Jan. 3, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



work of the bees, but a sagging of the cells in combs of 

 foundation caused by heat. I have seen this in a few 

 instances. But in order to convince me that the bees actu- 

 ally tore down worker-comb to rebuild drone-comb in its 

 place, it would be necessary that the test be made with old 

 worker-comb, in which there could be no prospect of sag- 

 ging- 



But I am running away from my task as narrator and 

 falling into arguments. 



Another subject discust, which seems to be of great 

 interest the world over, was that of foul-brood, and it ap- 

 peared to me that, in Europe as well as in America, many 

 so-called cases of foul-brood are only accidental cases of 

 chilled brood. I say this because I was told by a French 

 bee-keeper that he had had foul brood among his bees, but 

 it had disappeared without his having to do anything for it. 

 And two or three bee-keepers got up in the meeting and 

 asserted that foul-brood was not so dangerous a disease as 

 it had been reported to be, and one man ridiculed all the 

 writers who advise such strong measures against it, but the 

 interruptions and laughing of the majority showed him 

 that he had no hope of convincing them. Several leading 

 men, on the other hand, advised fire and boiling water as 

 the only sure remedies for the true foul-brood, which is evi- 

 dently a scourge the world over. 



Another subject, which has perhaps more importance 

 for the European than it has for us, was the creating of 

 apiarian classes in schools and colleges. I say that it has 

 more importance over there, because so great a proportion 

 of the population does not seek information, as our farmers 

 do here, thru the daily papers and agricultural press. But 

 it has importance for us, nevertheless, for it would be use- 

 ful to have, not only our bee-keepers, but all classes, 

 informed, superlicially at least, upon the natural history of 

 the honey-bee, its role in nature, and the need of its culti- 

 vation. 



I had an occasion of ascertaining the total ignorance of 

 some of our average American citizens on this subject, dur- 

 ing our return trip to America, on shipboard. To pass 

 away idle hours, the passengers got up an evening enter- 

 tainment at which each one was required to say, or sing, 

 something for the entertainment of the others, under pen- 

 alty of the payment of SI, 00 into the sailors' orphans' fund, 

 and they had me down on the program for a talk on bees. 

 I did the best I could, and the few words that I spoke led to 

 more questions than I could have answered in a week, and 

 some of these questions were decidedly foolish. 



Mr. Editor, I hope you will excuse me, but it seems I 

 can not avoid tumbling out of my subject. I was quietly 

 taking notes among bee-keepers, at Paris, and here I am, 

 on the ocean, sailing home before time. 



This question of teaching bee-culture is fast being 

 solved everywhere. When I visited the old city of my birth 



Apiary in IVas/ioe County, Xevacla. 



— and I may tell you something about this by and by — I en- 

 tered the doors of the old college in companv with the 

 treasurer of the college, who was also entrusted with a 

 school of apiculture in this institution, and on his desk I 

 found a French copy of "The Hive and Honey-Bee." It 

 seems that everywhere they are trying to push the educa- 

 tion of the peasants on all agricultural subjects. This is 

 sure to bring results sooner or later. 



A Summer of Bee-Keeping in Nevada— Alfalfa. 



BY J. T. HAMMERSMAKK. 



IT was on a dark, dismal evening in June that I stept 

 off a train in the cozy little city of Reno, situated in the 

 mountains a few miles east of the border-line of Califor- 

 nia. Altho we are in mountains, so to speak, still we 

 are in a valley 10 by 15 miles entirely surrounded by moun- 

 tains. This and some of the neighboring valleys are very 

 fertile, where water is to be had, but where it is lacking 

 sage-brush and jack rabbits hold the fort. Some few scat- 

 tering scrub pine trees are to be seen on the mountains. 

 This is all that is left of what used to be a great forest some 

 years ago. The valley is well populated with thrifty and 

 well-to-do ranchers, cattle and sheep men, and bee-keepers. 

 It is about the latter class and their industry that I will give 

 a short sketch. 



The bee-keeper's calendar here is just the same as in 

 the Eastern States. We begin our work about the 1st of 

 April and finish up about Oct. 1st, or as soon thereafter as 

 possible. We are not troubled here with the wintering 

 problem, as bees winter well on the summer stands. A 

 great deal of alfalfa is grown here. Two crops of hay are 

 cut each season from this source and the third crop is sold 

 for fall pasture to men who turn their herds and flocks on 

 these fields, which are in a few da3's grazed to the ground. 

 Our source of honey is alfalfa. It is a very prolific yielder 

 when the conditions are just right. It is something like 

 white clover and basswood in regard to the amount of nec- 

 tar it secretes; some years it yields more nectar than others, 

 still it is not so subject to short and uncertain crops as the 

 above-mentioned, and many other nectar-yielding plants of 

 the East. One is always sure of a crop altho it may not be 

 more than 40 to SO pounds per colony some seasons. The 

 average yield for 2U years, 1 feel safe to say, would not be 

 less than 100 pounds per colony of comb honey. This is 

 judging from past records. 



The past season Mr. Hash's crop was 30,000 pounds of 

 comb and extracted honey, being the smallest yield per col- 

 ony he has had in 20 years, and this was an average of 50 

 pounds per colony. Some people have askt me since my re- 

 turn to Chicago, if their alfalfa honey is of good flavor. 

 To this query I can say, yes. 

 The alfalfa honey of this 

 region is preferred to that of 

 California by buyers. In my 

 estimation it comes next to 

 pure white clover honey, if I 

 have any preference at all. 



But we have our troubles 

 here, even if we get lots of the 

 best honey produced. Think 

 of a ride on the cars from Chi- 

 cago, for instance, from three 

 to four days, first thru our fer- 

 tile neighboring States, then 

 over the vast desert of waste 

 land and mountains of the far 

 West. However, this would 

 not be so bad if the railroad 

 company did not charge you a 

 small fortune to get there. 

 Then, our freight charges are 

 something awful. Suppose I 

 order a carload of bee-fixtures 

 from the East to be laid down 

 in Reno, Nev. My goods go no 

 further than Reno, but the 

 company charges me with 

 freight to San Francisco, and 

 back freight again to Reno. 

 < )f course, they are the big fish 

 and I am of the little fish, and 

 during the present state of 

 political corruption, and as 

 long as the men who make our 



