1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



39 



I have now told you how to cure one hive, 

 so of course you know how to cure a hun- 

 dred; and if I had a hundred colonies — yes, 

 or twenty — I would go to work in just the 

 way given, knowing that I would succeed; 

 but if I were satisfied that I had only from 

 two to ten colonies in an apiary where from 

 fifty to one hundred were standing I would 

 accept the resolution adopted by a bee con- 

 vention some years ago, which was this: 

 " Resolved, That this convention believes that 

 foul brood is a very dangerous disease, and 

 that we advise all to be careful in experi- 

 menting in regard to its cure. If but two or 

 three colonies are affected in any apiary, 

 destroy hives, combs, honey, and all by burn- 

 ing." I would do this for the reason that I 

 should consider the risk of experimenting, 

 or trying to cure the two or three or ten 

 greater than the value of the colonies. 



[On the above, Charles Stewart, one of the 

 foul-brood inspectors of New York State, 

 comments as follows. — Ed.] 



In both American and European foul brood 

 the intenstty varies greatly as to odor. I 

 have seen yards where one could smell tlwe 

 disease before reaching the yard; and then, 

 again, where the disease had lost some of its 

 virulence an odor was detected only by plac- 

 ing the comb close to the nose. 



Most of the larvae die just previous to the 

 proper time for capping, in a colony affected 

 with European foul brood. 



Diseased colonies should be treated as soon 

 as possible when found; as a delay of a 

 month, especially if the bees are blacks, 

 might cause the loss of the whole apiary. It 

 may be necessary to wait until some honey 

 is coming in, as it would be wrong to treat 

 them when robbers are about. 



1 have seen so much trouble come from 

 feeding back honey taken from diseased col- 

 onies, even though it was boiled, that I have 

 always advised against it except in the hands 

 of an expert. 



After disinfecting thousands of hives in 

 years gone by, we find we get the same re- 

 sults without this work. The brood-frames 

 are boiled as much to clean them as to disin- 

 fect. Bees can be treated ri^ht in their own 

 hives, taking away every cell of comb and 

 replacing with frames of comb foundation. 

 Formerly it was thought necessary to shake 

 again in three or four days; but we find the 

 average number reinfected is about one in 

 ten, so we prefer to watch these colonies 

 treated, and treat the tenth one rather than 

 treat all of them a second time. If I found 

 but one or two colonies in a large apiary af- 

 fected but slightly I might destroy them at 

 night when all bees were in the hive; but if 

 badly affected I would treat them, feeling 

 certain that other colonies near them would 

 soon show the disease and would have to be 

 treated. That is, if a colony had the disease 

 long enough to show it badly, others near it 

 would be almost certain to contract the dis- 



BEE-KEEPING IN THE 

 SOUTHWEST 



By Louis Scroll, New Braunfels, Tex. 



prospects in texas for 1910. 

 Prospects are good. It has rained bounti- 

 fully in most parts of the State at least, and 

 we are expecting the return of one of those 

 good old-fashioned Texas honey-yields next 

 season. Owing to tke lateness of our fall, 

 and almost a total absence of cold weather 

 until in December, several sources such as 

 cotton, broomweed, and some minor plants, 

 yielded some nectar and pollen right along 

 until the cold weather cut it off. This gave 

 the bees a chance to fill up their brood-nests 

 and rear a lot of extra brood. These young 

 bees will be most valuable next spring, and 

 hence the colonies are in the best possible 

 condition for winter. With an early opening 

 of spring next- year the bees should be in 

 fine shape for any honey-flows, no matter 

 how early they come. However, the spring 

 may be late, as it has been unusually warm 

 so far this winter. 



ALFALFA HONEY IN TEXAS. 



As yet there is very little of it produced 

 since the area planted in alfalfa is not yet 

 very extensive; and in many places where it 

 is planted the atmospheric or other condi- 

 tions that seem to exist cause it to yield no 

 nectar. " The most luxuriant growth of alfal- 

 fa, in large fields within a mile of an apiary, 

 have been found destitute of bees, while in 

 other parts of the State the alfalfa was visit- 

 ed well and resulted in some surplus honey. 

 These differences have occurred with alfalfa 

 with and without irrigation, and upon sever- 

 al occasions in the same fields — that is, at 

 certain times bees worked on it and at others 

 left it entirely alone. This is an important 

 subject for scientific investigation, especial- 

 ly since a great number of people are inquir- 

 ing more and more as to whether alfalfa is 

 good for bees in Texas. It's up to our ex- 

 periment stations. 



BULK COMB VS. SECTION HONEY. 



That description of Wesley Foster's work- 

 shop, p. 725, gives one the "shudders " if he 

 is not used to such things himself. Culls 

 still unsold in November; No. 1, 2, and 3 

 grade and close grading; scraping separators 

 and section-holders; twenty to thirty thou- 

 sand sections to fold and starter; broken tins, 

 cracked section-holders and separators to re- 

 pair; besides the selecting and discarding 

 of daubed and stained sections that have 

 been on the hives but not finished, etc. All 

 this makes us Southerners wonder whether 

 section-honey bee-keeping is worth while. 

 To this must be added the extra care of the 

 bees in the early spring toward getting them 

 strong enough so they, can work in the sec- 

 tion-supers; later, coaxing them into these 

 supers so they iv/// work in them; and even 

 after that they must be coaxed to finish the 



