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Enlered at the Posl-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



QBORQE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, MAR, 10, 1904. 



Vol, XLIV— No. 10, 





Editorial Comments 





334 DeaFbopn Street. 



This is our new number and street. We moved the office of the 

 American Bee Journal March 3. We are now in a modern office build- 

 ing in the heart of the business district of Chicago. Oar editorial 

 office is Room 990 of the Caxton Building. Our friends and sub- 

 scribers are invited to c;ill and see us at any time in our new office. 



Again permit us to call the attention of all to the fact that we are 

 not now in the bee-supplj, honey or beeswax business, and have not 

 been since Oct. 1, 1903. We are devoting our time and atoention to 

 the weekly American Bee Journal. ' 



The Apiarian Outlook for 1904. 



The outcome of the harvest can lietter be considered some months 

 hence, but bee-lieepers are a folk somewhat given to looking ahead, and 

 a look at the horoscope may not be amiss. The prospect is neither all 

 bright nor all dark. California is short on rainfall, and unless there 

 is a heavy fall of spring snows upon the mountains, or an unusual 

 amount of rain next summer, Colorado will also lack the necessary 

 moisture for a heavy crop. In the northern portions of the country 

 the cold has been remarkably severe, and what is still worse, it has 

 been exceptionally uninterrupted, so that a very large number of colo- 

 nies will fail to respond to spring roll-call. 



On the other band, notwithstanding the severe cold, a mantle of 

 snow has covered a large portion of the country where white clover 

 abounds, and what bees are left will be likely to give a good account 

 of themselves, and their hoardings will not be likely to lack a market 

 In those portions where there has been no trouble wintering, and 

 where at the same time bee-pasturage is abundant, a year of unusual 

 prosperity ought to be experienced. 



In any case, the bee-keeper who bends every energy to do the besj 

 he can with what remains may hope for a fair recompense for his labor. 



Tlie Bacillus of Foul Brood. 



As mentioned some time ago. Dr. Lambotte of the University of 

 Liege, announced that he had discovered that the bacillus of foul 

 brood — bacillus alvei — was identical with bacillus mesentericus vul- 

 garis, which is aliundantly distributed everywhere in Nature. Fresh 

 interest in the matter is awakened liy the long article appearing on 

 page 133 of the Bee Journal, written by C. H. W. Weber. Mr. 

 Weber has been an enthusiastic advocate of formaldehyde for the cure 

 of foul brood. Puzzled by the reappearance of the disease after treat- 

 ment in some cases, he finally accepted as the explanation that in spite 

 of cure the disease reappeared again by means of mesentericus vulgaris. 



If there are lurking everywhere germs capable of producing foul 

 brood, only awaiting favorable conditions to begin their'deadly work, 

 we may as well accept the fact with what grace we may, liut it will be 

 an unwelcome fact that makes us believe that the seeds of the disease 

 are everywhere instead of being, as has been heretofore believed, only 

 found in colonies of bees suffering from foul brood. So it may be well 



to comfort ourselves with looking for some reasons why we should not 

 believe Dr. Lambotte is correct. 



If correct, he ought to have succeeded in producing foul brood by 

 means of the common bacillus that he believes to need only a slight 

 change to become bacillus alvei. This he failed to do. 



If his conclusions were correct, other scientists should have con- 

 firmed them. A considerable time has elapsed since September, 1902, 

 but no other bacteriologist is reported as having confirmed Dr. Lam- 

 botte's conclusions. On the contrary, men of ability have expressed 

 their disbelief, saying that the great similarity between the two kinds 

 of bacilli might easily mi.slead Dr. Lambotte. 



There are apiaries — thousands of them — located where foul brood 

 has never yet been known, and foul brood is by no means a scourge 

 of modern times. Is it easy to believe that through all these years 

 there should have lieen no occurrence of conditions favoring the ap- 

 pearance of the disease? Yet that might happen more easily than 

 that a whole county should remain up to this time immune. And 

 larger tracts than that, even whole countries, have remained free from 

 the disease. There have been cases where it could not be understood 

 that the disease had been brought from elsewhere, and these might be 

 adduced in support of Dr. Lambotte's theory. But it is easier to be- 

 lieve that the germs had been in some unusual way brought from else- 

 where than to believe that over so large a scope of country mesen- 

 tericus vulgaris could for so many years have abounded everywhere 

 without ever having found a single colony of bees in which conditions 

 would allow it to produce foul brood. Cases of smallpox occur 

 sometimes where it is impossible to trace their origin, but we do not 

 the less believe that they have come from some other case of smallpox. 



Under the old belief, foul brood was bad enough. Under the new 

 it is much worse. Let us not believe the new theory till we have to. 

 As yet we do not have to. ^^^^^^^^^^^ 



Summeping Bees in Winter. 



" Bees are summering very nicely in Colorado this winter, thank 

 you." — Rocky Mountain Bee Journal. 



Now see how this wild-and-wooly-west editor doth seek a quarrel 

 with those of us who are wondering whether any of our bees will 

 pull through this never-to-be-forgotten winter. 



MiehiRan Farmers' Institute. 



A brief report of the annual Farmers' Institute, published in the 

 Chicago Record- Herald, has the following; 



Bee-keeping and horticulture were the subjects discussed at the 

 morning session. W. Z. Hutchinson demonstrated that bee-keeping is 

 profitable under proper management. Prof. U. P. Hedrick declared 

 that bees do not injure fruit, as uiany suppose, and that bee-keepers 

 and horticulturists are mutually dependent upon each other. George 

 E. Rowe made the statement that he would not dispose of his bees it 

 they never stored a pound of huney, because of their advantage to 

 fruit. He considered the damage done to bees by the spraying of trees 

 far less than is usually supposed. 



Calling- foF Honey at Hotels, Restaurants, Etc. 



When on the way to the Wisconsin State convention at Madison 

 recently, we had occasion to patronize the dining-car. On the bill of 

 fare we noticed honey. We imiuiied of the courteous waiter, whose 

 honey they were serving. He replied that he did not know, but would 

 see. He stepped to his " pantry," and looking at the label on the jar 

 of honey, he said, " George W. York's." We said we would try some 



