March, iQri. 



American ^gc JoarnaJj 



ment derived from our apiary wori<. These 

 " experiences" have a decidedly exhilerat- 

 ing effect on the reader; the successes malte 

 us ache to " ko and do likewise " (and. if pos- 

 sible—one better! Or. if it's embarassment 

 and disaster, we talie the lesson home and 

 avoid it. or we are warned. 



I was much exercised last season over the 

 foul-brood problem; for the reason that our 

 heaviest bee-man in this section has lost, 

 and still is losing, severely from this pest. 

 Recently I have learned that in the season 

 of IQ08 his bees began to be troubled with 

 foul brood, and that in iooq it began north of 

 us, via Ogdensburg. Malone, and so on to 

 Champlain; and toward the last of the past 

 summer (loio) it reached us within 2 miles; 

 so f'm shivering over my probable fate this 

 year, and one reason for this talk is to get 

 your advice concerning what my "ounce of 

 prevention ' is to be. 



This big bee-man had nearly 400 colonies 

 in out-yardswithin a radius of about 8 miles. 

 He lost about 100 colonies in loog and last 

 year less than too were left, and he feels sure 

 the spring will show up a still further big 

 deticit. Another farmer— the one but 2 miles 

 from me— has lost his entire apiary of some 

 30 colonies. 



I've read very carefully the December 

 article on foul brood in the American Bee 

 Journal, but would like to know if there is 

 anything I can do as a prevention beyond ex- 

 amining the combs faithfully, and promptly 

 stamping the disease out as soon as discov- 

 ered by burning the combs or disinfecting 

 them. 



" Clovernook Apiary " has always been so 

 healthy in all its 30 years of existence, and 

 we had such a grand honey record last sea- 

 son, that it Quite breaks the Mistress' heart 

 to contemplate what she is liable to face in 

 nastiness this year. 



I have never read the cause of foul brood 

 explained; but have supposed it due to un- 

 sanitary conditions somewhere in the neigh- 

 borhood of the bees. For example, our big 

 bee-man's home yard was near his cider- 

 press, where the bees had access to an im- 

 mense amount of all sorts of decaying pulp. 

 We had a creamery near us where the re- 

 fuse, and in fact an immense amount of all 

 sorts of decayed matter, was dumped into 

 our river washing the foot of Clovernook, 

 and where our bees drank. I would like to 

 know if unsanitary conditions do endanger 

 bees as well as hum.tn and animal life. 



Again. I've never read exactly how foul 

 brood is disseminated, and will be glad to 

 know if my theory as fol low's is correct: 



I have judged that the food for the larvae 

 held the germ of the disease (gathered as 

 iust suggested), and death and corruption 

 ensued. The bees crawling over the infected 

 sections carried out into the Held on their 

 hairy legs the poison which tainted every 

 blossom into which they crawled, for the 

 undoing of the next bee alighting there. 



Am I correct ? Is this how the contagion 

 spreads? and would it do any good to keep 

 the entrance-boards of every hive and the 

 combs washed with antiseptics ? If so, what 

 antiseptic would be best? 



Chazy, N. Y. Frances E. Wheeler. 



Bee-keepers in this country do not 

 make use of any preventive ineasures 

 against foul brood, unless it be to keep 

 all colonies strong. In England it is 

 the practice to use drugs by way of 

 prevention. Cowan's " British Bee- 

 Keeper's Guide-Book " says : 



" Nar)hthalinc in balls is generally used; 

 two of these split in half being the proper 

 dose. The pieces are placed on the floor- 

 board of the hive in the corner farthest 

 from the entrance. The temperature of the 

 hive causes the naphthaline to evaporate, 

 and it must therefore be renewed as re- 

 Quired. All syrup used for feeding should 

 also be medicated with naphthol beta." 



But in this country it is the general 

 belief that drugs are useless. Many 

 here are emphatic in the belief that 

 Italians resist the encroachments of the 

 disease much better than blacks, and 

 for those that have blacks or hybrids it 

 might be said that Italianizing is a pre- 

 ventive measure. 



Although scientists are none too well 

 agreed as to just what particular bacil- 

 lus causes the disease, all are agreed 



that the disease is due to the presence 

 of a bacillus. Without the presence of 

 that bacillus no amount of uncleanli- 

 ness or unsanitary conditions can pro- 

 duce foul brood, any more than a field 

 of corn-plants can be grown without 

 having grains of corn as seed. Indi- 

 rectly, unsanitary conditions may have 

 something to do with favoring the ad- 

 vancement of foul brood lY the germs 

 of the disease — the bacilli — are present. 

 No, it is not believed that the disease 

 is carried by the feet of the bees, nor 

 that the flowers have any part in its 

 dissemination. It is believed that a 

 healthy colony " catches " the disease 

 by carrying honey from a diseased col- 



ony, the honey containing some of the 

 bacilli. 



It will be well for j-ou to inform your- 

 self in advance as to whether the dis- 

 ease that threatens you is American 

 foul brood or European, After brood- 

 rearing begins in the spring, if you or 

 the bee-keeper who has the disease will 

 send a piece of comb containing dis- 

 eased brood to Dr. E. F. Phillips, De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Washington, 

 D. C, he will give you, without cost, 

 information as to what the disease 

 really is. If you write him in advance, 

 he will send you a proper package in 

 which to mail the comb, as also a frank 

 to pay the postage. 



Far Western ^ Bee-Keeping 



Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder, Colo. 



The Weather and the Bees. 



We had such warm weather in Jan- 

 uary that the maples came out in 

 bloom, and for a week or 10 days the 

 bees were busy carrying in pollen. 

 This has been a strange winter — 

 scarcely any snow, and the last pollen 

 I saw brought in, in the fall, was Dec. 

 10. That is not fall, but it was fall 

 weather, all right. And in spite of this 

 open winter, we did have a few days in 

 early January when the thermometer 

 registered 18 degrees below zero. Our 

 position on the east side of the moun- 

 tains, snuggled right up against the 

 foothills, where Boulder canyon flat- 

 tens out into Boulder valley, is one that 

 is well protected, and gets the full 

 benefit of the sun's rays. But the high 

 range to the west of us has stormy, 

 wintry clouds hovering over it most of 

 the time, and it is not an uncommon 

 thing for these storms to send out lit- 

 tle runners that enthrall us for a few 

 days in a genuine winter cold-snap. 



Bee-Territory in the West 



If we could just get up above the 

 earth high enough so that we could see 

 the area of cultivated land in compari- 

 son with the uncultivated prairies, 

 mountain slopes, etc., here in the West 

 — say of Colorado, New Mexico, Ari- 

 zona, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Ne- 

 vada — I think we would get a new con- 

 ception of this country. Why! the cul- 

 tivated and irrigated land would be so 

 small in area that we could see only 

 little spots here and there of green 

 alfalfa fields and orchards. We would 

 see a thin, narrow ribbon hardly dis- 

 cernible from our great height, where 

 the Arkansas River valley lies with its 

 great wealth of agricultural products 

 when viewed at closer range. Then 

 farther to the north we could see a 

 larger spot of green, which would be 

 the northern Colorado district, the 

 largest area of irrigated land in one 

 body in the United States. Toward the 

 western part of the State, on the west- 

 ern slope of the mountains, would be 

 found a good many fine tracings, and 



these are the narrow valleys which are 

 under a high state of cultivation, but 

 small in extent except when taken in 

 the aggregate. Not one-twentieth of 

 the State would be seen under cultiva- 

 tion. 



Looking over farther west we would 

 see most of Utah a dry, barren waste 

 of mountain range and sage-brush 

 plain ; but here and there would be 

 spots of green and a few narrow green 

 ribbon-like valleys, wider in some 

 places and very narrow in others. In 

 the whole view below us would be 

 found these round and oblong and 

 every shaped green spots interspersed 

 with fine ribbons of valleys. We would 

 see some fairly large spots in Idaho. 

 smaller ones in Wyoming, and here and 

 there some in Arizona and New Mex- 

 ico. If we were comparing this great 

 expanse with the Eastern States we 

 would find it to be pretty dry. 



After getting such a comprehensive 

 view as this we would realize that the 

 larger part of the West will always re- 

 main unprofitable as bee-range, but 

 there are new fields for the bee-keeper 

 being opened up all the time, and these 

 make room for new ones every year. 

 The Western States never will have 

 the close cultivation that the Middle 

 States have, Taut the land that is brought 

 under tillage takes first place among 

 any competitors. These little valleys 

 are all different; they each have their 

 special crop for which they are re- 

 nowned. Grand valley has its peaches 

 and apples ; the Arkansas valley its 

 cantaloupes, etc. ; but they all grow 



alfalfa. 



^-•-» 



The Colorado State Convention 



In spite of the failure of tlie honey 

 crop throughout northern Colorado a 

 goodly number of bee-keepers from 

 this part of the State were at the con- 

 vention. The southern part of the 

 State was represented by several bee- 

 men, and also several came from the 

 western slope. The meeting was a 

 success in every way, and the work 

 outlined, if carried out, will certainly 

 aid the bee-industry of the State very 

 materially. 



