March, 1912. 



American Vee Joarnal 



keeping business. If a large section 

 of country is not sweetened with his 

 honey during the coming season, and 

 those that are to follow, it will not be 

 his fault. He is still the inspector of 

 apiaries for Wisconsin, and doubtless 

 is the best informed bee-keeper in this 

 country on bee-diseases. Mr. France 

 has earned a place in American bee- 

 keeping that will always command the 

 highest respect and honor of all bee- 

 keepers everywhere. 



The officers elected for the ensuing 

 year are as follows: President, Jacob 

 Huffman; Vice-President, F. Wilco.x ; 

 Secretary, Gus Dittmer, of Augusta; 

 and Treasurer, A. C. Allen. Delegate 

 to the National convention, A. C. Allen ; 

 alternate, Harry Lathrop. 



We expect to publish a brief report 

 of the Wisconsin convention in the 

 near future. There were some most 

 excellent papers read, and the secre- 

 tary, Mr. Gus Dittmer, knows how to 

 boil down the discussions and give 

 the real cream. 



European Foul Brood in Honey. — This 

 question was asked in Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture and referred to Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips for answer. He replies : 



The question raised is. of course, impor- 

 tant; but I know of no way to answer it deli- 

 nitely. The cause of European foul brood 

 is not Itnown. and therefore we would not 

 know what to look for in the honey. Fur- 

 thermore, even for American foul brood 

 (which we know is carried in honey) it is dif- 

 ficult to find the organisms. Some practical 

 experiences would certainly indicate that 

 European foul brood is carried in honey; 

 but. on the other hand, the success which is 

 sometimes experienced with the dequeen- 

 ing method of treatment makes this some- 

 what Questionable. Every phaseof this dis- 

 ease is a puzzle, and one who can speak 

 definitely of it usually does not know. 



No More Bees In Imperial The Im- 

 perial county board of supervisors, at 

 its last meeting passed an ordinance 

 for the protection of the bee-industry 

 of that county. During the winter over 

 1300 colonies were shipped in, making 

 a total of nearly 11,800 in the county, 

 an increase of 5000 over last year. 

 Basing the estimate on last year's 

 losses, this spring should find 10,000 

 there. Owing to the Government re- 

 port of the presence of American and 

 European foul brood in other counties, 

 no more bees will be permitted to be 

 brought into that coimty. So says A. 

 F. Wagner, Inspector of Apiaries of 

 Imperial County, California. 



The G. B. Lewis Co., of Watertown, 

 Wis., are pushing things along in the 

 bee-supply manufacturing line as ardu- 

 ously as ever, if not more so. On the 

 return trip from attending the Wiscon- 

 sin convention Feb. 21st, Mr. C. P. 

 Dadant and the writer stopped off at 

 Watertown between two trains in or- 

 der to call on the Lewis Company. 

 Mr. Geo. C. Lewis, the president and 

 treasurer, was in his office, also Mr. L. 

 W. Parks, the affable and thorough- 

 going superintendent of the factory, 

 and Mr. G. E. Bacon, the sales manager, 

 were "on their jobs." 



The Lewis Company have certainly 

 done wonders in rebuilding their fac- 

 tory since the fire which destroyed it a 

 few years ago. They purchased a 5- 



acre tract along the railroad line, and 

 have almost covered the whole of it 

 with buildings, lumber yards, etc. They 

 have about a half-mile of railroad track 

 of their own. They are in a position 

 to turn out their famous " Beeware " 

 for the whole world of bee-keepers, or 

 as many of them as want to use it. The 

 G. B. Lewis Company are now in their 

 38th year of successful manufacture of 

 bee-keepers' supplies, and merit their 

 large success. 



" Forty Inches and a Bee." — Hon. 

 Eugene Secor, of Forest City, Iowa, 

 found the following couplets in the Live 

 Stock World, of Chicago, and sent them 

 in, saying, " 'Tis inloish'e farmiyig in- 

 tensified :" 



"They used to have a farmiuBrule 

 Of forty acres and a mule. 



" Results were won by later men 

 With forty square feet and a hen. 



" And nowadays success we see 

 With forty inches and a bee." 



" Goddess of Plenty " in Honey At 



the Panama-Pacific International Ex- 

 position of 1915, at San Francisco, 

 Calif., will undoubtedly be many novel 

 and unique exhibits. One of the latest 

 ideas comes from San Mateo Co., Calif. 

 Christian Stader proposes to erect a 

 statue of the " Goddess of Plenty " 

 made of honey. Mr. Stader is a bee- 

 keeper, and expects to have the bees 

 build the statue, and offers to stand it 

 up in space allotted to Santa Clara 

 county for its exhibit. This would be 

 an unusual exhibit and attract consid- 

 erable attention, especially on the part 

 of bee-keepers. 



" Carbonal " for Robber - Bees We 



have received the following from Mas- 

 sachusetts, referring to the stopping of 

 robbing among bees with carbolic acid : 



I noticed in the January American Bee 

 Journal, an article on page 6. headed. "Car- 

 bolic Acid in the Apiary." For the benefit 

 of my fellow bee-ketpers, I would like to 

 give the following; 



One day last summer, Mr. O. F. Fuller no- 

 ticed some bees robbing. He at once com- 

 menced looking for something to prevent or 

 stop them, and noticing on a table in his 

 house a sample bottle of " Carbonal " — a dis- 

 infectant— he put some in water and sprayed 

 the front of the hives, where the bees were 

 robbing. The trouble was soon over, and 

 everything quiet within a very few minutes. 



Since Mr. P'uller told ine of his experi- 

 ence I have tried it. and have always had 

 most gratifying results, and would not be 

 without it. Frank M. Keith. 



We suppose " carbonal " can be se- 

 cured at any drug-store. We hope 

 others will try it the coming season 

 and send in reports for publication. 



The National and California. — We 



have received the following letter from 

 Mr. Sebastian Iselin, of California, re- 

 ferring to the action of the California 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association: 



EmroR Amkrican Ree Journai,:— 



I am enclosing a clipping from a local 

 newspaper's editorial on the withdrawal of 

 the California Bee-Keepers' Association 

 from the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion. Personally, I regret this action very 

 much, because it seems to me. if at all. it 

 ought to have been taken bclort- the new Con- 

 stitution was adopted by the National, and 

 not just now. at the time when a new order 

 of tilings is about to take place; and the 

 officers ought to beencouraged in every pos- 

 sible way. 



Let us hope that the National will soon 

 prove that the change voted upon last fall 

 was of such importance that the California 

 Association may see its mistake, ar^d return 

 into the ranks of the National Association. 

 Sebastian Iselin. 



Stockton. Calif., Feb 12. 



The clipping referred to by Mr. Ise- 

 lin reads as follows : 



Bee-Keepers Set an Example. 



The withdrawal of the bee-keepers of 

 California from the National Association on 

 the ground that they received absolutely no 

 benefits, and. on the other hand, found it a 

 source of expense, taking funds which 

 otherwise could be very profitably used in 

 their local affairs, ought to serve as an eye- 

 opener to many other organizations in the 

 State affiliated with National bodies. There 

 are hundreds of National bodies having no 

 more excuse for their existence than the 

 fact that there is just so much loose coin in 

 the country, and that they might as well 

 have a share of it for their own ends. It 

 would be well to ponder long over affiliating 

 with National bodies. Ordinarily State or- 

 ganizations can accomplish asniuch as more 

 pretentious ones, by reason of the fact that 

 they can concentrate their whole force on 

 their own immediate territorial needs, and 

 avoid the handicap which too often goes- 

 with the efforts of vast bodies with varying 

 ends to serve. 



We are quite surprised at the action 

 of the California State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association. We believe at one time 

 there were more members of the Na- 

 tional Association in California than 

 in any other State. If all the State 

 Associations were to imitate Califor- 

 nia in its recent move, there would 

 soon be no National organization at 

 all. We have been led to think that 

 California was really the center of the 

 co-operative organizations, and now 

 for the California State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association to withdraw from the Na- 

 tional seems to be contrary to what 

 we might reasonably expect from the 

 the bee-keepers of that State. It seems 

 to us that they should stand loyally by 

 the National Association, as should 

 every other local organization of bee- 

 keepers, in order to make the National 

 of larger benefit to bee-keepers every- 

 where under its new Constitution than 

 it has ever been before, although it has 

 done some most excellent work in the 

 over 40 years of its existence. 



Of course, the National Association 

 will go right on and do its best to 

 merit the co-operation of bee-keepers 

 everywhere. We join in the hope ex- 

 pressed by Mr. Iselin, that the '| Cali- 

 fornia Association will see its mistake 

 and return into the ranks of the Na- 

 tional." 



^ 



Bee-Disease in South Africa. — The 



" Isle of Wight " disease seems to baffle 

 investigation, although it keeps on its 

 deadly conrse. Now a new trouble 

 seems to have broken out in South 

 Africa, as reported in the South Afri- 

 can Bee-Keepers' Journal. Combs con- 

 tain thousands of dead larva', but care- 

 ful analysis fails to show the presence 

 of the usual culprits in infectious dis- 

 eases. A sample of the defective brood 

 was sent to our Dr. Phillips, who re- 

 ports: 



" The sampleof brood arrived in excellent 

 condition, and in view of the importance to- 

 the bee-keepers of your country has been 

 subjected to an examination much more 

 careful than is usual for routine samples. 



'rhe irregular appearance of the brood 

 would indicate an abnormal condition, but 

 the gross appearance and microscopic and 

 bacteriological examinationsall fail to show 

 any evidence of either of the infectious dis- 



