October, 191 1. 



American Hee Journal 



successfully treating the ailments of 

 bees. 



I have been asked the question by a 

 very worthy and successful bee-keeper 

 residing in Wisconsin, why it is that in 

 the presence of a good foul brood law 

 in that State there is still foul brood 

 there, getting in its deadly work. 



In answering this question, I do not 

 deem it improper to ask another ques- 

 tion as a partial answer: Why is it 

 that we still have smallpo.x, in the pres- 

 ence of vaccination and quarantine 

 work, which is so rigidly called into 

 requisition for the express purpose of 

 stamping it out? All will answer with- 

 out hesitation that in tlie absence of a 

 quarantine law rigidly enforced, we 

 would have much more of this dread 

 disease, as well as many more deaths. 

 In the case of foul brood, I have not 

 the remotest idea that it will ever be 

 exterminated in North .■\merica, but 

 with a strong law, strictly enforced, 

 there is nothing more certain than that 

 the ravages of this, as well as other bee- 

 ailments, can be very much and very 

 profitably held in check, while, if per- 

 mitted to go on uninterrupted, bee- 

 keeping would be a thing of the past 

 within a few years. In the case of hog 

 cholera among swine, and glanders 

 among horses, these ailments have been 

 successfully stamped out in any locality 

 where they are met with and c'ombatted 

 by competent persons. 



In this particular there is much to 

 be learned by practical bee-keepers, as 

 but very few have had practical expe- 

 rience in treating foul brood, and the 

 same is true concerning the matter of 

 diagnosing the disease. I wish to 

 state here that in treating foul brood, 

 especially of the American tvpe, no 

 sort of slipshod method is admissible ; 

 such, for instance, as using supers 

 from infected colonies that are partly 

 filled with comb and honey, or comb 

 without any honey. lam fully aware 

 that it is claimed, and probably cor- 

 rectly, that the Bacillus alvei, or Ameri- 

 can foul brood germ, is found in the 

 honey only; but it has not been dem- 

 onstrated that even the smallest parti- 

 cle of honey never gets into a super 

 while removing it from the infected 

 colony; and until this has been proven 

 beyond all doubt or question, I shall 

 insist that it is the safest plan to remove 

 every vestige of comb, wax or founda- 

 tion entirely away from the hive of an 

 infected colony, and melt or burn it. 

 Of late I adopted the practice of burn- 

 ing combs, honey, and frames, thus 

 making sure the germs of the pest 

 which must make the cure and end of 

 the disease certain. But in doing this, 

 care must be observed in taking the 

 honey and combs from the colony, as 

 in case one bee fills its sac with infected 

 honey and joins another colony (which 

 it often does), the colony it'joins is 

 certain to become infected. 



The safest method to adopt in re- 

 moving the comb andhoney.is to close 

 the hive of a diseased colony at night, 

 when all the bees are in, and remove it 

 a mile or more away from the apiary 

 and treat them, and after 48 hours give 

 them full sheets of comb foundation, 

 and return them to their old stand in 

 the apiary. In case the colonv is a 

 weak one, better destroy it, and burn 

 the honey and combs as already rec- 



ommended, in most cases, for I can not 

 be led to underrate the amount of harm 

 that may, and often does, come to an 

 apiary in trying to practice economy 

 by saving infected honev and comb 

 filled with it. Bees are so active in the 

 matter of searching for liquid si^eets 

 that they will often "steal a march," 

 and succeed in getting a drop of dis- 

 eased honey when we least expect it, 

 or think it even possible for them to 

 gain access to it. 



Now, fellow bee-keepers, the fore- 

 going harmonizes with my experience, 

 which, during the last 4 years, has 

 given me more disappointment than 

 pleasure in bee-keeping. But I shall 

 make my treatment of foul brood more 

 radical until it has permanently disap- 

 peared. I think perhaps that I am now 

 rid of it, but I am not absolutely cer- 

 tain about it. I have heard it said by 

 one or two persons, "Treat foul brood 

 as you may, and it will appear again." 

 The reason is, in such cases, that the 

 disease has not been stamped out, as it 

 can not reappear except there are 

 germs present to start it. 



In conclusion, I will say to inspec- 

 tors of apiaries, that in all cases where 

 infected colonies are weak, and hives 

 of poor quality, to burn the whole 

 mass, not even permitting one bee to 

 escape, is, by all odds, the surest and 

 safest. Where there are several weak 

 colonies they may be united and put 

 OH comb foundation, and may be fed 

 liberally, in case there is not a good 

 honey-flow. 



Lyons, Kan. 



Advertising Honey 



Written for the National Convention of Bee- 

 Keepers held at Albany, N. Y.. 



BY F. J. ROOT. 



It is pretty generally admitted that 

 the consumption of honey might be 

 augmented by a judicious use of 

 printers' ink. The question has been 

 discussed by members of the Nation- 

 al Bee-Keepers' Association for a 

 number of years, and my correspond- 

 ence has extended from Maine to 

 California, and from Ohio to Texas. 

 I have tried in letters, to set forth 

 certain propositions, and have re- 

 quested frank e.xpressions of opinion 

 regarding these. My correspondents 

 have acknowledged the value of ad- 

 vertising, and believe that a national 

 "campaign of education" embracing 

 the leading home periodicals and the 

 trade papers will inure to the benefit 

 of every bee-keeper, but — and with 

 this "but" they lead me to believe 

 that so far as the honey-producers 

 are concerned I ani, as one of them 

 says, "up against it." They point 

 out the difficulties, and that these 

 exist no one will deny. There must 

 be, I am told, a harmonious co- 

 operation; the National Association 

 must be enlarged; a selling body must 

 be organized that can deal with job- 

 bers and brokers in any part of the 

 country, and to see that no one mar- 

 ket is over-supplied; there must be a 

 uniform package used by the mem- 

 bers of the Association, or at least 

 a distinctive seal must be attached 

 to every package as a guarantee that 



the goods will "fill the bill;" the 

 members must have a standard, and 

 must live up to it. There are other 

 questions, too, and last but not least 

 is the raising of the actual money. 



I admit that a number of things 

 must be considered in this matter. 

 Do you want this advertising to 

 benefit bee-keepers generally, so that 

 those who put up the actual money 

 will act partly as philanthropists, 

 benefiting the shiftless and stingy, as 

 may be the case? or do you want to 

 make a distinctive appeal to the pub- 

 lic to use only the honey bearing a 

 seal indicating that it originated with 

 your members? This is for you to 

 say. Personally, I believe that you 

 ought to advertise honey per se. 

 This question and others may well 

 be submitted to your proper commit- 

 tee. I believe that the obstacles 

 which my correspondents have point- 

 ed out can be removed; and as to 

 financing the campaign — it is when 

 I mention a sum of money — like fifty- 

 thousand dollars spent during a 

 year — that I meet with the least cor- 

 diality, and I must say that if the 

 burden were to be borne by any one, 

 or three, or five, of this honorable 

 body, it would be something worthy 

 of careful sifting. This leads me to 

 the text of this paper — "Three Cents 

 A Day." 



Are there not in the length and 

 breadth of this land 5,000 bee-keep- 

 ers who will contribute for one year 

 (to start with) the sum of 3 cents a 

 day — or $10.95 a year for mutual in- 

 terests? Or are there not 2500 who 

 will subscribe 6 cents a day, if the 

 5,000 can not be enrolled? Three 

 cents a day — every day, rain or 

 shine — by 5,000 subscribers will 

 amount to $54,750, and with this fund 

 you have a good foundation. It is 

 not a big amount as compared with 

 advertisers like Post or Van Camp, 

 who plank down a million or more, 

 but it will do very well to start with. 

 If you can't raise it in a week, "keep 

 the pot a-boiling" for a year. When 

 you have some cash in your treasury 

 you can start the wheels going — and 

 they ought to go with increasing 

 vigor for more years than one. 



It may be said, and with a good 

 deal of reason, that the matter of 

 raising money is rather outside my 

 argument; that it is none of my busi- 

 ness how it is raised. Granting this, 

 but supposing that we have $54,730 

 to start with, I would tell a good ad- 

 vertising agency what is needed, and 

 give tliem to understand that they 

 must "make good," or the $100,000 

 we will have next year will go to 

 some agent who can fill the bill! 



I would instruct these agents to 

 construct advertisements that would 

 make the reader's "mouth water.'' 

 And to succeed, the writer ought to 

 have practical knowledge of the pro- 

 duction of honey. He ought to know 

 a honey-bee from a hornet, and to 

 realize that glucose is one thing and 

 honey another. He ought to put the 

 argument into good, terse English, 

 and change the advertisement with 

 every issue. There ought to be an 

 illustration with each advertisement. 



