86 



THE BEE-KEEPER'S REVIEW 



Italian Bees and Black Brood. 

 If there was any one point brought out 

 with more emphasis than another at the 

 Naw York conventions, it was the im- 

 portance of having Italian bees in com- 

 bating black brood. One inspector after 

 another got up and stated with emphasis 

 that it was simply impossible to cure 

 black brood with black bees. The first 

 step in getting rid of black brood is to 

 introduce Italian queens to every colony. 

 There are other important points, but as 

 Mr. House is to take up the matter in 

 detail next month, I will leave these to 

 him. 



Constant Watchfulness is needed in the 

 bee business, let the management or 

 system, be what it may. Mr. Townsend 

 and others, advise feeding bees enough 

 feed in the fall to last them to the open- 

 ing of the harvest the next year, and it 

 is good advice, but seasons and conditions 

 vary greatly, and what is sufficient one 

 year falls far short the next. We try to 

 give our bees about the same amount of 

 stores each fall, yet, tha first year we 

 had bees in Northern Michigan, or, rather, 

 the first spring, we had to feed about 

 ten barrels of sugar. The next spring 

 they were short again, but, soon, cherry 

 began to yield, and we did not have to 

 feed. Last winter they consumed not 

 more than half as much honey as usual, 

 hence started in the spring with combs 

 so full of stores that no feeding was 

 needed. The man who takes it for 

 granted that, because he fed his bees in 

 the fall until all had a certain quantity. 

 they will nead no feeding in the spring, 

 may meet with great losses. It is well 

 to see that there is plenty of honey in the 

 combs in the spring, also that some of 

 this honey is in tha central combs, as a 

 prolonged cold spell may keep the bees 

 closely clustered in the center of the hive. 



Moisture in the Bee Cellar. 

 Walter Harmer. of Manistee, Michigan, 

 writes that he is interested in the matter 

 of moisture in the bee cellar. He asks 



that Dr. Cowan tell him what ventilation 

 was given his hives. Mr. Harmer says 

 that with the covers left sealed down 

 tight, there is condensation of water on 

 the under side of the covers, and this 

 furnishes water for the bees, so he 

 ventilates by drawing the cover forward 

 slightly. This does away with the 

 moisture in the hives, but he finds it 

 necessary to supply the bees with 

 moisture. To do this he has sprinkled 

 the floor, also the entrances and tops 

 of the frames. Mr, Harmer says that 

 he doubts if a cellar can be too damp if 

 the temperature is high enough, and the 

 hives well-ventilated; and I am inclined 

 to agree with him. If the temperature 

 is only high enough to warrant it. I 

 believe that a damp atmosphere is really 

 beneficial. 



Moving Bees. 



Only the man who has moved bees, 

 especially by the car load, can truly ap- 

 preciate the article in this issue by Mr. 

 Cavanagh. Yes, and only the man who 

 has "been there" C3uld have written such 

 an article. How it brings up old mem- 

 ories! It is terribly hard and nerve- 

 straining work, yet, as he says, it has 

 about it the spice of adventure, A large 

 share of the pleasure in establishing our 

 apiaries in Northern Michigan came from 

 the adven'urous nature of the under- 

 taking. 



How many excellent points he brings 

 out. For instance, keep the smoker 

 lighted, and don't let the different loads 

 become "bunched," so that escaping bees 

 from one load may attack the teams of 

 another load. Then that improvised 

 squirt gun— truly, necessity is the mother 

 of invention. 



Then there are the delays-at junction 

 points, especially in large cities, where 

 there are hundreds of tracks, acres and 

 acres of cars, and dozens of engines 

 puffing here and there. All seems con- 

 fusion, yet somewhere in the yard, per- 

 haps perched up in a little coop of a 

 building in the air, is one man who con- 



