 
filled with diseased brood ! The only thing effectual 
was to drive out the bees, into an empty hive. In 
this way, when done in season, I generally succeeded 
in rearing a healthy stock. But here was a loss of all 
surplus honey, and a swarm or two that might have 
been obtained from a healthy one 
PUBLIC INQUIRY AND ANSWERS. 
I had so many cases of the kind, that I became 
somewhat alarmed, and made inquiry through the 
Cultivator, (an agricultural paper,) as to a cause, and 
remedy, offering a “ reward for one that would not 
