THE bEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



«39 



are equipped for comb honey production 

 would do well, therefore, not to change 

 for the present. 



A number of wideawake American bee- 

 keepers, have j^one to Cuba durinj^ the 

 past year. They report foul brood as be- 

 ing very prevalent there; and now comes 

 a letter in the American Bee Journal for 

 Feb'y. 15th, from G. Rockenbeck, who 

 went lo Cuba last fall, and, at a point 

 about 250 miles east of Havana, started 

 in to try and cure a diseased apiary be- 

 longin>,f to one M. J. Carbo. He tried all 

 the metliods in use in this country for the 

 eradication of the disease but failed in 

 eve'-y instance. In one of his concluding 

 sentences, he says; "I don't believe there 

 is a single individual in the United States 

 to-day; who can cure foul brood here (in 

 Cuba) by drugs or starvation." With 

 such reports as these coming in, we 

 American bee-kee^jers are not going to 

 Cuba so fast as we were; and the ques- 

 tion of Cuban honey competition is not so 

 important as it was; but here is a question 

 of importance : If it is true, as stated, 

 that foul brood of a very malignant type 

 is so generally prevalent in Cuba, is it 

 right to allow honey from thai island to 

 come into the I'liited Slates at all, while 

 such a stale of affairs exists, and while we 

 are doing what we can to eradicate the 

 disease, possibly in a milder form, from 

 our own country ? It seems to me it 

 would be best for all concerned to ex- 

 clude it, yes, belter for the Cubans them- 

 selves, because, it may turn out that the 

 best and cheapest way in which to get rid 

 of the disease in Cuba is lo burn up every 

 thing that could possibly retain the in- 

 fection, and start new with slocks import- 

 ed from healthy districts in the United 

 States. Therefore, if Cuba is to look to 

 us for healthy bees with which to restock 

 her apiaries, she does not want to do any 

 thing to impair our chances of being able 

 to furnish such stock. 



Turning from Cuba lo our own country, 

 one would be led, from reading the re- 

 ports of conventions in certain places, to 

 conclude that the absence of foul brood 



in an apiary is the exception in that coun- 

 try. I, for one, would not like to see any 

 honey from those parts brought into the 

 district where I am keeping bees. But it 

 would not do to say anything about ex- 

 cluding Western honey, or there would 

 be a big kick. There are large districts 

 in Wisconsin where foul brood has never 

 been known and our efficient inspector 

 reports uniform success in curing up dis- 

 eased apiaries. What we want are uniform 

 laws in all the States for the suppression 

 of foul brood, and, especially, laws en- 

 acted to prevent the sale and transporta- 

 tion of bees or honey from hives that are 

 known to be infected. I said "hives" 

 but would it do to say "apiaries ?' ' In this 

 matter of fighting foul brood, and its new- 

 ly named relative, black brood, preven- 

 tion should receive attention as well as 

 cure; and the individual bee-keeper who 

 has diseased bees should sacrifice some 

 present benefit to the general future good. 

 If he is not willing to do this, it may ap- 

 pear in the future that he should be com- 

 pelled to do so. We all know that there 

 is danger of spreading the disease if hon- 

 ey from infected apiaries is shipped to 

 another locality. During the summer 

 months a barrel of such honey left on a 

 freight platform for ten minutes might be 

 the means of spreading disease in a new 

 district and cause an endless amount of 

 loss and trouble. But enough of this for 

 the present. 



I think J. H. Martin in the Review, 

 has placed the tall section question in just 

 the right light. I never intended to op- 

 pose tall sections as such, but I am op- 

 posed to such extravagant claims as have 

 been put forth for them as to the yield of 

 honey and their readier sale. If there is 

 an advantage in a taller section why not 

 make it 4 '4 by 5 inches as suggested by 

 Mr. Shrader in Gleanings of Feb'y. 15th, 

 then all our old supers could be used by 

 nailing on a rim to make them enough 

 deeper. If such a section were no more 

 than i>2 inches wide and used with fen- 

 ces, it would ordinarily hold a great full 

 pound, and would, I think, be a success; 



