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Eniered at the Post-OflBce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 

 PiibliKlied 'tVeekly a.t iiil.OO a Year hy CJeorg-e W. Vork <& Co., 3S4 l»earl>oi-n iSt. 



QEOROE W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL, AUG, 4, 1904. 



Vol, XLIV— No, 31, 



c 



Editorial Comments 





Sending Samples by Mail. 



Probably not otie bee-keeper in ten who sends samples 

 of bees or brood by mail packs them properly. A bee will 

 be sent in a letter, mashed beyond recognition. A piece of 

 comb containing^ diseased brood will be sent in a slight 

 pasteboard box that succumbs to the pressure in the mail- 

 bags. A tin box is the best in which to send brood, 

 although wood will answer. Do not send a small piece of 

 brood in a large box to rattle around and become mashed 

 into a pulp in hot weather. If the piece of brood does not 

 exactly fill the box, pack cotton or newspaper about it so 

 that it can not move. Foul brood inspectors will appreciate 

 this. 



Is Your Own Honey Market Supplied ? 



A good many bee-keepers are hardly as much awake as 

 they should be to the possibilities of their home market. It 

 might be worth while for each one to do just a little figur- 

 ing to see whether the people who live in his own place 

 consume as much honey each year as do the people who live 

 in Mr. N. E. France's city. About 14,000 pounds of extracted 

 and 700 of comb for 3500 people — those are the figures. 

 That makes 4 1/5 pounds for each man, woman, and child ; 

 4200 pounds for each 1000 people. If that much is not sold 

 in your place, don't you believe you could do something to 

 bring it about ? Mr. France's neighbors ought not to be 

 honey-eaters above all others ; can not your neighbors be 

 brought up to their level ? 



Qetting a Bee=lnspector Law. 



We have received the following question concerning 

 the procedure to follow in order to secure a State law on 

 bee-diseases, and the appointment of bee inspectors : 



American Bee Journal— 



Can you give me any instructions as to how to institute 

 a law to have a bee-inspector in this State ? We have sonic- 

 poor bees and foul brood ; I got it from an old bee-keeper, 

 though he claims it is not in the State. I called three old 

 bee-men, and they all looked at it but did not know, but I 

 did by the description, and burned everything, so as not to 

 take any chances. Yours truly, 



Leon E. Miner. 



Perhaps the plans followed by Illinois and Ohio are as 

 good as any, which, in brief, are as follows : 



The principal bee-keepers" associations in each of the 

 States named started the ball rolling by getting some mem- 



ber of the legislature to introduce a bill, which was then 

 referred to the proper committee. 



After that all the beekeepers of the State were urged 

 to flood not only the members of the committee to which 

 the bill had been referred, but also all the other members of 

 the legislature, with letters requesting them to give their 

 support to the bill whenever it came up. 



Minnesota can have this necessary law, if the bee-keep- 

 ers of that State will go after it during the next session of 

 their State legislature. 



Bees Mixing in Hives. 



It is well known that drones are freebooters, and will 

 enter any colony willing to tolerate drones of its own. It is 

 not so well understood, especially among beginners, that 

 there is more or less mixing of workers. A loaded bee, re- 

 turning from the field, is blown to the ground in front of 

 some hive other than its own, and crawls in. By this and 

 other means there is more mixing than might be suspected. 

 It is important in some cases that this should be understood. 

 A queen has been bought for pure Italian, perhaps, and the 

 purchaser doubts her purity because he finds among her 

 progeny at a time when they should no longer be there, 

 bees that are undoubtedly black. Unless he finds these 

 among the downy babies that have just crawled out of their 

 cells, he can hardly be sure that they did not come from 

 other colonies. 



Expert Opinion on Diseased-Brood Samples. 



Subjects for consideration in the department of "Dr. 

 Miller's Answers " take a very wide range, and there is no 

 desire to limit that range, even if it sometimes obliges the 

 Doctor to fall back on the reserve answer, "I don't know." 

 To this, however, there is one exception ; the Doctor is not, 

 and does not pretend to be, an expert in diseases of brood, 

 as foul brood, pickled brood, and black brood. No matter 

 how well read he may be on the subject, he has not had the 

 experience of the man who has become an expert by seeing 

 and treating hundreds of cases. In a matter involving such 

 serious results, it is of the first importance that a bee- 

 keeper who finds some suspicious appearance in the brood 

 of some colony or colonies should know as positively, and 

 as soon as possible, just what the trouble is, and how it is 

 to be treated. For lack of this expert knowledge severe 

 loss has been sustained by the destruction of colonies when 

 no contagion was present ; in other cases still greater loss 

 has occurred because the disease was allowed to spread for 

 want of the proper treatment. 



If you have suspicion that fcml brood, or either of the 

 other brood diseases, has thrust its unwelcome presence 

 upon you, don't waste time by .isking Dr. Miller about it, 

 but at once send a sample of the diseased brood to one of 



