AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
47 
I 860 .] 
than a worker cannot expand there. But it is demon¬ 
strated that queens are not reared in worker cells after 
all. The egg that produces the queen may ho laid there, 
it may hatch there, and the larva be fed as a worker for two 
or three days ; but then, if a queen is required, the bees 
immediately enlarge the cell, and lengthen it. If there 
is room directly under it, it is turned downward ; if not, 
it is made more nearly horizontal. The cell, as pre¬ 
pared for a worker, is filled to the very brim with royal 
jelly, on the surface of which swims-the larva of the future 
queen. By examining such a cell, it will be seen 
that the larva does not occupy any part of the original 
cell, but has ample room in the part specially prepared. 
Another proof that the queen is not dwarfed by the size of 
the cell is, you cannot predict the size of queens with 
any certainty from the size of cells. A great many 
queens reared in large-sized cells are very little larger 
than workers. Any one at all familiar with the manner 
of raising brood is aware that f all-sized workers can be 
reared in cells that have been used for the same purpose 
from twelve to twenty years, and must be diminished in 
size nearly one-third. It is thus quite clear that they 
were larger than required at first. Whoever will examine 
a sheet of new comb with brood in the chrysalis state 
will find the cell much larger than the bee, and ample 
room for a large moth-worm to spin its gallery between 
the head of the bee and the capping. I have seen many 
queens from large cells that would have had ample room 
for their development in one of these, showing conclu¬ 
sively that their size did not depend on that of the cell. 
It is also said, that when a very few bees are sot to 
rearing queens, the quantity of food is likely to be less 
than it should be, and that an inferior size is the conse¬ 
quence. But whoever has looked into a queen cell imme¬ 
diately after its occupant has left, has invariably found 
some of the food yet remaining. This is certainly not an 
evidence of a scanty supply. Until something more con¬ 
clusive shows that artificial queens are indeed inferior to 
others, I shall continue to recommend in future numbers 
of the Agriculturist the rearing of just such artificial 
queens as my experience has proved to be most profitable. 
Had ILracI*: witla ISces.— M. C. Hester, 
Clark Co., Md., says: “We are having terribly bad luck 
with our bees. I think I am within the bounds of truth 
when I say that fully half the stands of bees in this and 
the adjoining county of Scott have died since the honey¬ 
making season closed. They have not died for want of 
stores, for all that I have examined or heard of have left 
an abundance of honey in their combs. Nor arc they 
troubled with worms, or ‘ foul brood,’ or dysentery, or 
other disease mentioned in the books. I suspect the 
cause of the trouble is the loss of the queens. We can¬ 
not discover anything ailing the workers. There has 
been very little brood in any of the hives since the mid¬ 
dle of October. Can you give us any light on this mat¬ 
ter ? No one can account for it. Some think it in some 
way caused by the locusts that swarmed upon us in the 
spring. They have not done well during any part of the 
season, made very little surplus honey, and not one stand 
in twenty sent off a swarm.”—Although the foregoing was 
private, it seems advisable to print it, as very many 
bee-keepers in Mr. Hester’s locality have suffered in a 
similar way, and one case, somewhat like it, was re¬ 
ported from Ohio, in the Bee Journal. No one seems 
sufficiently acquainted with the difficulty to be able to 
explain the cause, or give a remedy. Mr. Hester suspects 
the “ cause of the trouble is the loss of queens,” but 
this is secondary only; we wish to know the cause of the 
loss of queens, and of workers as well. There being 
but little brood after the middle of October does not 
prove the hives queenless. It is quite common for the 
most thrifty stocks in many sections to cease raising 
brood by the middle of September. The cause of other 
maladies has been found in the quality of the honey, and 
if we could ascertain from what sources these bees 
obtained their stores, it might afford the desired light. 
Mr. Wagner, editor of the Bee Journal, gave me, a few 
years ago, a description of a malady, in the form of foul 
brood, that was observed in Germany. In a peculiar 
season, (I forget whether very wet or very dry) there ap¬ 
peared upon the leaves and twigs of the trees myriads of 
plant-lice (Aphides). These secreted and discharged a 
clear saccharine fluid, much sought after by the bees. 
The result was that in a few months foul brood pre¬ 
vailed to an unprecedented extent.' A few years since, 
in one of the Western States, (Illinois, I think) this aphis 
was found on standing grain, particularly oats, injuring 
the grain materially. The next winter, bees seemed un¬ 
healthy, leaving the hives in cold weather with swollen 
bodies, and perishing by hundreds. Those describing 
this attributed it to the aphis, and were probably cor¬ 
rect, as there has been no further complaint of unusual 
maladies until now in Indiana. The present season is 
reported as rather poor in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. It 
is possible that in some places the bees have availed 
themselves of some unusual product, and are affected as 
described in consequence. The probability is. that the 
trouble will pass away as suddenly as it appeared, with¬ 
out giving us any further clue as to its cause. 
IBces !>o snot §warm,—J. Scholl, Lyons 
Station, Ind., mites: “ I have practiced artificial swarm¬ 
ing, with very good success, though I have had no instruc¬ 
tions except through the Agriculturist. But the past 
season, the bees in this section of the country, and as far 
as heard from, have refused to swarm, with hives full of 
honey, brood, and young bees. Waiting full two weeks 
after the time for early swarms. I took a swarm from 
each hive, all of which soon filled their boxes, as the honey 
season was splendid for a few weeks. But young bees 
did not appear again in the old hives until late in July. 
Of forty stands of which I have knowledge, and which 
were allowed their own time to swarm, only six did so 
the past season. The experience of the last ten years 
convinces me that, with black bees, it will not do to de¬ 
pend on natural swarming; for, as a general thing, four- 
fifths of all strong early swarms go oft'. Late, weak ones 
stay, and are not worth bothering with. Would the 
Italians do any better here, where there are such inviting 
places in the woods for them ?”■—This shows the advant¬ 
age, as well as the necessity, of taking this swarming mat¬ 
ter into our own hands. Thousands who keep bees have 
had similar experience. It is a difficulty that attends all 
swarming hives; hence, much better things cannot be 
expected of the Italians, under the old system, and work¬ 
ing with that system only I cannot give a satisfactory 
reply. Continued and valuable experience, however, 
suggests new forms of management, by which the evil 
can be remedied. By taking advantage of a knowledge 
of certain facts and laws in respect to bees, we expect to 
have such entire control of them, as to direct their 
energies either to increasing their colonies or to the stor¬ 
ing of surplus honey, as we may choose. In the course 
of the season, I expect to give the results of my later 
experience, and at the proper time, to speak particularly 
of the difficulty above mentioned. 
-—»«*--— 
On Colic in Horses. 
ET PROFESSOR JOHN GAMGEE, OP LONDON, ENG. 
The diseases of animals are materially modified in dif¬ 
ferent species by the structural and functional peculiari¬ 
ties of their various organs and parts. A comprehensive 
knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of all domestic 
animals is therefore essential to the full understanding of 
their maladies, and no better illustrations of this can bo 
afforded than by referring to the digestive organs. The 
ox gathers food rapidly, accumulates it in his paunch, then 
ruminates; and by the peculiar action of the third 
stomach the solid parts of the food are retarded for ef¬ 
fectual digestion in the true or fourth stomach, while the 
liquid portions pass on, are promptly subjected to the ac¬ 
tion of secretions in the intestines, and are thus absorbed. 
The great mass of imperfectly digested food, therefore, 
lies in the large pouches described as the first three 
stomachs. Hence it is that cattle are subject to hoove, or 
disengagement and accumulations of gases, in the first 
two stomachs, and then to impacture of the third, which 
constitutes either an independent disease of a dangerous 
character or a frequent complication in febrile and other 
maladies that are associated with costiveness. The 
horse, on the other hand, has a small single stomach, and 
some idea of the difference in the amount of food retained 
in the gastric cavities of the horse and ox may be formed 
from the fact that a horse dying of repletion of the stomach 
has been found to have not more than thirty pounds 
weight of food impacted in it, whereas an ox that has been 
fasting for twenty-four hours has been found with one 
hundred and fifty, and as high as two hundred pounds of 
fodder in its first two stomachs. The horse feeds fast, but 
the food is not retained long in the stomach, and passes 
on for more complete digestion in the intestine. Rumi¬ 
nants have a long intestine. In sheep it is twenty-seven 
times the length of the body ; in the ox, twenty times ; 
and in the horse, twelve. But in the horse the large in¬ 
testine is very capacious, and occupies the greater portion 
of the cavity of the belly. It is sacculated and puckered 
up by muscular bands so as to retain the food for a long 
time, and it is owing to the bagging of the intestinal tube 
that the excrement becomes dry and ball-shaped, as it is in 
the horse. In ruminants, therefore, the food is kept long 
in the stomach and passes quickly through the intestine, 
whereas the reverse holds in the horse. 
It is evident from these remarks that when horses suffer 
from an accumulation of undigested or indigestible matter 
in their alimentary canal the tendency is to impacture 
of the large intestine. The great weight of material held 
in the pouches of the intestine demands a constant rolling 
and forcing movement, due to what physiologists call the 
peristaltic action of the intestine, and if anything inter¬ 
feres with the mobility of the included mass the muscular 
cord of the intestine is liable to irregular, spasmodic, and 
painful eft'orts. This is the theory of spasmodic colic in 
the horse, and although there are many causes assigned 
for this common disoase, such as drinking cold water, 
exposure to draughts, etc., it is necessary to impress on 
all horsemen that in the great majority of cases where a 
horse shows signs of pain in the belly by pawing, crouch¬ 
ing, lying, groaning, rising and lying down alternately, 
rolling, etc., the intestine requires to be relieved of an 
obstructing mass. It is the want of this simple item of 
knowledge that renders colic the most fatal of all equino 
diseases, and in the British Isles about fifty per cent of 
the deaths by disease amongst horses occur from simple 
indigestion, or what is commonly known by the names of 
colic, spasmodic colic, flatulent colic, etc. 
It is not my intention here to enter into minute details 
concerning the symptoms, results, and varieties of this 
disease. The facts I wish to impress on American farmers 
relate more to prevention and treatment. Regularity in 
feeding, and the use of sound corn, oats, and well-cured 
hay,constitute the great injunctions regarding prevention. 
The cure of the disease is as simple as it is effectual, and 
it is most effectual when practiced early. As usually 
treated, colic is a very fatal disease, whereas with proper 
treatment not one case in five hundred should be fatal. 
A farmer should never be without a funnel to bo used 
in giving injections to sick animals. The funnel may be 
made six inches wide at top, five inches deep, leading to 
an inch tube two inches long; from the end of this tube a 
horizontal pipe extends about nine inches in length, 
tapering to a half-inch hole, properly rounded off on its 
edges. Any tinsmith can make this invaluable instru¬ 
ment, and it will bo found that having oiled the tube and 
passed it into the intestine, tepid water can be readily 
poured in without the aid of any pumping force. A 
syringe stimulates the intestine to repel the liquid, 
whereas if water be permitted to gravitate by the funnel 
two or three quarts will gravitate slowly and be held. It 
is a mistake to use too much water at once. The injec¬ 
tions should be repeated every ten, twenty, or thirty 
minutes, and given with care. Medicated injections are, 
as a rule, not desirable. 
Not unfrequently one or two injections suffice to cure a 
horse, but as a rule it is necessary to administer a purga¬ 
tive according to the age and size of the animal. Rive or 
six drachms of good aloes, made up in a ball, is the most 
certain agent, and no faith must be had in the frequent 
recommendation to give the physic in solution. Aloes 
acts promptly as a nauseant, sedative, and last, but not 
least, as an cvacuant. If farmers will learn this lesson by 
heart I vouch for it they will rarely, if ever, lose a horse 
with colic. They should try no nostrums, stimulants, anti- 
spasmodics, or poisonous sedatives. Let them use aloes 
and injections early, and trust to them. Above all things 
they must not bleed a horse when attacked by colic. 
The Sefton Breed of Swine. 
The Earl of Sefton, whose estates are near 
the city of Liverpool, has devoted much atten 
tion to the improvement of swine, and has estab¬ 
lished a breed in some respects remarkable, 
which is here known by his name. The animals 
are distinguished by great size, strength of con¬ 
stitution, and the excellent quality of their flesh. 
They are quite different from the Berkshire, Es¬ 
sex, and other fine-boned and very fat breeds, in¬ 
asmuch as while they are not coarse in bone, 
they are longer, deeper flanked, and not so ex¬ 
cessively fleshy, although quite as much so as is 
compatible with the production of tlie finest pork. 
It i3 reported—we are not able to say with 
what truth—that this breed in England is con¬ 
fined exclusively to the Earl of Sefton’s own 
estate, and that he never allows any animals of 
the breed to leave his place alive for use in 
England, although he has, in several instances, 
allowed them to be brought to this country. 
General Tyler, of Red Bank, 1ST. J., imported a 
pair some years since, and their progeny have 
been considerably distributed throughout the 
country. They are more nearly like the best 
specimens of the Chester White than any of our 
other breeds, and are claimed to be even superior 
to them. We are inclined to think that a cross 
of the two breeds would be better than either. 
A pair of pure Seftons, slaughtered a year 
ago in Hartford, weighed eight hundred pounds, 
and their flesh was very firm and attractive in 
appearance. We are not disposed to recommend 
that these animals be adopted by any farmer 
