March, 1911. 



American Vee Journal 



To Pennsylvania Bee-Keepers. — The 



following is for you. Please read, and 

 then heed : 



Pennsylvania Bke-Keei'KRs, Listen ! 



At the last annual convention held in Phil- 

 adelphia last fall, a committee was api^oint- 

 ed to draft a Foul Brood Bill and present it 

 to the legislature. The bill was drawn up 

 and presented to both the State Horticul- 

 tural Society and the State Board of Agri- 

 culture, which were in session in Ilarris- 

 burg at the time. They sent the bill to their 

 respective legislative committees, which re- 

 ported them back favorably, after which it 

 was endorsed by each body. 



The bill was then placed in the hands of 

 Representative Hibshman. who introduced 

 it in the House. Mr. Hibshman is the Chair- 

 man of the Committee on Aijriculture in the 

 House. The bill was carefully drawn and 

 everything possible so far has been done to 

 facilitate its passage. 



We want every bee-keeper in Pennsylva- 

 nia to write to his Representative and Sena- 

 tor who are now at Harrislnirg. and insi' 

 them to vote for this bill. If you do this 

 every member in the legislature will receive 

 a number of letters, and will see the impor- 

 tance of this legislation. We attempted to 

 have a law passed twice before, and failed 

 for some reason or other. Let us win out 

 this time. 



Ur. Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology. 

 Washington. D. C, reports that samples of 

 American foul brood have been sent to him 

 from 18 counties, and European foul brood 

 from 20 counties out of the 67 in this State. 

 A number of counties have not been heard 

 from. This is sufficient evidence for alarm. 

 If we fail to have State inspection, the dis- 

 ease is bound to wipe out our industry. Nino 

 is the time to get busy. W'rilc As soon as 

 you have read this, write a letter to your 

 representatives in each House, and tell 

 them to support the bill. 



Liverpool. Pa. H. C. Ki.inger. 



It may be too late by the time the 

 above is published, for the letters to do 

 any good. Perhaps it would be well to 

 drop a postal card to Mr. Klinger and 

 find out, before writing to the members 

 of the legislature. 



the State, and means must at once be taken 

 for their eradication. 



5th. This bill is recommended by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at Washington by 

 the Agricultural College at Ft. Collins, and 

 by every intelligent bee-keeper in the State. 



6th. Tell all your legislators to support the 

 " Bee-Keepers' Bill." placing the Division of 

 Apiary Inspection and Investigation under 

 the State Entomologist. 



The Colorado State Bee-Keet)ers' Associa- 

 tion is the originator of this bill, and it em- 

 braces the demands of the bee-keepers of 

 the State. 



Urging you to lose no time in writing your 

 senator and representative on this question. 

 I am. Yours for better bee-keeping, 



Boulder, Colo. Weslev Foster, Sic. 



P. S. — This work takes considerable money 

 and the Asssociation needs the help of every 

 bee-keeper, so send in you dollar for ion 

 membership at once, and help along the 

 various things the Association is doing to 

 aid the bee-industry of Colorado. W. F. 



As this letter did not arrive in time 

 for our February number, it may now 

 be too late for the requested letters to 

 do any good. Better ask Mr. Foster 

 before writing to the members of the 

 legislature. 



■*■ 



Mr. J. L. Byer, the conductor of 

 " Canadian Beedom," was very sick in 

 January and February. His trouble 

 was caused by grippe, and culminated 

 in an abcess in the riglit sinus — what 

 the doctors call the depressions in the 

 skull just back of the eyes, we believe. 

 Mr. Byer had a verj serious time of it, 

 but he began to mend early in Febru- 

 ary, and doubtless by this time is al- 

 most as good as new again. We are 

 very glad to report his recovery, and 

 trust, with his hosts of friends, that he 

 may continue in good health. 



"Bee-Keepers' Gazette." — The first 

 number of this new candidate for favor 

 among bee-keepers is to hand. It has 

 the same editor and publisher as the 

 Irish Bee Journal, and to some extent 

 the saine contents. The Gazette, how- 

 ever, will endeavor to cater to the 

 wider circle. It is gotten up in the 

 same fine style as the Irish Bee Journal ; 

 which is saying much for it. 



To Colorado Bee-Keepers. — The Col- 

 orado State Bee-Keepers' Association 

 has sent out the following letter to 

 Colorado bee-keepers: 



Fellow Bee-Keeper:— Write your legis- 

 lator! 



The Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion has a bill before the legislature, now in 

 session, to establish a Division of Apiary In- 

 vestigation and Inspection under the super- 

 vision of the State Entomologist. 



The bill provides for investigations in bee- 

 culture, such as the introduction of nectar- 

 secreting plants, better bred bees, and im- 

 provement in the methods of bee-culture. 

 This is a work that will prove of great value 

 to the State— work that has never been done 

 here, but should have been started years 

 ago. 



Impress these points on the minds of your 

 legislators, and write them at once. 



1st. Centralize the work of inspection, 

 utilizing the machinery of the State F^nto- 

 mologist's ofKce and that of the Agricultural 

 College, and placing this equipment at the 

 disposal of this division. 



2d. It will greatly increase the wealth of 

 the State by increasing the production of 

 honey through the introduction of honey- 

 plants, better bred bees, and better methods. 



id. Hundredsof thousandsof dollars worth 

 of honey are shipped from the Slate every 

 year, besides the great amounts sold in the 

 liome markets. 



4th. Bee-diseases are prevalent throughout 



Foul Brood in the United States. — 



The United States Department of 

 Agriculture sent us the following for 

 publication on the 



Work of Department on Bee-Diseases. 



The honey-bee annually produces a crop 

 of honey estimated at $2o.oou.ooo. and there 

 are vast opportunities for increasing this 

 output. The most serious handicap to bee- 

 keei>ing in the United States is the fact that 

 there are contagious diseases which attack 

 the brood of the honey-bee. There are now 

 recognized two such diseases, known as 

 American foul brood and European foul 

 brood, l-'rom data recently obtained by the 

 United .States Department of Agriculture, it 

 is known that .American foul brood exists 

 in 2H2 counties in x: States, and European 

 foul brood in 160 counties in 24 States, and it 

 is estimated conservatively that these dis- 

 eases are causing a loss to the bee-keeiiers 

 of the United States of at lease $1,000,000 an- 

 nually. This estimate is based on the prob- 

 able value of the colonies which die, and the 

 approximate loss of crop <lue to tlie weak- 

 ened condition of diseased colonies. The 

 .States in which the tiiseases are most prev- 

 lent are California. C'olorado. Illinois. In- 

 diana. Iowa. Kansas. Michigan, Missouri, 

 Nebraska. New Jersey. New York, Ohio, 

 Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin, and it 

 is unfortunate that these arc the .States in 

 which honey-i)roduction is most profitable, 

 making the future outlook of the bee-keep- 

 ing industry so much the worse unless ac- 

 tive measures are taken to control the dis- 

 eases. F'urthermore. the distribution of 

 these diseases is by no means fully known, 

 and they are constantly si^reading. 



The cause of American foul brood has 

 been found by the Department to be a speci- 

 fied bacterium, and enough is known of the 

 cause and nature of European foul brood 

 (which is also a bacterial disease! to make it 

 possible to issue reliable recommendations 

 concerning treatment for both diseases. 

 Both attack the developing brood, and as 

 the adult bees die from old age or other 

 causes, the colony becomes depleted since 

 there are not enough young bees emerging 

 to keep up the numbers. When the colony 

 becomes weak, bees from other colonies 



enter to rob the honey, and the infection is 

 spread. 



Both of these diseases can be controlled 

 with comparative ease by the progressive 

 bee-keeper, but the chief difficulty encoun- 

 tered in combating these diseases is the fact 

 that the majority of bee-keepers are un- 

 aware that any such diseases exist; they, 

 therefore, often attribute their losses to 

 otfier sources, and nothing is done to pre- 

 vent the spread of the infection. It is 

 therefore necessary in most cases to point 

 out the existence and nature of the dis- 

 eases, as well as to spread information con- 

 cerning the best methods of treatment. Sev- 

 eral States have passed laws providing for 

 the inspection of apiaries for disease, and 

 the bee-keepers in other States are asking 

 for the same protection, so that careless or 

 ignorant bee-keepers can be prevented from 

 endangering their neighbor's bees. This in- 

 spection is a beneht in the spread of infor- 

 mation concerning disease, in so far as the 

 inspectors can cover the territory. The De- 

 partment of Agriculture is helping in this 

 work by sending out publications to the 

 bee-keepers in infected regions, by examin- 

 ing samples of brood suspected of disease, 

 and by sending out information concerning 

 the presence of disease, so that bee-keepers 

 will be informed that their apiaries are in 

 danger. The co-operation of agricultural 

 colleges. State bee-keepers' associations, 

 and other similar agencies is being urged. 



In view of the fact that these diseases are 

 so widespread, every person interested in 

 bee-keeping should find out as soon as pos- 

 sible how to recognize and treat these mala- 

 dies, and be on the lookout for them. A pub- 

 lication containing a discussion of the na- 

 ture of these diseases and their treatment 

 will be sent on request to the Department 

 of Agriculture. 

 U. S. Department of Acriculture. 



Division uf Publications, 

 Jos. a. Arnold, Editor and Chief. 



Washington, D. C. Dec. 6. igio. 



We imagine that few of our readers 

 realize the extent and importance of 

 the work the Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington, D. C, is doing in the 

 interest of bee-keepers. Surely the 

 most hearty co-operation on the part 

 of the bee-keepers themselves should 

 be given so that the results to be ob- 

 tained by the efforts of the Department 

 may be of the largest service to the in- 

 dustry of bee-keeping. The Depart- 

 ment is anxious to do its part, and 

 without e.xpense to bee-keepers, in 

 whatever will be of most value and aid 

 to bee-culture. 



Shiber's Honey-Strainer. — Geo. Shi- 

 ber has a plan that seems well worth 

 trying. He says in Gleanings : 



Over the top of my tank I place a sheet of 

 wire-cloth, same as that used on windows, 

 and tie it tightly around the top with strong 

 cord, at the same time pressing it down in 

 the middle. Over this I put one end of a 5- 

 yard length of white cheesecloth, the part 

 not in use rolled up at the side of the tank. 

 Warm honcv will go through this rapidly 

 when the cloth is clean, but, of course, it 

 soon gets clogged. Just as soon as this hap- 

 pens we pull the cloth along, bringing a new 

 clean surface over the tank, and then roll up 

 the clogged portion on the other side of the 

 tank. When one vyard piece is used up we 



gut another one in its place. We never 

 other with the old cloth again, nor try to 

 clean it for furtherstraining. 



Melting Injures Honey in Cappings. — 



W. A. Chrysler says in the Canadian 

 Bee Journal : 



All honev. when melted with cappings or 

 comb, will take on the llavor and the color 

 that wax. smoker-smoke, and probably other 

 minor substances, such as travel-stain, etc.. 

 will give it. Overheating has been suggested 

 many times as being the cause of darkening 

 the honey and affecting its flavor. From my 

 experience I am thoroughly satisfied that 

 the honey will be darkened in color and 

 changed in Havor even if not overheated. 



Unless cappings can be in some way press- 

 ed cold, we may always expect capping 

 honey necessarily to be kept separate from 

 our other honey, and sold on its merits. 



