46 



SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



of five I don't think it would disap- 

 pear; I have had a good deal of ex- 

 perience along that line, inspecting. I 

 have had European disappear. 



I have treated yards that were very 

 bad; and have come back later, after 

 the honey flow, and found it would 

 disappear. 



Mr. Pyles — A year ago this last Sep- 

 tember, in Mr. Dadant's yard — we 

 found one peculiar colony; it had every 

 symptom of European foul brood; it 

 was not European foul brood — and it 

 is very possible that some of these 

 cases where they disappear, that they 

 were something of that character. 



If a man's nose is really good, he 

 will always be able to tell European 

 foul brood. There is no question about 

 it. 



And, if his nose is at fault, perhaps 

 his vision is also. 



One peculiar thing about American 

 foul brood that is especially called at- 

 tention to is its ropy stage. 



The dead larvel bee is ropy, so that, 

 if you insert a toothpick and slowly 

 withdraw it, this dead larva will draw 

 out very much like glue. 



With European foul brood it is an- 

 other thing, it strings out a little when 

 jou find the European foul brood con- 

 dition. If an Inspector is good he will 

 be able to tell the contagious from 

 the uncontagious disease. 



Question: What is the best way to 

 prevent bees drifting in the apiary? 



President Baxter — Who has had 

 some experience? 



Mr. Root — That word drifting means 

 colonies of bees closely situated that 

 will intermingle more or less. Young 

 bees are very apt to follow where the 

 strongest flyers are. 



Mr. Kildow — I never had drifting 

 except once. I have an idea the man 

 means spring drifting when first taken 

 from the cellar. I wintered bees in the 

 cellar for twenty- five or thirty years, 

 I guess; I never had drifting only in 

 the spring. My colonies are about six 

 or eight feet apart, but there came a 

 little northwest wind and I think when 

 I took them out that morning they 

 were pretty well riled up. The wind 

 drifted in that corner of the yard and 

 two or three hives there got the bulk 

 of the bees. When I took the bees 

 out in the evening and let them settle 

 before morning I didn't have any drift- 

 ing. 



To overcome that a man better set 

 his bees out — part of them at least — 

 to give them until morning to cool 

 down in and then the bees will not all 

 go out at once. 



President Baxter — I believe that all 

 hives drift. When the young bees fly 

 out from the hiye there are always a 

 few who msikk^ mistake, especially 

 where you have hives in a row. Young 

 bees are likely to make a mistake and 

 go in the wrong hive. 



I read in a journal recently that 

 Italian bees were apt to leave their 

 home and go to another colony. I 

 think he would have found black bfees 

 among those Italians also. If you have 

 the Italian bees they will be noticed 

 more readily on account of their bright 

 color. I believe in all colonies there is 

 drifting at times. 



I believe the , main remedy is not to 

 have your hives in such fine, straight; 

 regular order, without anything to tell 

 them apart; that is to say, the bees 

 ought to have some trees or shrub- 

 bery or two or three hives in a bunch, 

 then there is not so much chance for 

 the bees to make a mistake; but to 

 have the hives in a regular row, and 

 the same distance apart, you will have 

 some drifting and there is more of a 

 chance to lose queens. 



Mr. Stone — I don't believe that you 

 can fool bees that easily. 



Mr. Dadant — Young bees, yes. 



Mr. Stone — If old bees can tell their 

 place so well, why don't young bees, 

 also? Why don't they learn their 

 place the first time they fly out? 



When I began bee-keeping I painted 

 my hives all colors. One year I made 

 an experiment, to weigh how much 

 honey they got each day. In changing 

 that. hive I raised it 4 inches. For half 

 a day there was a bunch of bees could 

 not find their place; would light on 

 the board the scales were on, as it was 

 where the alighting board of the hive 

 had been. 



Mr. Kildow — I don't take stock in 

 drifting only in the spring-time, when 

 they are first set out. 



A neighbor above me six miles has 

 an apiary of 240 or 250 colonies. If 

 you can ■ tell which colony of that 

 apiary has the most bees, I would like 

 to see it. They are set in regular rows, 

 five or six feet apart; everything is in 

 regular order as can be, and you can't 



