126 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb. 15 



bees into a single hive, giving them a set of 

 frames filled with foundation and a laying 

 queen. I followed this plan with a part of 

 my diseased combs, but a'tandoned it, as the 

 process was too slow. It is my opinion that 

 the few colonies which we may get in this 

 way hardly pay, for the work is nearly dou- 

 bled, and the diseased combs are left around 

 too long. I have always felt that the sooner 

 Ihey are gotten rid of the better. The wax 

 from a full set of combs will go a long way 

 toward makingfoundation to retill the frames. 

 Now add the set of combs made by the colo- 

 ny treated and we are ahead of the Alexander 

 plan (not counting the diseased honey), by 

 the amount of w;)x from the combs and by 

 two-thirds of a crop of honey, at least; for a 

 colony that has been 45 days without hatch- 

 ing brood in the height of the honey-flow 

 can not be expected io produce any surplu~; 

 and if the bees gather even enough for their 

 own consumption they will do well. 



As to what we get for our time of melting 

 up the diseased combs, making foundation, 

 and refilling the framps, I can say th .t the 

 treatment of either kind of foul brood can be 

 done successfully only during the honey- 

 flow, and it is hardly ne 'essary to ask how 

 much 21 days in the heightof the honey-flow 

 is worth. We think any one would be will- 

 ing to do the work above men ioned for even 

 one-half the honey that is produced in that 

 time. 



CONDITIONS DIFFERENT AT THE ALEXANDER 

 YARD. 



It must be remembered that conditions 

 were very different with Mr. Alexander than 

 with most of us As I understand it, all of 

 his surplus was derived from buckwheat, the 

 bees building up on the earlier flowers, so 

 that he had the whole summer in which to 

 manipulate the bees in settled weather. Un- 

 der these circumstances a queen could be 

 removed from the hivef-r 21 days, and there 

 would still be plenty of time for the colony 

 to build up for the main honey- flow. Many 

 of the things which Mr. Alexander advocat- 

 ed can not be successfully followed, for this 

 same reason. I have in mind dividing, put- 

 ting weak colonies above stronger ones, etc. 

 I have twice tried his method of dividing by 

 putting brood on above and setting the super 

 off after ten days, and it is a< omplete failure 

 here, for the weather is too changeable. The 

 weather may be all right when the work is 

 done; but before the ten days is up, a cold 

 spell may come, the queen cells will be torn 

 down, and started over again in a few days 

 with brood that is too old. Any one who 

 practices this plan long, where these same 

 conditions exist, will soon have a lot of worth- 

 less queens. Then in the case of putting 

 weak colonies above strong ones until they 

 are stronger, if it happens to turn cold the 

 bees will all leave the small colony and go 

 down with the larger one below where it is 

 warmer, leaving the queen above to freeze. 

 It is better to double two or three of the 

 smaller colonies and give them less space to 

 keep warm. I can .see. b.Qw all jojt these plans 



may be successful after the weather becomes 

 settled and the time for sudden changes is 

 past. In this section bees have a long time 

 to build up — from February to June; but 

 this is during the rainy season when the 

 weather is unsettled and conditions are very 

 similar to the spring months in the East. 

 Jamul, Cal. 



[Mr. E. M. Gibson, it will be remembered, 

 is the correspondent in California who has 

 written such excelh nt articles during the 

 last year or so. His compleet analysis of the 

 two methods of cure, the McEvoy and the 

 Alexander, should be carefully read by all 

 those who are interested in this great ques- 

 tion of ridding the country of brood diseases. 

 It is most certainly true that the question of 

 locality must be given careful consideration. 

 In this connection we recall that more than 

 one of our subscribers were not able to work 

 some of the methods advocated by Mr. Alex- 

 ander, and this was due to difference in con- 

 ditions. 



Referring to the Alexander cure, it is pos- 

 sible that this could be applied to good ad- 

 vantage after the white clover flow, when 

 there would be a period of comparatively lit- 

 tle brood-rearing. In most localities in the 

 Northern States after the middle of July, 

 when clover and basswood are out of bloom, 

 there will be practically nothing doing for 

 the bees for a month. Now, it would be 

 possible that the Alexander method of cure 

 might be applied at such times to the entire 

 yard without great loss, and feeding after- 

 ward. On the other hand, when a honey- 

 flow is on, or, we will say, during the spring 

 when brood-rearing should be carried on to 

 its limit, it would seem that the Alexander 

 plan would be expensive and wasteful, and 

 that at such times the McEvoy method 

 should be employed instead. 



The last time we visited Mr. Alexander we 

 talked over the McEvoy and the Alexander 

 plan of cure. If we remember correctly, he 

 made the statement that the McEvoy plan 

 failed to rid his apiary of the disease; that it 

 was only after he employed his dequeening 

 method that relief came. He then went on 

 to mention yard after yard of some of the 

 most successful bee-keepers in New York 

 who had been using the McEvoy treatment, 

 and how, in spite of all their efforts, the 

 plague was continually coming back. In la- 

 ter years, however, the McEvoy plan as now 

 administered seems to be giving good re- 

 sults, for, as we understand it, both Europe- 

 an and American foul brood are well under 

 control. As the McEvoy plan has been used 

 almost exclusively, this condition of affairs 

 is brought about by that particular plan of 

 treatment. 



We are still desirous of securing further 

 reports on this general subject. In the mean- 

 time it would seem .that we mjst take care- 

 fully into consideration the question of local- 

 ity and general conditions. There are prob- 

 ably times when a combination of the two 

 methods can be employed to very good .ad- 

 vantage.T-EDj , : , — .. ,.,. 



