July, 1912. 



199 



American Bac Journal 



)^^^^^ , 



Miller's Answers." Perhaps in the 

 book there is some point about which 

 further explanation is needed. Dr. 

 Miller will be glad to help in such a 

 case. Something special may arise in 

 your experience that the book does 

 not touch upon. Ask about it. 



Occasionally some one writes that 

 he has been watching to find among 

 the answers something in which he is 

 interested, and appears to have a griev- 

 ance that he has found nothing. Has 

 it never occurred to him that if all 

 would wait for questions asked by 

 others there would be no questions, 

 and consequently no answers ? l3un't 

 wait for some one else to ask your 

 question, ask it yourself. Proper ques- 

 tions are desired and welcomed. 



If you will take notice of the large 

 amount of matter contained in one 

 number, you will realize that there 

 ought to be room for many subjects, 

 and that a magazine which goes to so 

 many different localities and countries 

 must necessarily contain great variety. 

 Some things which may not be of in- 

 terest to you will interest others, and 

 there is not a magazine in the world 

 which will give only such information 

 as vou mav want for vour individual 

 self. 



Sometimes a question is sent in, say 

 the last of June, with the injunction, 

 "Be sure to get this in the July num- 

 ber," when it may be that at the very 

 moment that injunction is being writ- 

 ten the paper is already on the press, 

 with no possibility of the question be- 

 ing answered until a month later. And 

 it may be that the question is one that 

 might just as well have been asked a 

 month or two earlier, only it did not 

 seem so pressing then, and so was put 

 off. It should be remembered that it 

 takes time for a letter to travel in the 

 mail, and then a much longer time for 

 the answer to be put into print. In 

 some cases it may make a difference of 

 a month as to whether a question is 

 sent direct to Dr. Miller or to this 

 office. In all cases it is a little better 

 to send direct to him, although ques- 

 tions will be cheerfully forwarded to 

 him from this office. 



Questions from the ladies should be 

 sent to Miss Emma Wilson, Marengo, 

 111., such questions always having the 

 right of way, and getting the best at- 

 tention that can be given both by Miss 

 Wilson and Dr. Miller. 



It hardly need be said to any thought- 

 ful person that he should not expect 

 Dr. Miller to make an exception in his 

 case and send an answer by mail. If 

 that should be done in one case it 

 should be done in all cases, and there 

 would be no department of questions 

 and answers. All should be treated 

 alike. 



C'ougratulatioii.s Keceivetl 



The Editor acknowledges the many 

 complimentary letters received from 

 friends in all parts of the wor'.d con- 

 cerning his new position. They are 

 appreciated, indeed. We would be 

 proud to publish some of them, espe- 

 cially those from our most esteemed 

 friend, Prof. A. J. Cook, now Commis- 

 sioner of Horticulture in California. 

 But it will be better to try to deserve 



half of the good words spoken so 

 kindly.; 



A 3Ioetiiifr of Bee-Men in Ea.st- 

 ern llliuois 



The Editor was present at a meeting 

 hurriedly called at Watseka, HI., on 

 June 8, for a field demonstration. In- 

 spector Kildow, his deputy I. E. Pyles 

 Jesse H. Rol erts and H. S. Duby, offi- 

 cers of the Eastern Illinois Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, and several others 

 were present. A report of this meet- 

 ing, and of another to be held a little 

 later at St. Anne, III., will be published 

 in the journal. The bees have suffered 

 greatly in eastern Illinois, and there is 

 very little white clover. 



Cause of European Foul Brood 



We mentioned last month Circular 

 No. 157, issued by United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, written by G 

 F. White, M.D., Ph.D. With praise- 

 worthy persistence Dr. White has con- 

 tinued his efl:'ort for several years to 

 trace to his lair the miscreant that 

 causes European foul brood, and at 

 last his efforts have been rewarded. 

 One bacterium after another has been 

 named by different investigators as 

 perhaps the right one, but with no 

 great certainty. As early as 1S107, in 

 the investigations of Dr. White, a cer- 

 tain micro-organism came under sus- 

 picion, which he referred to as Bacil- 

 lus Y. He now feels warranted in an- 

 nouncing that this is the real cause of 

 European foul brood, and has named 

 MBacillus ;plulon. Those who are in- 

 terested in learning the successive 

 steps by which Dr. White reached his 

 conclusion will do well to send 5 cents 

 to the Superintendent of Documents, 

 Government Printing Office, Washing- 



ton. D. C, to obtain a copy of the cir- 

 cular. 



The average reader will not be so 

 much interested in this scientific phase 

 of the subject as he will in the instruc- 

 tion as to diagnosis. When healthy 

 larv:L- of such size as to fill quite full 

 the bottom of the cell while still coiled 

 up, are slightly magnified, a peristalsis 

 like motion of their bodies is easily 

 seen, but if the larva; are sick this mo- 

 tion may frequently be seen by the 

 naked eye. If, instead of the gl'isten- 

 ing white or bluish-white appearance 

 of healthy larva:, one observes some 

 that are more transparent, or that pos- 

 sess a very slight yellowish tint, fre- 

 quently such larva: are diseased. Some 

 other means of diagnosis that are given, 

 to be used while the larv;e are still 

 alive, will hardly be applied by the rank 

 and file of bee-keepers. 



If we may depend upon Dr. White's 

 researches, we now know that Hacilliis 

 alvei, so long considered the cause of 

 foul brood, is not a cause of disease in 

 bees at all, although often found in 

 large numbers in diseased brood; also 

 that American foul brood is caused by 

 Bacillus larTtc, and that European foul 

 brood is caused by Bacillus f^lulon, s.\- 

 though as to this latter Dr. White says : 

 "This organism is an unusual one, and 

 the classification has not yet been defi- 

 nitely determined. The generic name 

 'Bacillus,' therefore, may, and prob- 

 ably will, be changed later." 



Is Pa.st 80 Years Old 



Mr. Edouard Bertrand, of Nyon, 

 Switzerland, former editor of the Revue' 

 Internationale D'Apiculture, was 80 

 years old on May Kith. 



VVe wish him many more happy an- 

 niversaries. 



Miscellaneous ^ News Items 



Sweet-Clover Bulletin.— The United 

 States Department of Agriculture has 

 issued a valuable bulletin entitled, 

 " Sweet Clover," written by J. M. West- 

 gate, Agronomist, and H. N. Vinall, 

 Assistant Agrosfologist. The views of 

 bee-keepers as to the value of sweet 

 clover as a forage plant are likely to be 

 somewhat partial, hence have little 

 weight with neighboring farmers. Here 

 is a document that from its source 

 should be considered rigidly impartial, 

 written in the interest of farmers, and 

 so should have weight with them. 



A few extracts will be of interest, 

 and here follow : 



It is of so much value, when rightly uti- 

 lized, that its extension where it will not 

 prove a menace should be encouraged by 

 every let:itimate means. Its value as a 

 honey-plant has long been recognized, but 

 its efficiency in increasing the fertility of 

 run down soils is less widely known. Us uti- 

 lization as a pasture, hay. and soiling crop is 

 even yet practiced only locally thpoughout 

 this country, but the extent of such utiliza- 

 tion is steadily increasing The fact that 

 the bacteria on its' roots are capable of in- 

 oculating alfalfa makes it a valuable crop to 



occupy the land immediately before seed- 

 ing alfalfa The sweet clover not only in- 

 oculates the soil, but the large roots do 

 much toward breaking up and aerating the 

 subsoil, a condition which is very favorable 

 to the growth of the alfalfa plants. 



It makes its best growth on rich, well- 

 limed ground, but will make satisfactory 

 growth on very poor limestone soils It 

 succeeds on newly-exposed clay soils that 

 presumably lack lime, but does not spread 

 rapidly in clay soils outside of the lime- 

 stone sections. When wanted for hay it 

 will usually pay to seed it on fairly good 

 soil, but for pasture the poorer fields of the 

 farm can be made to yield returns that will 

 justify the utilization of this crop upon them 

 Its value comes not only from the pasture 

 obtained, but also from the improvement 

 resulting to such poor soils, especially if 

 they be of limestone origin. After a few 

 years in sweet clover, during which consid- 

 erable pasture can be utilized, the ground 

 will be brought into much better conditions 

 for cultivated crops than it was before the 

 sweet clover was established. 



Sweet clover requires a thoroughly 

 compact seed-bed with just enough 

 loose soil on top to cover the seed. 

 Failures on cultivated soil have prob- 

 ably generally been due to the fact that 



