212 



July, 1012. 



trying to spread the disease all I could. 

 The thing to be on the lookout for 

 is the yellowish brood. It is not yel- 

 low, but yellowish, yet that yellowish 

 hue makes it so distinctly different 

 from the pearly white of healthy brood 

 that you will easily spot it if there be 

 onlv a single cell in a hive, just as you 

 would spot one black sheep in a big 

 flock of white ones. In any case, if 

 there is anything of a suspicious ap- 

 pearance about the brood, write to Dr. 

 !•:. F. Phillips, Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, Washington, D. C, for a box in 

 which to send him a sample. 



Besides the reputation for rapid 

 spreading, European foul brood has 

 the reputation of reappearing after ap- 

 parent cure more than the American. 

 That reputation seems to be confirmed 

 in this locality. A number of cases 

 have apparently vielded to treatment, 

 and after a time the disease has shown 

 up again. This with both the brushing 

 and the dequeenin!> method. Of course, 

 I can not tell how that compares with 

 American foul brood, for I have had 

 none of that brand of the disease, and 

 am not verv anxious to have it, even 

 for the pleasure of experimenting with 

 it. And here is a good place to say by 

 way of parenthesis, that there has been 

 a grim sort of pleasure in experiment- 

 ing with European foul brood, a pleas- 

 ure very real in spite of its grimness. 

 But as to the disease reappearing of its 

 own accord, I can not speak with any 

 degree of positiveness, for • I can not 

 tell in anv case that the bees have not 

 contracted the disease from some in- 

 fected colony in the surrounding neigh- 

 borhood. 



Now as to choice of treatment be- 

 tween the shaking or McEvoy plan and 

 the dequeening, or Alexander plan. 

 The shaking plan is supposed to be 

 equally efficacious in both kinds of 

 foul brood, the dequeening only in 

 European foul brood. Dr. Phillips is 

 strongly opposed to the dequeening 

 plan. I have great respect for the 

 opinions of Dr. Phillips, and a strong 

 friendship for the man. But I can 

 not see this matter in the same light 

 that he does. Very likely our differ- 

 ent view-points have something to do 

 with our views. Dr. Phillips is en- 

 gaged in a very earnest crusade against 

 the diseases that have already made 

 such havoc, and that are sure to do 

 still more havoc if left to their own 

 course. He thinks that while the de- 

 queening plan may be safe in the hands 

 of those sufficiently skilled, it may not 

 be so in the hand-- of others, and so it 

 is better that all infected combs should 

 be destroyed. I look upon it from the 

 standpoint of one who has been 

 through the fire, with the wish that 

 others may be saved some of the 

 scorching experience. Perhaps that 

 does not verv fairly express it, for 1 

 am sure that Dr. Phillips wants to save 

 others just as much as I— possibly 

 more But here's the thing, that comes 

 up before me; it is the sight of those 

 hundreds of empty frames out of which 

 combs had been cut, good combs ex- 

 cept for the disease, which combs were 

 all melted up because I thought that 

 was the onlv safe thing to do. I don t 

 know enough about it to be entirely 

 sure, but I think I might have been 

 just as well off to have saved all those 



American ^ee Journal 



combs, if I had known enough in the 

 first place to have used the Alexander 

 plan, or a modification of it. I sup- 

 pose I may be told, " Even if you do so, 

 others will not be so careful, and in 

 the hands of the inexperienced the 

 fooling with the disease and trying to 

 save the combs will be the means of 

 spreading European foul brood still 

 more." 



I don't doubt that looks like reason- 

 able ground, but the very persons who 

 hold it have taken different ground 

 with regard to American foul brood. 

 If it be the right thing to take such 

 very conservative ground in the case 

 of European, why not say, " The only 

 safe way with American is to burn up 

 bees, brood, combs, hives, everything ?" 

 And that is just what some think is the. 

 best thing, provided only a single col- 

 ony is in question, but when it comes to 

 a considerable number we are advised 

 to save what can be saved ; the bees, the 

 unaffected brood, the wax that is in the 

 combs, and the hives. In the case of 

 European foul brood, if we can get a 

 step farther, and save good combs 

 without melting them into wax, why 

 object so strenuously to that? Is it 

 taking so much more risk than we take 

 in saving all the other things ? 



But the saving of the combs is not 

 ihe only difference in the two kinds of 



saving of comb is the smaller part of 

 the gain. 



Taking all this into consideration, it 

 seems to me the right thing that the 

 whole truth should be known, and run 

 the risk of carelessness in some cases, 

 just as we run the risk of carelessness 

 by recommending shaking in the case 

 of American foul brood, rather than to 

 insist that in all cases a funeral pyre 

 must be made of the hive and every- 

 thing in it. 



Marengo, 111. 



Buckwheat Growing in the 

 East 



BY GRANT STANLEY. 



Until a few years ago the bulk of the 

 buckwheat crop was grown in a few 

 favored localities. A few farmers out- 

 side of these districts, however, man- 

 aged to grow about what was required 

 for their own use. As a result, along 

 with the increasing demand for this 

 product, the price has been forced up 

 to nearly that of wheat. But in the 

 last few years farmers everywhere 

 throughout this section of the country 

 are manifesting nearly as much inter- 

 est in the growing of buckwheat as 

 they are in the growth of other crops. 



A KiKi.u OK Buckwheat in Bi.oom. 



treatment. Take 2 colonies side by 

 side, alike in all respects, each of them 

 similarly affected by European foul 

 brood. Treat the one by shaking, 

 same as for American foul brood, and 

 treat the other by leaving it without a 

 laying queen for a certain time. Then 

 compare the 2 colonies as to strength 

 a month later. The latter will be 

 much the stronger. The difference 

 will be accentuated if the season be a 

 very poor one, in some cases the 

 shaken colony being only a rem- 

 nant of its former self, sometimes 

 so discouraged as to desert by swarm- 

 ing out. Indeed, I should say that the 



Land that has been standing idle for 

 years and permitted to run wild with 

 briars and golden-rod is now being 

 broken up and planted to buckwheat. 

 No buckwheat was grown in the to\yn- 

 ship in which the writer resides until '.\ 

 years ago, while, at present, one-third 

 of the farmers are growing it. 



This is certainly a good indication 

 that the growth of buckwheat is to be 

 materially increased, and that we need 

 not feel any alarm about exhausting 

 the supply from which we get the cakes 

 that have been so beautifully set to 

 song and story, and which grace our 



