THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



273 



Such an effort, intelligently and faithfully 

 persisted in and carried out, would surely 

 result in a greatly improved race of bees, 

 and in a great advantage to our craft. The 

 only question is. Have we the man with re- 

 quired patience and persistence 'i This 

 would be, in some ways, much easier than 

 improving cattle, horses, and hogs, as the 

 numbers produced per season would be 

 imtneusely greater, though the greater 

 difficulty in controlling mating!would stand 

 in the way of quick results. Who has the 

 patience to do this valuable work ? 



The Pettit System of Producing Comb Honey 

 and Mounier's Cure for Bee Paral- 

 ysis a Success. 



When I first really understood the Pettit 

 system, that of raising the front of the 

 hive and compelling the bees to crawl up 

 the sides of the hive, thus throwing them 

 to the outside sections, and that of having 

 a double bee-space on the outside of the 

 last row of sections, I was inclined to be- 

 lieve that it would do all that Mr. Pettit 

 claimed for it. Mr. Earl C. Walker of 

 Indiana reports to Gleanings his success 

 with this plan. He also says how he has 

 succeeded with the Monnier cure for bee 

 paralysis. Here is what he says: 



" During the honey season which is draw- 

 ing to a close I have given Pettit's plan of 

 taking comb honey a trial, in part. I con- 

 sider the scheme of placing wedge-shaped 

 pieces of wood under the sides of the hive, 

 thus causing the bees to distribute them- 

 selves to the sides and back end of the hive, 

 the most valuable feature of the system. 

 By this means the bees witli their loads of 

 honey are sent directly to the outside sec- 

 tions, which win be tilled as soon as those 

 in the center of the super. Instead of saw- 

 ing out wedge-shaped pieces of pine, as des- 

 cribed by Mr. Pettit, I simply get some 

 ordinary shingles, which taper down to a 

 thin edge, and split them up into strips '„ 

 inch wide. These are placed under the 

 Bides of the hives, as directed by Mr. Pettit. 

 This not only causes the bees to fill the out- 

 flide sections, but gives abundant ventila- 

 tion, which is so necessary in the hot sum- 

 mer months. I had several colonies that 

 seemed determined to hang out and loaf. I 

 placed the strips of shingles under the 

 edges of the hives, and the bees quit loafing, 

 and went to work in the r^ections. One of 

 these gave a surplus of 72 lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey. I will keep the strips under the hives 

 until winter, for ventilation. 



monnieb's oubb fob bbb-pabalysis. 



I have cured several ca^es of bee-paralysis 

 this season by running healthy swarms in- 

 to hives containing afifected colonies. The 

 healthy bees would at once attack the dis- 



eased ones, and carry them ofif. In most 

 cases I let the diseased bees swarm, and 

 then the next healtliy swarm that issued I 

 ran into a hive out of which a healthy 

 swarm had issued. The disease has entirely 

 disappeared. All that seems to be necessary 

 is to mix a diseased and a healthy colony 

 together, and the bees do the rest. The 

 scheme of uniting diseased colonies to cure 

 paralysis was given in Gleanings on page 

 447, and I used the above method of putting 

 it into practice. All bee men should try 

 this cure, and report the result. Mr. Mon- 

 nier, who discovered this, deserves a vote 

 of thanks from all bee-keepers. When I 

 read his article, I, like .you, Mr. Editor, 

 had my doubts about it being a certain 

 cure. But I have tested it for myself, and 

 am positive that it is a sure cure. Try it 

 and see. " 



This plan of cure is exactly opposite to 

 the idea that paralysis is contagious, but 

 never mind theories, it is facts that we are 

 after. I may say that the introduction of 

 a queen from a diseased colony did not re- 

 sult in paralysis at the Mich. Agricultural 

 College this season. 



The Bee-Keepers' Union Once More— Only 

 one Union Needed. 

 In Gleanings for Sept. 1, Prof. Cook says 

 some very sensible things about the two 

 Unions and the desirability of amalgama- 

 tion, and I think that he voices the senti- 

 ment of the majority of the members of 

 these societies. Here is what he says. 



" I am reluctant to speak further upon 

 the above subject; but Mr. Newman's letter 

 in July 1st Gleaniugp, and the importance 

 of the subject, impel me to a further word. 



I am very sorry if I misquoted Mr. New- 

 man, and even more sorry if I misrepresent- 

 ed him. I have had high appreciation of 

 his services, and have had only the kindest 

 feelings regarding him. I am sure I need 

 not say that any thought of antogonism to 

 him has never been in my mind. 



In the last vote, I believed ( and I think 

 many others did ) that we were voting only 

 on the question of amalgamation. I voted 

 no— not that I was opposed to amalgama- 

 tion per se, but only because I felt that 

 many of the members were, and that we 

 should not force the change upon them. It 

 seems to me to-day that this was a correct 

 position. Others thought that the Union 

 should not be tied to the National Associa- 

 tion, or at least that such a marriage would 

 not be wise, and hence the large vote against 

 amalgamation. I did not suppose the fail- 

 ure to amalgamate would result in the for- 

 mation of the two Unions; but, rather, 

 if the marriage WHS not consummated, the 

 old Union would lock horns with adultera- 

 tion — would hitch on its whole force to aid 

 co-operation, and wouldeagerly grasp any 



