April, 1910. 



American ^ee Journalj 



in with the handle toward the operator, 

 and close up against the wood, and 

 then with sufficient pressure the knife 

 is drawn toward the operator and a 

 single stroke does the work. 



Yellow Sweet Clover 



According to R. L. Snodgrass, in 

 Gleanings, the time to sow sweet clover 

 in Kansas is any time between Dec. 1 

 and Feb. 1, as the seed germinates best 

 if it freezes a few times in the ground. 

 He values especially the yellow variety, 

 as will be seen by the following : 



There is no other clover that is sucli a 

 soil-reno\ater as sweet clover. I have been 

 pasturing my clover ever since one month 

 after I cut llie wheat. When I turned my 

 cows on it they doubled the flow of milk, 

 and it is still green as it can be at this writ- 

 ing. Dec. ^. and my cows are still grazing on 

 it— the white clover. I have also a i5-acre 

 tield of the yellow variety on rented ground 

 that is about one foot high, and just as green 

 as in mid-summer. I haven't turned the 

 stock on this yet, bvit expect to do so soon. 

 I prefer the yellow variety to the white, as it 

 is an earlier bloomer and makes more pas- 

 ture, as it will stand closer grazing. The 

 hay is also much finer, and cures more 

 quickly, and therefore is ready to stack 

 much sooner than the white; and I believe, 

 too. that the stock eat it more readily. 



Now. the most important feature of it all is 

 that it is an earlier bloomer by 2 or 3 weeks 

 than the white, or alfalfa either, and conse- 

 quently it puts the bees in good condition 

 for the alfalfa honey-flow; and if the first 

 crop of alfalfa fails to bloom, as is usual in 

 Kansas, the yellow sweet clover lasts until 

 the second crop of alfalfa is in full bloom. 



"Am Bieneustautl " 



Under the title " Am Bienenstand," 

 which might be freely translated " In 

 the Apiary," a German bee-book has 

 been received which is written by Au- 

 gust Ludwig, and contains 14(1 clearly 

 printed pages with 109 illustrations. It 

 is published in paper covers for 25 

 cents, by Fritz Pfenningstorf, Berlin, 

 Germany. 



In some things there is a difference 

 between the teachings in this work and 

 the usual teachings in this country, and 

 in many things the teachings are the 

 same. It is reckoned that in moder- 

 ately favorable years, with suitable pas- 

 turage, there will be a harvest of 20 

 pounds per colony and .50 percent in- 

 crease. That does not look very good 

 to an American bee-keeper. But when 

 he is told that prices are such that this 

 would mean a yield of $5 per colony, 

 he does not feel like commiserating his 

 German brother. 



The size of frame unhesitatingly rec- 

 ommended for all hives is 40x2.j centi- 

 meters (l-j.7-5.x9.84 inches) /« //w clear. 

 The frame is hung with the larger 

 dimension horizontal, 9 frames are 

 used, and the hive is called a " lager- 

 beute " (a flat or lying hive), and if the 

 larger dimension is vertical, 12 frames 

 are used, and the hive is called " Staen- 

 derbeute" (upright hive). This latter 

 gives about the same comb surface as 

 \Z/i Langstroth frames, and ought to 

 satisfy a Dadant for room. 



The advantages of having hives scat- 

 tered in the open as in this country are 

 considered, " yet over and against these 

 advantages stand many more and much 

 greater disadvantages." Chief of these 

 are the dangers of stings and robbing. 

 An American bee-keeper will feel a bit 

 amused to be told that every hive 

 opened invites robbers, and this may 



be so bad that by the time tlie second 

 or third hive is opened the work nnist 

 stop so as not to endanger the whole 

 apiary, for robbing has already become 

 so bad in many cases that whole api- 

 aries have fallen a sacrifice to it. In 

 spite of this our large bee-keepers find 

 little difficulty in keeping up the work 

 all day long, even when little honey is 

 coming in. 



Frames are wired vertically, and 

 there may be a question whether we 

 would not do well to return to the 

 same fashion. But it sounds a little 

 strange to be told to let the foundation 

 come down within an inch or so of the 

 bottom-bar in each brood-frame so as 

 to leave a space for the bees to build 

 drone-comb. 



Before and Ai'ter the Snow-Stonn 



I send herewith two photographs of 

 the apiary on my fruit-farm. One shows 

 the hives (which contain 14 frames in 

 the supers) before the last snow-storm. 



Before the Snow-Storm. 



and the other shows the same hives 

 after the snow-storm. The hives have 

 frequently been covered or buried in 

 snow like this, and yet the bees came 

 out in good condition in the spring. 



You notice that the covers of the 

 supers are held on with a hook which 

 prevents them from blowing off. Be- 

 yond the apiary in the first photograph 

 you can see my barn and apiary where 

 I keep 200 flying homer pigeons. 



F. D. Clum, M. D. 



Cheviot, N. Y., Feb. 8. 



Foul Brood Iteiii.s 



Charles Stewart, one of the New 

 York foul-brood inspectors says, in 

 Gleanings, that in both American and 

 European foul brood, the intensity of 

 the odor varies greatly. He has sfen 

 yards where one could smell the dis- 

 ease before reaching the yard, while in 

 others, where the disease had lost some 

 of its virulence, one could get the odor 

 only by putting a comb close to the 

 nose. 



In European foul brood most of the 

 affected larvae die just previous to the 

 proper time for capping. (E. W. Alex- 

 ander says when they are 2 to 4 days 

 old.) 



After disinfecting thousands of hives 

 in years gone by, just as good results 

 are now obtained without disinfecting, 

 merely treating the diseased colonies 

 in their own hives. Mr. Stewart says : 



"Formerly, it was thought necessary to 

 shake again in 3 or 4 days; but we find the 

 average number reinfected is about i to 10, 

 so we prefer to watch these colonies treated, 

 and treat the tenth one rather than all of 

 them a second time." 



After the Ssow-Storm. 



Foul Brood Law in Switzerland 



ihe following is a translation of the 

 Swiss law on foul brood, lately passed 

 by the government of Switzerland. It 

 shows that the question of foul brood 

 is being solved by other countries, and 

 that some of our States are not staying 

 in the front row. Let us not get too 

 far back ; the world is apparently mov- 

 ing ahead. 



The translation was made by Mr. C. 

 P. Dadant. from the French, as taken 

 from the Bulletin de la Suisse Romande, 

 of which he is a regular contributor, 

 and reads as follows : 



The Federal Council of Switzerland passed 

 the following law. under date of Dec. 3. iwo: 



1. Foul brood among bees (stinking, or 

 otherwise, and pickled broodi is hereby rec- 

 ognized as an infectious, contagious disease, 

 presenting a general danger; it is inserted 

 as No. 12. in the list of epizootics mentioned 

 in Article 24 of the regulations of Oct. 24. 

 1887. upon policy measures to be enforced 

 against such diseases. 



2. The separate Cantons shall designate 

 competentpersons inspectors of foul brood . 

 who will order and superintend the treat- 

 ment and disinfection of diseased colonies, 

 and shall inspect diseased apiaries. The 

 exercise of these functions may be commit- 

 ted by the Cantons to the associations of 

 bee-keepers. 



5. Every owner of bees suffering from foul 

 brood shall make immediate declaration of 

 it to the competent authorities. It shall be 

 required to observe in every manner the in- 

 structions given him by the inspector or his 

 delegates, lend his aid. as much as in his 

 iower. to the work of cleansing and disin- 

 licting his apiary, and employ for this pur- 

 I'ose such persons as may be in his service. 



4. It is forbidden to sell, loan or give away 

 colonies, hives or utensils from an infected 

 apiary. The unoccupied hives and the honey 

 receptacles and combs shall be enclosed so 

 as to be out of reach of bees. No colony may 



