378 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 3 
worker bees are all females, but because of a certain 
kind of food prepared for them, they are not queens. 
Any female that would otherwise have been a worker, 
can be made into a queen or egg-producing bee, by 
the worker bees themselves apparently by the dif¬ 
ferent food they prepare for royal use. If two or 
more queens are found in the brood comb, the first 
one out will tear open the cells containing the others, 
and sting them to death." 
x The Queens and the Food. 
“Is there any difference between queens of the 
same breed ? ” 
“ Yes, there is quite as much difference in them as 
in animals Some queens are very prolific in workers, 
some in drones, and often the queen producing drones 
at one brood will give workers at another; usually, 
however, a queen producing a good lot of workers 
after the first brood, can be depended upon to pro- s 
duce workers right along.” 
“How long will a queen continue to be serviceable?” 
“Usually about two seasons. Some bee keepers 
advocate changing queens often, but I can see no ad¬ 
vantage in it.” 
“ When do you feed ? ” 
I begin to do so about March 20, and continue for 
a week or so until the brood comb is well started. 
The object of feeding is to get a strong colony ready 
for work as soon as the first flowers open, and the 
earliest started swarms are the most profitable. The 
life of a worker bee is limited to about 40 days, except 
those that live through the winter in idleness, and 
those that winter over must be replaced by young 
bees as soon as possible. They do the work of raising 
the young brood, but are of little or no service as 
honey gatherers. I feed a syrup made of two quarts 
of granulated sugar to three pints of hot water. 
Some feed salt, vinegar and other things in the syrup, 
but I have never tried anything but the sugar and 
water. I have usually fed corn meal to serve as pol¬ 
len, from which to make the food for the young, but 
this year I have substituted rye flour, with very satis¬ 
factory results. It is amusing to see the eagerness 
with which the bees ‘ go ’ for it. They crowd into 
the feeding boxes like a lot of hungry pigs about a 
trough, and fairly stand on their heads in their 
anxiety to get each her fair share. The earliest 
pollen gathered is from the swamp willow and the 
alder, and comes about the first of April here.” 
“ What is the earliest honey made from ? ” 
“Correctly speaking, it is not made from anything, 
at least by the bees. They gather the nectar from 
the flowers and store it just as they find it, and do not 
make it any more than the grocer makes your sugar 
or your flour. The very earliest honey is the distilled 
sweets from stamp land, recently cut maple, birch or 
hickory; in the vicinity of large areas of such land 
it might amount to a considerable, but here it is of 
trifling account. The next is from fruit blossoms, 
apple, cherry, pear, peach and others, and is variable 
in quality; none of it is of extra quality, but each 
partakes of the nature of the tree or plant from which 
it is gathered. My main dependence is White clover, 
followed by sumac. I was at a loss to know where 
the bees found material with which to fill the combs 
with such excellent honey after the first bloom of 
clover was past, until I discovered my bees were at 
work upon the sumac. It is fully as good as White 
clover in quality, and while in season is quite prolific 
in yield. The Whitewood or Tulip tree furnishes the 
worst composition the bees ever gather, strong, black 
and particularly awful, and the bees take delight, 
apparently, in filling the cells of my pound boxes 
with the villainous compound. I never could quite 
understand their motive, unless it was that I could 
better appreciate a good article by close comparison. 
Buckwheat makes a rather dark but very fair quality 
honey, and a good deal of honey is a mixture from a 
variety of blooms.” 
The Bee Keeper Must Be a Smoker. 
“What tools or appliances would you recommend 
to a beginner ? ” 
“Well, perhaps the most indispensable thing for 
the bee keeper, after the hive, is a good ‘ smoker.’ 
This is a funnel-shaped receptacle, in which excelsior 
or other inflammable substance is placed, and having a 
bellows attached by which a cloud of smoke can be 
directed anywhere at the will of the operator. In 
handling bees this is often necessary : the bees can be 
driven out of the honey boxes or from any particular 
frame or brood comb you wish to examine, and the 
smoking does not harm them. I want to emphasize 
the point that with proper care in handling the bees 
the smoker need not be used so often. Bees that are 
looked after daily, the hive being opened and the 
frames examined, will become accustomed to it very 
quickly, and will make no trouble. One must work 
carefully, however, with no sudden blows or jars, and 
must avoid leaving any broken comb or honey lying 
around where bees from different colonies can get to 
it. When field honey is getting scarce, or after a rain 
when the honey has been washed out from the flowers, 
the bees are idle, and a little find of loose honey will 
start a regular ‘ donnybrook ’ among them. When 
they get into a fight among themselves it is a good 
time to keep away from them, first removing the 
cause of the trouble. When they find plenty of honey 
in the fields they are so busy that they will not molest 
any one without extreme provocation. Robber bees 
sometimes cause a deal of trouble, and when honey is 
scarce must be looked after carefully. One soon 
learns these points from careful observation, and every 
beginner will find a mine of useful knowledge in Mr. 
Root’s ‘A. B, C, of Bee Culture.’ 
“ Another thing I have found useful is a queen trap 
or drone trap ; this is a little wire cage arranged like 
a fly-trap with an inverted cone entrance, in which the 
queens or drones are imprisoned, but through which 
the smaller workers can go easily. Sometimes there 
are so many drones in a hive that they eat too much 
of the honey. Like a good many of a higher order of 
beings, the males or drones, have no liking for work, 
and live on the industry of the other members of the 
family. They are said to carry water to the young 
bees, but I never saw one at it with dipper and pail. 
At all events there is often a surplus, and I place the 
trap at the entrance of the hive and catch them until 
the stock is sufficiently reduced; a little hot water 
soon puts them out of the way. Sometimes, when not 
properly looked after, a hive will send out a swarm. 
Their Courting Days. Fig. 138 From Nast’s Weekly. 
As soon as the young swarm is observed issuing from 
the hive, place the trap at the entrance and catch the 
queen. As soon as the bees discover that their queen 
is missing they will return to seek her and can be 
placed in a new hive. Another thing that I have re¬ 
cently used, and consider valuable, is the honey-board. 
This is a sheet of perforated zinc, that fits into the 
hive above the frames, between the frames and the 
boxes, and admits only workers to the honey stored 
above. The drones are always walking over the combs 
if they can obtain access to them, and like human 
beings of the masculine gender, they do not take the 
trouble to wipe their feet. The comb is thus more or 
less soiled, and often is injured for sale as comb honey. 
The honey-board is an effectual preventive of this 
trouble. I also use both brood and comb foundation, 
as it saves the bees a lot of work, and a good deal of 
time when their time is valuable. This can be cut into 
sheets of any desired size, and can be readily attached 
to the frames and boxes. The only other necessity is 
a room where all these things can be kept in readiness 
for immediate use.” 
Why Don’t You Keep Bees? 
“ From your experience, can you give any reason 
why any f inner or village resident, may not keep bees 
successfully ? ” 
“ Certainly not. Any one who is willing to devote a 
little time to the work, can supply the family with all 
the honey that may be desired, at a very trifling cost. 
It is a work especially desirable for women, and be¬ 
sides supplying the family, there is opportunity to 
obtain a very satisfactory income from a trifling ex¬ 
penditure of money. Besides the chance for making 
money, it affords a most interesting recreation for any 
engaged in business or professional work. 
“ There are many things for a beginner to learn, 
but the most essential point is to give them daily at¬ 
tention and study their habits. After the young bees 
take their first flight to locate the hive, they will al¬ 
ways return to the same spot. It is well, therefore, 
not to move the hives about. If they do not find their 
own hive they get confused and are pretty certain to 
get lost.” 
‘ ‘ What winter protection do you give them ? ” 
“ A square of enameled cloth is placed inside the 
hive directly over the frames, and a bag of chaff or 
moss is fitted in above it in the severe weather. See 
that they have plenty of honey for their winter feed, 
and look at them occasionally to see that they are all 
right. They will usually come through the winter in 
good condition.” 
I came away with a new idea of the possibilities of 
bee culture, and with an ever-increasing respect for 
the industry and intelligence of the honey bee. I 
had also learned why I suddenly liked honey. I th’nk 
my early experience must have been with some of the 
whitewood honey that the pastor’s bees use when 
they play practical jokes upon him. I hope these 
facts, gathered from the actual experience of one who 
has no pecuniary interest in extending the business 
of bee culture, will prove of interest to Rural readers. 
CHAS. PIERSON AUGUR. 
“ LUMP JAW ” IN CATTLE. 
ALL ABOUT THE DISEASE. 
Our readers must have noticed the great number of 
questions recently printed about cattle with lumps or 
tumors on their jaws or throats. They came from all 
over the country and seem to indicate that the disease 
known as “ lump jaw ” is quite common. In order to 
place the facts before our readers in a brief and com¬ 
prehensive way, we give here a synopsis of the re¬ 
sults described by Dr. N. S. Mayo, in Bulletin 35 of 
the Kansas Experiment Station—the pictures also 
coming from that publication. 
Dr. Mayo states that the disease is observed in all 
countries where cattle are raised. Tt has been re¬ 
ported (rarely, however) in men, horses, dogs and 
pigs. It is sometimes called “ big jaw,” “ big head,” 
“swelled head” or “wooden tongue,” when the 
tongue is affected. At the Union Stock Yards in Chi¬ 
cago, in 1889, 830 cattle were condemned as having 
“lump jaw,” out of 3,023,281 received. In 1890 the 
figures were 1,751 cases out of 3,484,280, while in 10 
months of 1891 1,655 cases were reported, and in 1892 
1,888. Dr. Mayo believes that one case of “ lump 
jaw” to each 500 cattle received would be a fair state¬ 
ment. He also says that cattle pastured on low lands 
seem to be more liable to take the disease—also cattle 
fed on rough feed. 
How to Know the Disease. 
As to symptoms Dr. Mayo says: “This disease is 
characterized by a lump or tumor, situated, usually, 
in the region of the head or throat. This tumor Is 
caused by peculiar vegetable parasites which grow in 
the animal tissues; from their peculiar radiating, or 
star-shaped structure, they are called ‘ actinomyces.’ 
The first symptom of this disease is a slight swelling 
of the affected part, such as might result from an in¬ 
jury ; in fact, many cases of actinomycosis appear to 
be caused by blows or injuries received by struggling 
in stanchions. The actinomyces must be present, how¬ 
ever, in order that an animal may contract the disease. 
The enlargement gradually increases in size, and is 
usually well defined from the surrounding tissues. 
Upon manipulation, the tumor feels hard and dense, 
and, if not caused by the bulging of the adjacent 
bone, is usually attached to it. In the region of the 
throat it may be fluctuating. After a variable length 
of time, the tumor softens in one or more places, and 
discharges a rather thick, yellow and very sticky pus 
or matter. This discharge of pus may continue until 
t'-'e animal dies, or is disposed of. Usually, however, 
t]je opening heals temporarily, only to go through the 
same process again. Often these tumors break, and 
discharge the pus into the cavity of the mouth or 
throat. Sometimes, when a tumor breaks, a growth 
of new tissues protrudes from the opening, grows 
rapidly, and resembles a cauliflower somewhat in ap¬ 
pearance. Unlike an ordinary abscess, an actinomy¬ 
cotic tumor, after discharging pus, increases in size 
rapidly, until the tumor may reach the dimensions of 
a peck measure or larger. In the later stages, the 
teeth may become ulcerated and loosened, and there 
is a driveling of saliva from the mouth.” 
_ \ 
While Dr. Mayo has seen no case in a suckling calf, 
there seems to be no age when cattle are not subject 
to it. Most cases observed have been in two and 
three-year-old cattle. The disease of itself is seldom 
fatal. In anima’s that die with it the tumor is gener¬ 
ally so placed that they cannot eat, and really starve 
to death. Most cases are slaughtered before the 
tumor fully forms. If the tumor is caused by a 
bulging of the bones of the head, as is the case when¬ 
ever the organism gains entrance and commences 
growing in the interior of the bone, the bone tissue in 
the interior becomes disintegrated and absorbed in 
places, and pockets are formed containing nests of 
actinomyces, as in muscular tissue. While the interior 
of the bone is being broken down by the action of this 
disease, the diameter of the bone is increased by the 
deposition of new material, until it may be several 
