490 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Aug. 1 



A 



that there is no chance for flies 

 or bees to get into the can un- 

 derneath the funnel, and the 

 screens prevent them from get- 

 ting in with the honey. Of 

 course, all honey should be well 

 strained before it reaches these 

 funnels. I use the Alexander 

 strainer, and like it very much. 



By changing the size of the 

 weight it is possible to weigh 

 and fill any size of 

 weight of concrete 

 8X8X6 inches will 

 weigh from 22 to 24 

 pounds, which is about 

 the right size to use 

 when filling fiO-lb. 

 cans. It should be 

 noted that the weight 

 is further out toward 

 the end of the board 

 than the can of honey, 

 and for this reason it 

 is not necessary to use 

 a weight that equals 

 the weight of a can of 

 honey. 



The tilting board, 

 when both cans are re- 

 moved, should just bal- 

 ance when the base is 

 on a level floor. If one 

 end were higher than 

 the other, the upright 

 piece that supports 

 the double funnel 

 would lean toward the 

 lower end, and there- 

 fore cause one can to 

 be a little light while 

 the other one would be 

 correspondingly heavy. 

 I mention this" for the 

 my friends who was 



ng.l 



HOOK eNOACED ^ 



BALLANCe BOARD 



HONEY 



[partly 



HONEY 



In Fiis. 1 the weight holds the hook away from the catch so that, when the 

 can at the right is full and the weight is overbalanced, the left can will rise 

 and the right hook will engage the catch. The honey now runs into the 

 left can. Fig. 2. The full can on the right may now be removed, tor the right 

 catch holds that end of the platform down, and an empty can put in Its place. 

 The weight is next transferred to the right end. releasing the catch at the 

 right. Fig. 3. As the can on the left becomes full it sinks down so that the 

 honey again runs into the empty can on the right. Meanwhile the hook 

 on the left has engaged the catch. Fig. 4. The replacing of the full can on 

 the left with an empty one, and the transferring of the weight to the left 

 brings the apparatu.s back to the position shown in Fig. 1. 



reason that one of 

 using a filler that I 

 made for him had trouble because the floor 

 was not level. An average floor is all right. 



Fort Collins, Colo. 



[If one has need of an automatic filler, it 

 seems to us that this one fills the bill exact- 

 ly. It is surprisingly simple, and the few 

 parts would not easily get out of order. We 

 are frank to admit that it is the most satis- 

 factory outfit of its kind that we have seen. 

 —Ed.] 



THE ALEXANDER PLAN FOR CURING 

 ROPEAN FOUL BROOD. 



EU- 



BY ALFRED L. HARTL. 



I have been reading those articles on the 

 Alexander plan for curing European foul 

 brood; but as this disease is such a very seri- 

 ous one I can hardly believe that a badly 

 infected colony can be successfully cured by 

 a period of queenlessness. Some writers are 

 positive that it effects a cure, but there are 

 many things in the treatment that do not 

 look reasonable. 



I have had no experience with European 

 foul brood; but it seems to me that, if the 

 Alexander treatment is a success, the dis- 

 ease would never have existed, for the bees 

 would naturally cure themselves every year. 

 All these writers agree that, in the period of 

 queenlessness, since no eggs are laid, and 

 there are no larvae to feed, the bees have 

 time to clean every cell in the brood area, 

 since in the 27 days all healthy brood 

 emerges. Now, does not this same thing 

 happen every sjiring? The bees stop brood- 

 rearing every fall, and begin again in the 

 spring; and the colonies are not only brood- 

 less 27 days, but often for two months, even 

 here in the South. The queen is present, 

 but she lays no eggs. When spring comes, 

 the bees set to work cleaning the cells, and 

 they not only clean them half way, but they 

 polish the in besides. A few days later the 

 queen starts to lay in these polished cells, 

 and she will not deposit one egg in a cell 

 that is not perfectly clean. Now, does not 

 this fulfill every requirement? Yet the dis- 

 ease is spreading over all the States. 



There is another point in this treatment 

 that does not look reasonable in this plan 

 for curing disease. Every one who has had 



