644 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15 



If the weather is cool, feed the syrup mod- 

 eratly hot. 



One yard last winter, where we had almost 

 perfect wintering, we fed so late that we had 

 to wear overcoats and mittens to give the 

 syrup to the bees. We do not advise late 

 feeding; but if it has been deferred, through 

 inadvertence or inability to get at the work 

 sooner, feed anyhow. Don't let bees go in- 

 to winter quarters short of stores. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPPING COMB HON- 

 EY IN UP-TO-DATE PACKAGES. 



Very recently we have seen several lots 

 of honey, otherwise first class, that arrived 

 at destination in very bad order because the 

 shipper evidently thought he could not af- 

 ford to take a bee-pai^er or a bee-book, or 

 because he does not take the time to read 

 them. No wonder some dealers will refuse 

 to take consignments of comb honey. We 

 saw one shipment of four cases of nice comb 

 honey put into a common box. Of course, 

 the honey went through all broken down. 

 If only one or two cases go, they should be 

 properly marked " Comb Honey "or " Frag- 

 ile, Handle with Care." Labels for that 

 purpose can be had of any of the dealers. 

 When ten to a dozen cases are sent, they 

 should be put in a carrier provided with 

 handles. The bottom of the carrier should 

 have four or five inches of straw before put- 

 ting in the cases. 



We have seen lots of honey recently that 

 brought a low price simply because they 

 were put in poor, home-made, cobbled-up 

 shipi)ing- cases. When will some people 

 learn that, in order to get good prices, they 

 must put their produce uj) in tirst-class 

 packages? 



bees making trouble in CANDY-FACTO- 

 RIES. 



A NUMBER of our subscribers have written 

 us regarding a wholesale destruction of bees 

 by employees of candy -factories in the 

 southern part of Ohio. There are no screens 

 on the windows; and when the bees collect 

 inside a long gas-hose is made use of, with 

 a burner on the end, which is rapidly run 

 over the windows, and the wings of the 

 bees burned off. They then drop to the 

 floor where they are swept up into buckets 

 and carried out and killed. This is an ag- 

 gravating case, for very likely if the bee- 

 keei)ers took the matter into court the can- 

 dy-factories would turn about and make an 

 effort to declare the bees a nuisance. They 

 probably would not succeed in doing this, 

 but they would make the bee-keepers a lot 

 of trouble. 



It is a shame that candy-factories should 

 be allowed to operate without screens on the 

 windows, for there is then nothing to pre- 

 vent the flies from the street coming in, 

 laden with disease germs as they are, and 

 reveling on the exposed sweets. Possibly 

 some of the candy that we eat would not 

 taste as good if we could see how it was 

 made. 



^^'e have been advising the bee-keepers 

 who are losing bees in this way to take up 

 the matter with the manufacturers of candy 

 in a friendly way, and see if they can not 

 be induced to put screens on the windows. 

 Perhaps the pure-food law might help them 

 out. but we doubt it somewhat. Unless the 

 factories are so extensive that there are a 

 large number of windows to be screened, it 

 would seem to us that the bee-keepers hv- 

 ing near could well afford to bear a part or 

 all of the expense of the screens that would 

 be needed. 



TREATING FOUL BROOD LATE IN THE FALL 

 OR IN THE WINTER. 



We are getting quite a number of inqui- 

 ries, asking how to treat foul brood after 

 brood-rearing has practically ceased and the 

 colonies are preparing to go into their long 

 winter sleep. As a general thing the pres- 

 ence of disease in such colohies can not be 

 detected except by foul-brood scales. In a 

 case of the American tyi)e of disease a sort 

 of gluey mass that was once a larva will be 

 found lying in the bottom of the cell, dried 

 down and stuck fast. As a general thing 

 nobody but an expert w^ill be able to recog- 

 nize these so-called scales. On the other 

 hand a bee-keeper will occasionally find a 

 little brood in his hives that is unmistaka- 

 bly foul. 



In either case he wishes to know what to 

 do. At this time of the year we would rec- 

 ommend cutting out the portion of the 

 brood or comb known to be diseased. If a 

 comb contains foul-brood scales, remove it, 

 or any others that show the characteristic 

 scales. In all probability the removal of 

 the affected combs or affected portion of the 

 combs will result in the cure for next spring. 

 It is quite impracticable to shake on foun- 

 dation at this time of the year. If the colo- 

 ny was very badly diseased, known to be 

 such in early fall, and for some reason treat- 

 ment was deferred, we would recommend 

 shaking the colony, if a strong one, on foun- 

 dation; let it stay there for 24 hours, remove 

 the foundation, and then give good combs 

 of sealed stores from a healthy colony. 



If Euro])ean foul brood is known to exist 

 or is suspected we would advise changing 

 the queen, but no other treatment. Of 

 course, when requeening, the very best of 

 Italian stock should be procured. This re- 

 queening may be sufficient, and it may 

 not. Either disease would be practically 

 inert during the late fall and winter; but all 

 colonies where the disease is suspected in 

 the fall should be examined repeatedly next 

 spring. If disease develops, treat in the 

 regular way. 



SOME tricks OF THE TRADE IN UNITING. 



Now is the best time of the year to do 

 general uniting for winter. A morning 

 should be selected when it is cool, or cold, 

 when the bees are not flying, say a temper- 

 ature of 50 or GO degrees. If the two colo- 

 nies to be united are contiguous, that is, 

 stand side by side, remove one of the hives 



