14 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



ing. Has she been sent from abroad, a nucleus 

 has to be formed, and. after it has accepted the 

 queen, management is the same as above. Dr. 

 Metelli, of course, knows the other modes of in- 

 troduction too. hnt this one. you understand, is 

 the infallible one. 



[Wp have been taught, and rig-litlj, that nothing- 

 will work infallibly with bees; tliut they do nothing 

 invariably under all cii-cumstunces. The plan, how- 

 ever, looks as if it might work almost infallibly. — Ed.] 



FORMIC ACID FOR CURING FOUL BROOD. 



Mr. G. Lichtentha?ler, of Herdorf (Leipziger 

 Bienenzeitung) , is not afraid of foul brood at 

 all. What he has to say is this: Foul brood is 

 caused by the bacillus alvei (detected by Pastor 

 Schainfeld). It can be produced by direct infec- 

 tion; but it can also be produced without direct 

 Infection. Give a colony more brood than they 

 can cover; and if they don't empty all the cells 

 containing dead larvtt? (after 48 hours) you will, 

 after about 24 days, notice that well-known 

 brown mass. A single foul-brood herd produces 

 so many billions of bacilli alvei that the air of a 

 whole continent could be filled with them. It is 

 the air which spreads the spores of the bacillus. 

 They exist anywhere in the air; they exist in 

 any hive, perhaps even in the intestines of any 

 bee-larva, just like other bacilli, but what 

 withholds infection is formic acid, that most 

 excellent antiseptic. As long as a colony is in 

 a normal condition, it is safe (except from direct 

 contact with the germs); but when in an 

 anomalous condition (uncoyer<-d brpod, food 

 not being honey, but some subsiitute that con- 

 tains no formic acid and the like), the case is 

 different. To cure foul brood, Mr. L. applies 

 none of the usual remedies. When 30 to 50 per 

 cent of the brood is foul, all the brood is cut out 

 and burned. Then the potency of the formic 

 acid is increased by contracting the colony to a 

 third or half of its former space, and not leaving 

 any opening except the entrance. A ft ir this, 

 abundant well-capped honey-stores are given, 

 and the colony left entirely alone for one or two 

 months. Even if the foul brood is not remov- 

 ed, a cure will be effected; but then it takes 

 three months. 



[Foul brood can not start of itself witliout germs. 

 These germs may perhaps be plentiful enough in 

 the air to make the presencd of even dead brood a 

 source of danger. Still we have had numerous ca,ses 

 of dead brood as a result of chilling in early spring, 

 and no infection was ever started. —Ed.] 



PREVENTING rt'HE UNITING OF SWARMS. 



Mr. Maurice Bellott mentions in the Revue 

 a way of preventing' the uniting of swarms, 

 which oftentimes may be used. He says: 

 "One day an idea struck me; a swarm was in 

 the air, another was about to issue. I quickly 

 close the entrance with a handful of grass, and 

 carry the hive about 200 meters away. I open 

 the entrance, the swarm rushes out, and locate 

 without mixing with the other. Likewise on 

 another <^ayl managed several colonies with 

 the same result." 



CALIFORNIA HONEY EXCHANGE. 



its advantages to honey -producers; an 

 outline of the plan, and its method of 

 operation; the California citrus fruit 

 p'.xchange, and what it has done for 

 the fruit interest of the state; low 

 prices of california honey; the cause 

 and remedy. 



By Prof. A. J. Cook. 



It is a principle of political economy that 

 prices are regulated by the law of supply and 

 demand. If the supply of any commodity is 

 great, more than is required to meet the usual 

 demand, then prices fall ; but if there is a short- 

 age in the supply, or if for any reason there is 

 an increase in the demand, then prices are ad- 

 vanced. This seems right and reasonable, and 

 speaks no hardship. If the producer has an 

 overwhelming abundance, he can face low 

 prices with equanimity; and if his product is 

 scarce, and the price is correspondingly great, 

 he still sees justice in the relation, thinks not 

 to murmur, and is at peace. In truth, he pre- 

 fers, if he considers only his own selfish inter- 

 ests, to produce, say, 1000 bushels of potatoes, 

 and sell them at one dollar per bushel, than to 

 raise ten thousand bushels and market the 

 same at ten cents per bushel. 



In the honey market, this law does not seem 

 to control. I^ast year there was in California 

 almost no crop of honey, and yet the price was 

 about the same as at present, although many 

 bee-keepers the present season have produced 

 upward of thirty tons of the best honey. It is 

 evident, then, that the markets are manipu- 

 lated, and that the legitimate laws of trade do 

 not control in fixing the price of honey. The 

 large dealers either keep up the supply of so- 

 called honey irrespective of the production of 

 the genuine article, or else, made strong 

 fhroxigh organization, they have power, which 

 they seem not slow to use, to fix prices to suit 

 their own sordid desires for gain; and thus the 

 producer becomes the victim of what is virtu- 

 ally a great trust, made powerful through the 

 fact of organization. That the latter explana- 

 tion cuts the larger figure is shown in the fact 

 that the consumer is not benefited by the low 

 price offered by the wholesale dealer, or at 

 least but slightly benefited, for in the retail 

 markets the price suffers no such extreme dimi- 

 nution. Thus the price of honey is manipulat- 

 ed arbitrarily, not controlled by the laws of 

 trade, and this to the serious hurt of both 

 producer and consumer. 



We can not wonder, then, that producers are 

 becoming indignant at such palpable injustice, 

 and are resolved " to fight fire with fire." They 

 propose to adopt the motto, Similia similibus 

 curantur. All other crafts organize to work as 

 a unit, why not we? say they. They have 

 been united, and able to take advantage of our 

 isolation and scattered energies. Why not we 



