Gleanings In Bee Culture 



Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio 



H. H. Root, Assistant Editor E. R. ROOT, Editor A. L. BOYDEN, Advertising Manager 



A. I. Root, Editor Home Department J. T. CALVERT, Business Manager 



Entered at the Postofflce, Medina, Ohio, as Second-class Matter. 



VOL. XXXVIII 



JANUARY 1, 1910 



NO. 1 



Editorial 



By E. R. Root. 



It takes but a glance at the cover design 

 for this issue to bring to mind the fact that 

 this is truly a wonderful age. It has been a 

 long time since 1810, and w^ith this thought 

 comes the query: What will bee-keeping be 

 like 100 years hence? 



OUR INDEX FOR 1909. 



The voluminous index for the year 1909 

 gives promise of the extent and character of 

 some of the good things we shall have for 

 1910. This index was prepared with the 

 greatest of care by our editorial force, and 

 our readers during the winter months will 

 have an opportunity to go over some of the 

 discussions of the past summer, taking them 

 up by topic or otherwise as they may prefer. 



THE ALEXANDER PLAN FOR CURING EUROPE- 

 AN (BLACK) FOUL BROOD. 



More proof is beginning to accumulate to 

 show that, in the case of European or black 

 foul brood, the queen herself, and especially 

 the kind of strain from which she comes, is 

 apparently one source of infection. It would 

 begin to seem that a combination of the Mc- 

 Evoy and the Alexander forms of treatment 

 might be employed to great advantage. In 

 some cases, at least, a modification of th<" 

 Alexander treatment, killing the queen and 

 requeening in three weeks, is sufficient to 

 effect a cure. 



In a matter of such paramount importance 

 as this, Gleanings feels that it can not afford 

 just yet to proclaim to the bee-keeping world 

 that the Alexander form, or modified form 

 of it, is going to bring relief. For the pres- 

 ent, a:t least, we are seeking evidence, and 

 wish to have the truth without favor or prej- 

 udice. 



We shall have an article from a good bee- 

 keeper and an old correspondent in our next 

 issue that seems to favor the findings of Dr. 

 Miller.. 



A SNUG winter; the relation of snow to 



A white-clover flow next summer. 



We have had about two weeks of severely 



cold weather, accompanied by a high wind. 



Mercury has been down as low as 3 or 4 de- 



grees above zero, and much of the time about 

 10 degrees above. The weather is moderat- 

 ing somewhat, and the ground is now (Dec. 

 25) covered with snow. Dr. Miller reports 

 good sleighing at Marengo, and consulting 

 the newspapers we find that there is consid- 

 erable snow all over the United States. This 

 is a good omen for clover, for we have always 

 noticed that, when the ground was covered 

 with snow much of the year, if we do not 

 have bad winter-killing and a late spring, we 

 are almost sure to have a good clover crop, 

 and a good yield of nectar during the follow- 

 ing summer. An open winter we find, also, 

 is apt to be destructive because of winter- 

 kilhng. Clovers can stand a hard severe 

 freeze; but an alternate freezing and thaw- 

 ing, with rains, sleet, and snow, tears the 

 clovers, root and branch, resulting in what 

 we call winter-killing. The best condition 

 of all is a deep snow lasting a good part of 

 the winter, and an early spring. 



importation AND FEDERAL CONTROL OF IN- 

 TERSTATE SHIPMENTS IN BEES. 



Mr. Holtermann, in his department on 

 page 5, in referring to the question of sub- 

 jecting bees to quarantine before entrance 

 into this country, calls attention to a state- 

 mfnt made in England that "The United 

 States Board of Agriculture were most 

 careful in their regulations to prevent 

 the chance of conveying disease into that 

 country." In the first place, there is no 

 ■' United States Board of Agriculture" that 

 we know any thing about. Undoubtedly the 

 United States Department of Agriculture is 

 meant; but the Department has no authority 

 to make such "regulations" nor to enforce 

 them if it had. The Bureau of Entomology, 

 through its Apicultural Expert, Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, has suggested that Congress ought 

 to pass a law to control the importation and 

 interstate shipments in bees. Until Congress 

 does take such action the Department ot Ag- 

 riculture is powerless to act. That Uncle 

 Sam will have to exercise some sort of con- 

 trol is generally admitted. At present, minor 

 legislation, such as a United States bee-dis- 

 ease law, will probably be sidetracked to let 

 in something else involving larger interests. 



The statement is also made that "foul 

 brood is prevalent in Northern Italy." At 

 the present time there are only very few 

 queens sent from Italy into the United States, 

 and what do come over are in long- distance 

 mailing-cages. On arrival into this country 



