Decembkr, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



743 



that such cases are rare, and but few people 

 are affected. He also says that beekeepers 

 would have difficulty in defining the limits 

 of their bee pasturage. Charles F. Horn, 

 in a letter to the editor, rightly insists that 

 such encroachment can and should be stop- 

 ped. He speaks of the moral injustice and 

 economic waste of labor and capital, and 

 argues that the difficulty of tackling the 

 matter is no greater than that of miners ' 

 rights, which has already been settled by 



law. 



* * * 



SHORTAGE OF BEES AND HONEY IN EUROPE. 



The demand for bees and honey in many 

 parts of the European continent is now tre- 

 mendous. This, according to the American 

 Bee Journal for October, has resulted in 

 such high prices (44^4 cents in 100-pound 

 lots, and in some cases as high as 61 cents 

 in retail packages) that the vice-president 

 of the Grocers ' Syndicate of France has 

 asked the state to fix the price on honey, and 

 has urged the grocers to boycott the beekeep- 

 ers. The beekeepers are protesting against 

 this, asserting a shortage of sugar and of bees 

 and beekeepers is the cause of the high 

 prices. Compared with 1914, no more than 

 40 per cent of the colonies of France are 

 now in existence; and since it is impossible 

 to obtain sugar for feeding, there would be 

 a still greater loss the coming winter, proba- 

 bly cutting the 40 per cent down to 25. It 

 has been estimated that in Brittany alone 

 there will be tens of thousands destroyed 

 during October and November. 



IS THERE LESS DANGER OF STARVING IN LARGE 



HIVES ? 



The following question and answer appear 

 in the American Bee Journal for November: 



Question. — "Is a ten-frame hive better than an 

 eight-frame hive? If so, why?" 



Answer. — "The large hive is genea'ally preferred, 

 one important reason being that there is less dan- 

 ger of bees starving in winter." 



Dr. Miller is so invariably right that it 

 takes a good deal of courage to question any 

 of his statements. However, altho we pre- 

 fer the ten-frame hive and could name sev- 

 eral good reasons for this preference, win- 

 tering would not be among them. We be- 

 lieve there is not only more danger of the 

 colony on ten frames starving, but also more 

 danger of their freezing. During very cold 

 winters we have known medium colonies on 

 ten frames to starve with plenty of stores 

 at the sides of the hive, the bees having evi- 

 dently been too cold to reach the honey. Had 

 the hive space been smaller it would have 

 been much easier to keep up the temperature, 

 and less stores would have been needed. In 

 the case of the eight-frame hive, or the ten- 

 frame contracted to eight-frame, the colony 

 may be left with the necessary clustering- 

 space, and still have 35 or more pounds of 

 honey. Good colonies, if suitably packed, 

 will winter on even seven frames, which we 

 have repeatedly proved with hundreds of 

 colonies. 



THE TWO PERITiS. DVSENTEKV AND THE ■WFlATHEB. 



Under the head of "Two Perils, Dysen- 

 tery and the Weather," in October British 

 Bee Journal we find there discussed the in- 

 terdependence of disease and weather. It 

 is pointed out that, tho recoveries from dis- 

 ease have been attributed to various chemi- 

 cals, the weather probably has had a large 

 part in such cures. When colonies are sub- 

 jected to cold damp weather, their vitality 

 is so impaired that they are quite liable to 

 infection. The statement is also made that, 

 even in the absence of infection, cold and 

 dampness have killed many colonies sup- 

 jjosed to have been suffering from the Isle 

 of Wight disease. The writer believes that 

 the four factors — eold,wet, starvation, and 

 malnutrition — which j^redispose to infection 

 in the case of human diseases, may also be 

 equally potent causes of bee diseases. 



* * * 



DO SWARMS RECOGNIZE THEIR OWN BROOD.? 



In speaking of preventing new swarms 

 from absconding, the editor of Western Hon- 

 ey Bee of September, 1918, says, "In put- 

 ting in a frame of brood you must either 

 take it from another colony, which weakens 

 that colony just that much, or else from the 

 old hive, and I am inclined to think that 

 the recognition of their own brood by the 

 newly-hived swarm tends to make them dis- 

 satisfied, especially when hived on the old 

 stand. ' ' 



(Does anyone know that bees recognize 

 their own brood from that of anv other 



hive!) 



* * * 



DOES GASOLINE KILL EOUL BROOD G1:RMS .? 



In reply to the question, "Is it true that 

 gasoline will kill foul-brood germs?" The 

 Western Honeybee, September, in an edi- 

 torial, replies: "Certainly. Years of ex- 

 perience have proved that gasoline is one of 

 the best disinfectants. ' ' 



We know of no scientific authority that 

 would recommend gasoline alone. Yet, if a 

 match were touched to it, it would probably 

 be effective. Any one who has disinfected 

 hives by painting with gasoline, and has 

 had no recurrence of the disease, would 

 doubtless have had the same results had he 

 painted the hives with water, 



* * * 



C. W. Aepjiler, November American Bee 

 Journal, states that the number of colonies in 

 Switzerland during the last 17 years has di- 

 minished by 16 per cent, and the number of 

 beekeepers by 30 per cent. In speaking of 

 the Swiss government fixing the price of 

 honey to the consumer, he says it is probably 

 the first time in history that any govern- 

 ment has done this. The price is now fixed 

 at the rate of 64 cents a pound. 

 » » * 



"The British Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries has appointed a committee to study 

 the life habits of the honeybee with the 

 object of improving the conditions under 

 which beekeeping is carried on in England 



