124 



American Hee Journal 



April, 1913 



^=^^^ ) 



work, and far more honey will be har- 

 vested. If the hives are elevated from 

 their bottoms by means of a "s-inch 

 square strip placed under each side the 

 same length as the hive, it will give 

 good ventilation. This will also check 

 swarming and loafing, or lying outside. 

 Now is also a good time to make arti- 

 ficial increase by dividing the colonies 

 that have started queen cells into two 

 equal parts; if possible leaving the 

 queenless part on the old stand. 



This equal dividing of brood, bees, 

 and honey cures colonies of the swarm- 

 itig impulse, and, as a rule, the two 

 divisions will store more honey than if 

 left undivided. They make the best 

 colonies for the next flow during sum- 

 mer orfall. 



The Orange as a Honey-Plant 



This includes all citrus fruit; the 

 orange, lemon, lime, cumquats, tanger- 

 ines and grape-fruit. This fruit grows 

 extensively in many sections of south- 

 ern Florida, and furnishes abundant 

 pollen and nectar for the thousands 

 of colonies that are located there. 

 In some localities it yields on an aver- 

 age as much as 50 pounds per colony 

 of surplus honey, which is a very light 

 amber, has a heavy body, and very fine 

 flavor. The taste is correspondingly 

 exquisite, with the odor of the blos- 

 soms which cannot be excelled. What 

 adds much to its value as a honey- 

 plant is that it begins blooming in Feb- 

 ruary and lasts for 6 or 8 weeks, cover- 

 ing a period of time when there are no 

 other honey-plants in bloom. 



The bees build up during this flow, 

 and at its close the saw palmetto be- 

 gins blooming. This is the greatest 

 honey producer along the coast of 

 Florida. Aside from its value for 

 honey, it has no equal as a fruit pro- 

 ducer. Take a look at the photograph, 

 and see the trees so laden with the de- 

 licious golden-colored fruit that the 

 limbs rest on the ground. Nothing 

 makes a more beautiful picture to me 

 than groves containing hundreds of 

 acres of this great fruit. The man 

 standing on the right is Mr. E. B. Rood, 

 of Bradentown, Fla. The others are 

 his fruit pickers, rigged up for busi- 

 ness. Mr. Rood is an extensive bee- 

 keeper and fruit grower. Thousands 

 of people come here from all over the 

 United States during the fall and win- 

 ter months and engage in gathering, 

 sorting and packing this fruit. They 

 have a delightful time during the win- 

 ter in this ideal climate, and return the 

 following spring with a heavier purse. 

 Many of them are bee-keepers who 

 appreciate a good thing. 



Eight or Ten Frame Hives? 



Dear Editor: — On page Iti, of the 

 January number, you call me out for 

 preferring 8-frame hives. I do not 

 allow natural swarming, so the size of 

 swarms that may go out is of no con- 

 sideration. Then if you refer back, 

 you will see that an 8-frame hive-body 

 and a regular shallow extracting super 

 compose the brood-nest. Why couldn't 

 I expect even larger swarms than from 

 a regular lO-frame hive ? 



As has been shown, the 10-frame 

 hive-body is too small proportionately, 



I'lCKiNG Citrus Kriit in the soith. 



and is prohibitive of rapid manipula- 

 tion, especially where there is much 

 propolis. Nor does a 10-frame super 

 make an ideal storing department for 

 iny locations, for it takes the bees too 

 long to fill outside frames or sections, 

 and by the time they do, the middle 

 comb is travel stained. Such is not 

 the case with an 8-frame super. It is 

 filled much more quickly and evenly. 

 In some of my locations where there 



is a slow honey-flow, bees store but 

 little if any in the supers above a 10- 

 frame brood-nest, and when they do, 

 they fill a comb at a time, or start on 

 one side and till one section at a time, 

 as if plowing a field. The result is any- 

 thing but satisfactory. I have bees in 

 many different locations in the South. 

 I have tried lH-frame hives in all of 

 them, and they are not satisfactory to 

 me. 



(r\ 



J)iseasesy^Bees. 



Foul Brood 



BY J. E. CR.\XE, 

 l\-rntorn State ins hector. 



The greatest drawback to successful 

 bee-keeping at the present time is t'ott/ 

 brood. There are large areas of our 

 country that are free from disease, and 

 others where there is but little disease; 

 and yet I fear that there is more in 

 many localities than we now suspect. 

 Over most of the northern States in- 

 spectors have been appointed, and are 

 working each in his own way with but 

 moderate success. There have been 

 conventions of inspectors to discuss 

 the best methods of combating the 

 evil. While such gatherings are good, 

 they are often at such a distance that 

 many inspectors find it difficult to at- 

 tend. 



I have been wondering if a depart- 

 ment of one of our bee journals might 

 not be profitably used for the inter- 

 change of opinions among inspectors, 

 for the discussion of many points of 

 interest connected with inspection 

 work. I believe our methods for the 

 production of honey, either comb or 

 extracted, are up to the standard of 

 what they should be, and it is compara- 

 tively easy for one to get information. 



But when it comes to foul brood, es- 



pecially European foul brood, how 

 many questions I should like to ask 

 some person with more experience 

 than myself as to the best method of 

 meeting the various problems that 

 come to an inspector or the enterpris- 

 ing bee-keeper 1 Shall the work of the 

 inspector be educational rather than 

 simply to suppress the disease wherever 

 he may find it ? If the latter I fear it 

 may not prove of much permanent 

 value, as to do so would often destroy 

 every colony in a given district. To 

 teach the bee-keepers how best to com- 

 bat the disease, although slower and re- 

 quiring more patience, may in the long 

 run produce better results. Some re- 

 spect should be paid to the intelli- 

 gence and interest bee-keepers take in 

 the subject themselves. 



Two bills were introduced into our 

 Vermont Legislature during the past 

 session for the suppression of conta- 

 gious diseases among bees. One was 

 an amendment to our present law that 

 made it the duty of the inspector to 

 visit each yard where disease was 

 found, in 20 days from his first visit, 

 and burn every diseased colony found. 

 If he did not do it, he should be re- 

 moved and another inspector ap- 

 pointed in his place. This because it 

 was thought the inspector had not 

 been severe enough. The other bill 



