March. 1915. 



American ^qh Joarnal 



about one-third afflicted with a new 

 disease that was unlike the old Ameri- 

 can foulbrood with which I was famil- 

 iar. As it was a disease of the brood I 

 killed all the queens and later replaced 

 them after the brood was all hatched 

 out. 



It disappeared in the fall, and the 

 next spring we had very little of it. 

 The following year was very poor for 

 honey, and it again appeared with irre- 

 sistible force. In mild cases it usually 

 disappears in the fall, but unless some- 

 ing is done to check it, the disease 

 usually reappears in the second brood 

 next spring. We did everything for it. 

 We shook them on clean empty frames. 

 We reshook them after a few days. We 

 dosed them with lysol and carbolic 

 acid. We fumigated the combs with 

 formalin, but it reappeared. The con- 

 tagion seemed to be everywhere, in 

 neighbors' bees and bee trees. In fact, 

 there is no doubt that the mature bees 

 and the queen become diseased and 

 carry the disease. We finally went 

 back to the method I practiced the 

 first day, killed the queens and allowed 

 them to clean house. After the brood 

 has all hatched, or after three weeks, 

 give them a good queen. This gives 

 time for the removal of diseased larvae 

 and contagion. In mild cases it will 

 usually disappear. We preferred Car- 

 niolan queens : first, because they 

 are more prolific ; second, because we 

 thought them more resistent. 



When the swarms are weak and the 

 disease bad, as when the larv^ settle 

 down to the lower side of the cell like 

 a drop of pus, the colony may as well 

 be killed. 



Whoever has not had " larvce settle 

 down to the lower side of the cell like 

 a drop of pus," has not had European 

 foulbrood in its worst form. Speci- 

 mens of such brood taken from our 

 apiary have been found to be infected 

 with bacillus alfei, the cause of Euro- 

 pean foulbrood. I u»e this compari- 

 son because the larvae drop down 

 without form and of the color of pus. 

 There may be different types of Euro- 

 pean foulbrood, but I have supposed 

 there was only one, differing in degree 

 or virulence. Dzierzon speaks of two 

 kinds. He advised, as earlv as 1857, the 



" well-timed removal of the queen from 

 incipiently infected colonies" as a 

 cure. 



Forty two years ago, in transferring 

 some bees into Quinby frames, Capt. 

 Hetherington discovered that I had 

 bought some (American) foulbrood. 

 Capt. Hetherington had had much ex- 

 perience with it. Later when it was 

 proposed by influential bee-men to call 

 this " New York State disease," the old 

 fashioned foulbrood with variations, I 

 vigorously opposed it. feeling that my 

 experience with both diseases justified 

 me in doing so. We, therefore, kept 

 up the agitation until the question was 

 decided right. 



With some diseases in the human 

 family, those who survive become im- 

 mune or partially so, and I believe this 

 is somewhat the case with this disease 

 among bees. A noted beekeeper from 

 England once told Capt. Hetherington 

 that the bees in a large section in his 

 country were practically immune to 

 European foulbrood. 



If you want to know anything more 

 about our experience I will answer 

 promptly, but don't ask me for an in- 

 fallible cure, for I know of none. 



Fort Plain, N. Y. 



Beekeeping in the Boise Valley, 

 Idaho 



BY GEORGE W. YORK. 



BEEKEEPING is one of the grow- 

 ing minor industries along the 

 agricultural line in the State of 

 Idaho. In what is known as the Boise 

 Valley, which is one of the larger irri- 

 gated districts of the State, there are 

 many successful producers of honey. 

 Among the more extensive beekeepers 

 is E. F. Atwater, of Meridian, who has 

 a total of 1100 colonies scattered 

 around in 13 different out-apiaries. The 

 major portion of his crop is extracted 

 honey, which he disposes of in both 

 glass and tin packages. 



The season of 101-1 was one of the 

 poorest experienced in his locality in 

 recent years. His average per colony 

 was only .50 pounds. One year his 

 average was 1-50 pounds, and that sea- 



son he had a total of around 80,000 

 pounds. 



The principal sources of honey here 

 are alfalfa and sweet clover, the latter 

 growing in abundance mainly along 

 the irrigation ditches that extend in 

 many directions all over this beautiful 

 valley. 



Mr. Atwater finds almost unlimited 

 demand for his product, the main difli- 

 culty being to produce enough to sup- 

 ply the market. He not only furnishes 

 the grocers of Boise — a city of some 

 .30,000 people — but ships in all direc- 

 tions. 



The picture shown herewith repre- 

 sents an experiment that Mr. Atwater 

 made in 1911 and 1912, to see if a loca- 

 tion could be overstocked. There were 

 540 colonies in this one apiary, and the 

 average secured per colony was only 

 about 35 pounds. He concluded that 

 there were too many colonies in the 

 apiary, in view of the extent of the 

 honey-producing blossoms in the im- 

 mediate vicinity, although in a really 

 good season he doubts that this locality 

 can be easily overstocked. 



Mr. Atwater's apiaries are being 

 located farther and farther away from 

 his home, as it seems that for some 

 reason he is not getting the results he 

 formerly secured in the old locations. 

 He is discovering some new places 

 which he believes in the near future 

 will produce excellent crops of honey. 

 It is Mr. Atwater's intention to run 

 his apiaries almost wholly for ex- 

 tracted honey hereafter, as it is impos- 

 sible to get the best grade of comb 

 honey in this locality. 



He uses the ordinary size frame 

 (Langstroth) for brood and for the ex- 

 tracting stories. But his bottom-bars 

 are U inch shorter than the ordinary 

 bottom-bar, which draws the lower 

 ends of the end-bars '4 inch nearer to- 

 gether when nailed. This is a kink 

 that helps to remove the frame more 

 easily from the hive than if the bottom- 

 bar were of the usual length. 



Mr. Atwater also prefers a single 

 groove in the underside of the top-bar, 

 and fastens the foundation with melted 

 beeswax rather than with the use of a 

 wedge. He says he can put the foun- 



E. F. ATWATER. OF IDAHO. KEPT 



540 COLONIES 

 BE EASILY 



IN ONE YARD 

 OVERSTOCKED 



TO FIND IF THIS LOCALITY COULD 



