May, 1918 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



A FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



277 



where the demand is for liquid honey, it is 

 better to leave it there until wanted for 

 pale or use. The 5-gallon screw-cap tin 

 cans are good for storing in where it is to bo 

 handled for retail trade. Produce only a 

 jiood, well-ripened article and sell it direct 

 to the customer yourself at a reasonable 

 price. G. M. Doolittle. 



Marietta, N. Y. 



SUCCEEDS with COMB FOUNDATION 



How One Beekeeper Gets Bees to Draw Out Comb 

 for Extracted Honey Production 



In the March issue of Gleanings, a state- 

 ment is made that "It is not an easy mat- 

 ter to face the season running for extracted 

 honey without drawn combs, ' ' and ' ' The 

 swarming impulse would be much greater 

 when the bees had to draw out sheets of 

 comb foundation in the supers instead of 

 having combs. ' ' 



I wish to take exception to both of those 

 statements. A good beekeeper can take 

 medium colonies of bees and by right man- 

 agement have at the opening of the clover- 

 flow from six to ten frames of comb foun- 

 dation drawn by each colony. Also the 

 drawing of this foundation will help to keep 

 down swarming. 



According to my method, as soon as a colo- 

 ny gets the hive well filled with bees and 

 brood, the second story is added. Two frames 

 of bees and brood are raised from the lower 

 story into the top one and two full sheets 

 of foundation placed in the lower hive, with 

 one or two frames of brood between them. 

 The two frames of brood in the top hive 

 should be together so there will be no dan- 

 ger of chilling the brood. In both stories 

 the bees that are taking care of the brood 

 will soon begin work on the adjacent foun- 

 dation. In fact, they will draw out such 

 foundation when they would not touch foun- 

 dation in a super by itself. If one wishes 

 to hurry things, he can go thru his hives in 

 a week or ten days and raise more brood 

 from below, substituting comb foundation. 



This plan keeps the bees busy and gives 

 them a place to store their surplus wax, also 

 the queen is cdnstantly provided with plenty 

 of room for egg-laying, and, as a general 

 rule, when a queen is busy laying, her colony 

 does not swarm. 



The past year I had about 80 colonies that 

 I ran for extracted honey and they had 

 no drawn combs, but drew all their extract- 

 ing combs from full sheets of foundation. 

 They averaged a little over 50 pounds to the 

 colony. During the same season, 160 colo- 

 nies that had drawn combs and did almost 

 no drawing of foundation only averaged a 

 little over 25 pounds to the colony. 



Chapman, Kan. Harry T. Huff. 



[In the plan given above, we especially 



caution the beginner that when foundation 

 is given, there should be either a natural or 

 an artificial flow of honey. Otherwise holes 

 will be gnawed in the foundation and these 

 spaces later filled with drone-comb. — Editor.] 



GOOD ITALIAN STOCK WILL DO IT 



Don't Get Scared, Don't Get Worried About Eu- 

 ropean Foul Brood 



It is somewhat amusing to read of the 

 fears and lamentations of certain beemen 

 over the advent of European foul brood. It 

 reminds me of the time, several years ago, 

 when the disease arrived in this locality and 

 practically wiped 'out for me two yards of 

 100 colonies each. I surely was alarmed, to 

 use a mild term, for it looked as if the end 

 was in sight. Of course, I tried all the modes 

 of treatment advocated by writers in the 

 bee journals, and many others of my own in- 

 vention. I tried the McEvoy treatment, the 

 Alexander plan, stacking up brood over dis- 

 eased colonies, and dozens of other plans 

 with varying success; but still for a number 

 of yeara there were many cases of the dis- 

 ease cropping out. I destroyed hundreds of 

 dollars worth of brood combs, rendering 

 them into wax, and, in one case upon the 

 advice of an old beekeeper, even went so far 

 as to attempt to burn a colony of bees, but 

 nevermore. 



HoAvever, the proverbial cloud had its 

 silver lining. The bees recovered and so 

 have I. In 1915 there was not a single case 

 of foul brood in any of our five yards of 

 about 400 colonies, and in two of these yards 

 there has been none for three years. It 

 came about in this way: the best Italian 

 queens obtainable were carefully tested out 

 in comparison with former stock with respect 

 to vitality, prolificness, color, and honey- 

 gathering' qualities, only the best being re- 

 served for breeders, and those of low vital- 

 ity discarded. Furthermore, it happened that 

 in the various manipulations of the bees I 

 had acquired the habit of killing all queens 

 whose complexion did not suit me or whose 

 performance was unsatisfactory. The result 

 seems to be that thru a process of selection 

 and by the elimination of degenerate stock, 

 a strain of bees has been secured which 

 is practically immune to European foul 

 brood. It is probable that if the remains of 

 diseased larva? were fed directly to these 

 bees, they might again acquire the infection, 

 but under ordinary circumstances, it is be- 

 lieved that there is little or no danger. In 

 fact I would not hesitate to purchase dis- 

 eased colonies and bring them home for 

 treatment. 



Now as to the actual treatment of Euro- 

 pean foul brood. Don't get scared. Don't 

 worry. Don 't destroy combs. Don 't burn 

 or kill colonies of bees. Don 't do that other 



