mm 





7^ 



(Entered as second-class matter July 30, 19C7, at the Poat-Offlce at Chicago, III., under Act ot March 3, 1879.) 



Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, 117 North JeKerson Street, 



GEORGE W. YORK. Editor 



DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL, SEPTEMBER, 1911 



Vol. LI -No. 9 



Editorial 



Comments 



European Foul Brood in 1911 



In the season of 1911, European foul 

 brood showed itself in 41 colonies of 

 my 116. I have no means of knowing 

 how many cases were a home product, 

 and how many were from diseased 

 colonies around me. There were no very 

 bad cases. In most of them there were 

 only a few bad cells — perhaps only a 

 cell or two. In the worst case there 

 was probably not 10 percent of the 

 brood aflfected. 



All colonies were very strong, and I 

 expected the disease to disappear in 

 those colonies that were least affected. 

 But it did not do so, except in one case. 

 Perhaps that was because of the very 

 severe dearth, as the summer of 1911 

 was one of the worst for drouth and 

 dearth of honey that I ever experi- 

 enced. In spite of that the colonies 

 were very strong, so that I had no 

 anxiety about doubling or strengthen- 

 ing, for a very important part of the 

 treatment for European foul brood is 

 to make very strong each colony to be 

 treated. No use to try to do anything 

 with a poor, little, discouraged colony. 



The queens did not appear affected 

 as in previous years. That was prob- 

 ably because the cases were not very 

 bad. In a bad case the queen appears 

 sluggish, and not worth saving. Likely 

 she is not really diseased by the foul- 

 brood microbe, but living in such sur- 

 roundings her general health suffers. 

 At any rate, it did not seem necessary 

 to replace the queens, and so, with few 

 exceptions the queens were caged and 

 left with the colony, generally with the 

 cage stuck in the entrance. In a week 

 to 12 flays— generally in 10 days — the 

 queen was released, and 10 days later 

 the colony was found to be "clean." 



There were, however, 5 cases in 

 which the disease returned after treat- 

 ment, but appearing all right after sec- 

 ond treatment. 



With my present knowledge of Eu- 

 ropean foul brood, I would in ail mild 



cases repeat the same treatment where- 

 ever a good, vigorous queen was pres- 

 ent — that is, cage the queen for about 

 10 days and then free her. In more 

 severe cases I would destroy the queen, 

 and at the same time give a ripe queen- 

 cell or a virgin just hatched. Or, give 

 a young laying queen after 10 days of 

 queenlessness. And in general the 

 young queen given should be of pure 

 Italian stock, as being more vigorous 

 than common stock. 



Let it be clearly understood, however, 

 that this refers only to the European 

 variety of foul brood. For American 

 foul brood it will not prove eflfective. 



C. C. M. 



Prevention of Kobbiiig AnioiiK' 

 Bee.s 



To stop a case of robbing when well 

 under way is not an easy thing. Any 

 fool can start it. It may not be neces- 

 sary to give a full set of rules for start- 

 ing robbing, but it may be well to 

 name a few of the things that are likely 

 to prove successful. Then the beginner 

 will know what to avoid. 



To make a sure thing of starting 

 robbing, better take it at a time when 

 no nectar is to be had in the field. 

 When bees have all they can do in the 

 field and more to, it sometimes takes 

 something of a genius to start them at 

 robbing. At the close of the harvest is 

 a good time. Even in the midst of the 

 harvest, if because of rain or for any 

 other reason the bees stop gathering, 

 they are always in the humor for rob- 

 bing. 



Leave a frame of brood or honey 

 standing outside for a time, and it may 

 start a case of robbing at the other end 

 of the yard. A robber — and at such a 

 time any bee may be a robber — gets a 

 load of honey from the exposed comb, 

 takes it home, and the word seems to 

 be passed around that honey is to be 

 had, and then others start out. In some 

 way other colonies are aroused; pos- 



sibly the noise of the robbers attracts 

 the bees of other colonies. At any rate 

 in a little while there is excitement all 

 over the apiary, and bees will be seen 

 trying to crowd into cracks about the 

 hives where there is no possibility of 

 their entering. 



At a time when bees are inclined to 

 rob, any change in the appearance of 

 hives seems to attract the attention of 

 the bees. An opening at the back of 

 the hive may not attract the least atten- 

 tion if it has been there all summer, 

 but let it be made afresh and the rob- 

 bers at once consider it a proper sub- 

 ject for investigation. If a beginner 

 should do such an unwise thing as to 

 start a nucleus in a time of scarcity, an 

 attack is likely to be made upon it. It 

 seems to be a little like the new boy at 

 school, who seems to be a target for all 

 until he settles down in his proper 

 place. 



In a time of scarcity, when a hive is 

 opened, if robbers appear upon the 

 scene, darting at the combs as they are 

 lifted out, let the operator go right on, 

 opening hive after hive with no pre- 

 caution whatever, and he may surely 

 count on developing a case of robbing 

 that may end only with the destruction 

 of one or more colonies. 



The wise bee-keeper, however, will 

 look out for the beginnings, scrupu- 

 lously avoiding all exposure of honey. 

 If work must be done at the hives, he 

 may keep the hive as much as possible 

 covered with a cloth, perhaps slightly 

 saturated with carbolic acid, preferring 

 to work late in the day, so that dark- 

 ness may close any incipient tendency 

 to robbing. 



Sale liitroUuctioii of Queens 



There is one way of introducing 

 queens that is absolutely safe. Take 

 two or more frames of brood and put 

 them in an upper story over a strong 

 colony, with an excluder to prevent 

 the queen going up. In about 8 days 

 all the brood will be sealed, and if the 

 brood has been of all ages some of it 

 will be hatching out. The ideal thing 

 would be to have all the brood sealed 

 ') days before putting up the brood. Of 

 course, it is impossible to have all the 

 brood in that condition, but the nearer 

 it comes to it the better. At the end of 



