Part 1

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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C.

AT TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE.

VOL. VI. SEPTEMBER, 1870. NO. 3.

[Translated for the American Bee Journal.]

The Foulbrood Question.

The following remarks, made by the Rev. Mr. Kleine, before a convention of bee-keepers in the town of Meppen, province of Hanover, Prussia, present a succinct account of the present state of this subject abroad.

“The question propounded in our programme,” said Mr. Kleine, “and which I have been requested to consider, may properly be thus subdivided--first. Has any efficient remedy for foulbrood been devised? and, secondly, What are we to think of Lambrecht’s theory?

“I wish I could answer the first interrogatory with a positive _aye_. If I could, I should regard myself entitled not only to your thanks, but to those of the entire bee-keeping community; for foulbrood is confessedly the direst evil that can befall the bee-keeper, and the appearance is, at present, that it is likely speedily to spread everywhere, where bees are cultivated.

“Remedies in abundance have, indeed been suggested, and recommended as efficient and infallible. But when we come to investigate them, we seek in vain for any solid reason why curative qualities should be attributed to them; and we usually find that the alleged recovery of diseased colonies can fairly be ascribed to something else than the application of those vaunted remedies. Possibly, too, the real disease,--the genuine, virulent, contagious foulbrood, did not exist, and the boasted cure consisted merely in the apparent arrest and removal of some simple malady which, in the course of nature, would speedily have run its harmless course and disappeared, and with the cure of which the medicaments or treatment employed had, in reality, no connection whatever. How indeed can it be possible to devise and apply an efficient remedy for a disease of the origin and nature of which entire ignorance has still prevailed.

“Dr. Asmusz conceived, some years ago, that he had discovered the cause of foulbrood in a minute winged insect--the _Phora incrassata_; and the Baron of Berlepsch coincided with him in opinion. The doctor supposed that the parent fly deposited her eggs in the larvæ of the bees, which, dying in consequence and putrifying, thus generated the devastating disease. It happens, however, that the Phoridæ do not deposit their eggs in living organisms, but, under the impulse of native instinct, in dead bodies only. Consequently it does not and cannot cause the dreaded disease.

“Again, Mr. De Molitor assigns to it a similar origin,--but instead of the Phora, regards some ichneumon-fly as the perpetrator of the evil--unless, indeed, he regards the Phora itself as an ichneumon. But this notion, too, is obviously untenable, for if ichneumon-flies laid their eggs in the larvæ, those eggs must surely hatch and the insect develop there, at least in its first stages; but on placing a foulbroody comb under glass, and watching it closely, nothing of this sort is found to take place.

“The Baroness of Berlepsch supposes the cause of foulbrood is to be found in the use of movable comb hives, and the various manipulations--oftimes needless--which the facilities afforded tempt the apiarian to undertake. Were this diagnosis correct, the remedy could readily be found. It would only be necessary to discontinue the use of such hives, and return to the ancient fixed comb system, to be safe from the inroads of this pestilence. But alas, it is only too well known that foulbrood existed extensively long before Dzierzon was born, and that it prevails where the fixed comb system is most rigidly adhered to.

“Others imagine that the disease has its origin in malarious vapors, in some kind of fungus, in a diseased condition of the sexual organs of the queen, in an imperfect fecundation of the egg, or even in a noxious state of the fluids of the bee-keeper’s body, &c., without, however, by any of these surmises or suggestions, furnishing us with an available clue to a remedy, from the application of which a favorable result might be expected. Obscurity and doubt still involve the inquirer, and he quietly ‘gives it up;’ while the more practical bee-keeper, perplexed and baffled, finally resolves to resort to the radical remedy of the brimstone pit and the ‘parlor match’--thus effectually _curing_ his colonies.

“So matters stood in regard to this puzzling question, till, in consequence of a communication from the Directors of the Central Committee of the Hanover Agricultural Society, respecting an alleged cure of foulbrood which Mr. Fisher claimed to have devised and successfully employed, the Hanover Centralblatt opened its columns for further discussion of the topic.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by Samuel Wagner, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

“I had given it as my own opinion that the disease was probably, in most cases, produced by feeding infected honey derived from foulbroody colonies; but that we were still constrained to believe that it had also an independent origin, which would probably be found in some deleterious substance mixed with the nutriment of the bees.

“A reason for this assumption I found in a communication from Mr. Hoffman to the Eichstadt Bienenzeitung, in which he stated that in all foulbroody colonies examined by him, he found most of the pollen in the cells covered by a slimy, fatty substance and the pollen itself in a state of fermentation. I then said that if this discovery be confirmed by further observation and scientific investigation, deteriorated pollen would probably be found to play an important part in the production of the disease in question, and perhaps account for the well known fact that in colonies infected with foulbrood, the larvæ die only after being sealed up. I also expressed the hope that we should have the aid of science--especially of physiology and chemistry--in the further prosecution of the inquiry; as it is only by ascertaining the nature and origin of the disease, that we could hope to obtain the means of effectually counteracting and controlling it.

“We had to wait long for these elucidations, but they have come at last, and we may well be proud that the Hanover Centralblatt contributed so materially to the result so far.

“I now come to the second subdivision of the question--What is to be thought of Lambrecht’s theory?

“This theory is briefly thus: Pollen, in peculiar circumstances, and under the influence of heat and moisture, begins to ferment; and the fermentive process is then communicated to the honey. If this fermenting nutriment be now fed to the larvæ, their organism becomes thereby deranged and disorganized, they die and putrefaction follows. Here we find the original source and cause of foulbrood. The detailed explanation of this so simple theory, given with the directness of scientific demonstration, yet in popular language readily understood, is contained in the pages of the Centralblatt. Its correctness is not to be doubted, for the proof of it is clearly furnished by this simple experiment: Expose a mixture of pollen and water to the heat of the sun, or otherwise to a temperature sufficiently high to bring on fermentation, and feed therewith the bees of a colony containing larvæ just hatched, and foulbrood will speedily be produced in the hive. I made this experiment myself in the summer of 1868, and though I felt some misgivings before, every doubt was dissipated by the result obtained, for the thus infected colony might have claimed a premium as a prime prize case of the disease. I here submit to the convention, for inspection, a piece of foulbroody comb thus obtained. The contagiousness of the artificially originated foulbrood is also demonstrated by the fact, that the disease has been communicated from it to several other colonies in my apiary. Other bee-keepers have repeated this experiment with like results; so that there is no longer room to doubt, or to suspect deception.

“The fermented or fermenting condition of the nutritive matter with which the larvæ of bees are fed, is thus, according to Lambrecht’s theory, the cause of foulbrood. I doubt much whether this scientifically grounded doctrine will ever be scientifically refuted.

“We have here, accordingly, the point at which the insidious foe is to be attacked, if we would hope for success. This, Lambrecht alleges that he does, and claims that he has devised a reliable method of cure, as shown in the experimental case at Brunswick. To doubt the truth of the statement made by the committee superintending that experiment, would be to impugn the untarnished honor of those gentlemen. But unfortunately, we are not yet made acquainted with the composition of Lambrecht’s remedy. For the present, he treats it as a secret, intending to publish it in a pamphlet and thus compensate himself for his discovery. For this, he has been subjected to reproach and abuse. Allow me to express my surprise at this. We find fault with Lambrecht for that which we approve in ourselves and others. The inventor strives to secure to himself the profits of his invention by taking out a patent; and the author indemnifies himself for his labors by procuring a copyright, or accepting a premium from his publisher. I have not hesitated to accept such compensation myself, when the opportunity was properly presented; and others, here, I presume, may find themselves under like condemnation. Why then cast stones on Lambrecht, who, probably, has very valid reasons for imitating our example, for his experiments presuppose a large sacrifice of time and money on his part.

“I will not deny that, for one, I should have preferred if Mr. Lambrecht had disinterestedly published his curative process in a communication to the Centralblatt. For if No. 7 of the volume for 1868 is now out of print, in consequence of the increased demand created for it by his first article on the subject, there is no doubt a very large edition would have been required of the number containing his cure; and what a powerful impetus that would have given to the success of the Centralblatt! But I should have been ashamed to approach Mr. Lambrecht with a request based on calculations so selfish, when I understood that he intended to reserve the information for his own benefit. But there is thus within our reach a secret of great importance and value to all bee-keepers; and since we have no prospect of obtaining a knowledge of it in any other way than by the publication of his pamphlet, I advise you all to subscribe for it and induce others to do so likewise, so that the work may speedily be published, and the veil withdrawn that possibly conceals a matter of vital importance to bee-culture.

“Mr. Lambrecht was requested by the President of the Nuremberg Convention to attend its meeting, and present his theory among the regular orders of the day, for discussion. I felt confident he would comply with the request, and considered that the most suitable mode of bringing his theory to the knowledge of the bee-keepers generally and securing the required number of subscribers to his pamphlet. But, according to the report of the proceedings, the result was just the reverse. Mr Lambrecht, we are told, _failed altogether_! And how? He was refused a hearing! How this is to be explained, I know not. Heretofore, the Convention was ever disposed to invite and allow free discussion of all questions pertaining to bee-culture, whether of a theoretical or practical cast; and to accept, with enthusiastic applause every new invention or device tending to advance the favorite pursuit of its members. But this I know for certain, that Mr. Lambrecht’s theory, despite of this opposition, will work its way, and finally meet with universal acceptance. I therefore beg this respected assembly not to withhold due attention to this important matter, but to contribute all they can towards a full compliance with the stipulations on which the speedy promulgation of Mr. Lambrecht’s curative process depends.”

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[For the American Bee Journal.]

Polanisia Purpurea.

MR. EDITOR:--I would like to give the readers of the journal my experience with the Rocky Mountain bee plant _Polanisia purpurea_. In 1868, I had the pleasure of receiving some of the seed from Mr. J. L. Hubbard, then of Walpole, N. H.; and from sixteen plants that grew, I got six quarts of seed. It comes into bloom about the last of July, and continues till frost comes. The bees work on it from morning till night.

In selecting honey-producing plants, it should be the aim of the bee-keeper to plant such as would be of benefit to stock or poultry as well as bees. Now I find that my poultry will eat the seed of the Polanisia in a short time as readily as buckwheat; and there is no plant on my farm that stands the drouth equal to it. At present (July 25th) we are having a very severe drouth and extreme heat, yet with the temperature ranging from 90° to 108° in the shade, not a leaf of the Polanisia wilts; on the contrary, it is making a very rapid growth. Taking everything into consideration, I think it is worthy the attention of bee-keepers.

A. Green.

_Amesbury, Mass._

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[From the London “Journal of Horticulture.”]

Bees in Borneo and Timor.

Having recently perused Mr. Spencer St. John’s very interesting work on Borneo, published in 1862, under the title of “Life in the Forests of the Far East,” I have made notes of several passages relating to the apian aborigines of that magnificent tropical island:--

Speaking of the agricultural pursuits of the “Sea Dayaks,” Mr. St. John says--“They obtain beeswax from the nests built on the tapang tree, and climb the loftiest heights in search of it, upon small sticks which they drive in as they advance up the noble stem that rises above one hundred feet free of branches, and whose girth varies from fifteen to twenty-five feet. Once these pegs are driven in, their outer ends are connected by a stout rattan, which, with the tree, forms a kind of ladder. It requires cool and deliberate courage to take a bee-hive at so great an elevation, where, in case of being attacked by the bees, the almost naked man would fall and be dashed to atoms. They depend upon the flambeaux they carry up with them, as, when the man disturbs the hive, the sparks falling from it cause, it is said, the bees to fly down in chase of them instead of attacking their real enemy, who then takes the hive and lowers it down by a rattan string. The bees escape unhurt. This plan does not appear to be as safe as that pursued by the Pakatan Dayaks, who kindle a large fire under the trees, and, throwing green branches upon it, raise so stilling a smoke that the bees rush forth, and the man ascending takes their nest in safety. Both these operations are generally conducted at night, although the second might be, I imagine, practised in safety during the day.”

With regard to the “Land Dayaks” it is stated, that “To the left of the Sirambau are some very fine tapang trees, in which the bees generally build their nests; they are considered private property, and a Dayak from a neighboring tribe venturing to help himself to some of this apparently wild honey and wax would be punished for theft.” This is the first hint that is given of bees being considered in any respect as private property, but the following passage would seem to indicate that the domestication of the honey-bee is not altogether unknown in the island:--“During the night, our rest was much disturbed by bees, which stung us several times, and Mr. Lowe, with that acuteness which never deserts him in all questions of natural history, pronounced them to be the ‘tame’ bees, the same as he had last seen thirteen years ago among the Senah Dayaks, in Sarawak. About midnight we were visited by a big fellow, who, our guides assured us, wanted to pilfer; but we found next morning that he had come to complain of his hives having been plundered. On inquiry, we discovered the man who had done the deed. He was fined three times the value of the damage, and the amount handed over to the owner.”

During one of his adventurous expeditions up the river Limbang, Mr. St. John found a Pakatan named Japer, who accompanied him, a storehouse of information. He had a thorough faith in ghosts and spirits, and told of many an adventure with them, and of the Antus who caused the death of the wax-hunters, by pushing them off the mengiris or tapang tree. When the unfortunate men, from inefficient preparations, as their companions not keeping up a great fire under the trees to stupefy the bees, are so stung as to let go their hold, the natural explanation is never taken; they fly to their superstitions. Japer’s nephew saw one of these tapang ghosts, and managed to keep his eye upon him and prevent him pushing him off, he came down without accident, but without any wax. I suggested that he invented the ghost to excuse his timidity, which Japer thought probable. To-day we passed one of these lofty trees bearing above twenty bees’ nests, among them four old ones white with wax.[1] As the country is full of tapangs, in which alone do the bees build their nests, the stories of the great amount of wax formerly procured in this district may be true. Why do the honey-bees generally build on one particular tree? Its being the finest in the forest is no good reason, perhaps there is something enticing in the bark. I say ‘generally,’ because, though I have never seen their nests on other trees, yet I have often come across them in the crevices of rocks.

In a subsequent part of his journal of the same expedition, our author says--“I never was in such a country for bees, they everywhere swarm in the most disagreeable manner, and ants and other insects are equally numerous.” When on their return and nearly starved, the party had “a very happy find, for while passing under a fine tapang tree we noticed the remains of a bees’ nest scattered about, and every particle was eagerly appropriated. From the marks around it appeared as if a bear had climbed this lofty tree and torn down the nest to be devoured by its young below, as there were numerous tracks of the smaller animals around, but whether the comb had been sucked by the bears or not was very immaterial to our men, who rejoiced in securing the little honey still clinging to it.”

The party appears only once to have fallen foul of a hornet’s nest. The encounter and its results are thus described:--“It was in following the bed of the Rawan that I was stung. Notice was given by the guide to leave the direct path, and we all did; but I suppose some one disturbed the hornets, as they attacked me with a ferocity that appears incredible: many flew at me, but two fixed on my arms and stung me through my double clothing. They poised themselves a moment in the air, and then came on with a rush which it was impossible to avoid. The pain was acute, but I saved my face. I tumbled down the steep bank in a moment, and throwing aside rifle and ammunition, plunged up to my eyes in a pool until the buzzing ceased and the hornets had returned to their nests. Some of my men were also stung; they squeezed a little tobacco juice on the wounds, and they say they felt no further inconvenience. I tried it about an hour afterwards, but it did me no good. I had no idea that the sting of this insect was so severe; my right arm swelled up to double its natural size and was acutely painful; now, on the second day, it is much less so, but as the swelling continues it is impossible to use it much.”

That wild bees are exceedingly abundant in the forests and jungles of Borneo may be inferred from the foregoing passages as well as from the numerous references to parties of native “wax-hunters,” which occur in almost every chapter of the work. Although no clue is given by Mr. St. John to the identity of the Borneon honey-bee, or any information as to the manner in which it builds its nest, I am enabled in some measure to supply the deficiency from other sources.

Some half dozen years ago I received from Mr. Charles Darwin, the distinguished naturalist, a few specimens of bees named Apis testacea (Smith), together with two pieces of their comb. Although these had been brought by Mr. Alfred B. Wallace, the celebrated traveller and author of “The Malay Archipelago,” just published, from the island of Timor in the Eastern Archipelago, I believe them to be the same as those which are indigenous in Borneo, so that there appears little reason to doubt that these are the bees referred to by Mr. St. John. On examination I found them half as long again as Apis mellifica, and their brood comb proportionably thicker. They were in fact, a variety of the magnificent Apis dorsata, which is described as flourishing abundantly throughout the great Indian peninsula, from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas, as well as in Ceylon.

Mr. Darwin subsequently introduced me to Mr. Wallace, to whom I am indebted for the following particulars:--“In Borneo and Timor the wax forms an important article of commerce. The combs hang on the under side of horizontal limbs of lofty trees, often one hundred feet from the ground.

“I have seen three together as above, and they are often four feet in diameter. The natives of Timor I have seen take them. They climb up a tree carrying a smoke torch made of a split creeper bound up in palm leaves, and hanging by a rope from their waist. They cover up their body and hair carefully, but their arms and legs are bare. The smoke directed on the comb makes the bees fly off in a cloud as the man approaches. He sweeps off the remainder with his hand and then cuts off the comb with a large knife, and lets it down to his companions below by a thin cord. He is all the time surrounded by a cloud of bees, and though the smoke no doubt partly stupefies them, he must be severely stung. While looking on from a considerable distance a few came down and attacked me, and I did not get rid of them till I was half a mile from the place and had caught them all, one by one, in my insect net. The sting is very severe. I should imagine that in Timor the dry season answers to our winter, as the drought is very severe and much of the foliage is deciduous. Eucalypti are the most common trees, and their flowers I suspect supply the bees with their honey. In Borneo combs are placed in a somewhat similar manner, perhaps formed by the same species. The only bee I have seen domesticated in the East is one at Malacca, the natives hang up bamboos and hollow logs for it, but it is, I believe, not a true Apis, as it makes clusters of large oval shells of black wax.”

I may add that the Timor bee was named Apis testacea on account of its color, which is very light, and is, in fact, the only point in which it differs from Apis dorsata. When some years ago I compared the specimens in the British Museum, I became impressed with the idea that those which represented Apis testacea were nothing more than newly-hatched and immature specimens of Apis dorsata, and so strongly did I urge my views upon Mr. Smith, that I believe I almost induced him to doubt the correctness of his own nomenclature, until he was afterwards assured by Mr. Wallace himself, that they were really mature and fully-developed adult bees.--A DEVONSHIRE BEE-KEEPER.

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Management of Bees in Winter.