.lANUARY 1, 1915 



Dr. C. C. Miller 



ITMAY §TEAW§ I Mare„,„,I.I 



I ExPEKiMENTS reported p. .987 

 soem to show that poison which 

 kills codling moth doesn't hurt bees. 

 The proof is negative, but I sup- 

 pose it will have to stand unless 



some one comes along with positive 



proof that in another ease it does 



kill l)ees. [See editorial elsewhere. — Ed.] 



CoxsinKKiXG the pages and pages that 

 l.avo been written about the trouble with 

 candy and syrup, I wonder if we won't 

 some day settle down upon it that the wise 

 thing is for each beekeeper, if he can't have 

 on hand a stock of sealed combs, to have at 

 least enough candied honey, " own make," 

 constantly on hand to meet all emergencies. 



G. M. DoOLiTTLE 'fesses, p. 973, that he 

 makes mistakes and failures. Thank you — 

 thank you kindly, Bro. Doolittle; glad to 

 have company. Then Editor Root admits 

 that he doesn't know every thing by appeal- 

 ing for " light on this matter " of feeding 

 honey vs. sugar, p. 963. Really, one great 

 beauty of beekeejiing is that you never get 

 to the end — always something more to learn. 



•• Light Unify snow " to close entrances 

 when cellaring bees, p. 9G3. Good! Wet 

 rags when no snow. Better than either, the 

 way mine were carried in this year — just 

 l)icked up and carried in with open en- 

 trances, and no veils. That should be pos- 

 sible at -JO degrees or lower, when bees have 

 flown two or three days previously. Mine 

 went in the same day as yours, Dec. 8, at 

 2G degi'ees. 



George Shiber, you use the Doolittle 

 plan to shake bees off extracting-combs on 

 the gi'ound, p. 988. With heavy combs I 

 wonder if you wouldn't find it a little quick- 

 er and a good deal easier to try the pendu- 

 lum plan. Take hold of one end of the 

 top-bar; swing up the comb in front of 

 you with the bottom-bar pointing forward, 

 then let the other end of the top-bar strike 

 the gi'ound with comb in such position that 

 the cornel- of the frame on the ground and 

 the diagonally opposite corner shall be in 

 a vertical line. 



OxcE when I was at Medina a colony 

 with American foul brood was at night 

 thrown into a furnace, and hive, combs, 

 bees, every thing, burned up. That's a safe 

 treatment. Yet you would hardly advise it, 

 Mr. Editor, nowadays, even for a careless 

 beekeeper, if he had a dozen afTected colo- 

 nies. You wuuld certainly save the bees, 

 and probably the hive and the healthy brood. 



You think, p. 882, that if you had European 

 foul brood you'd destroy the combs. Likely 

 enough, just as at first you destroyed bees 

 in cases of American foul brood. But I 

 feel sure you would learn that it is just as 

 safe to save combs with European foul 

 brood as it is to save bees with American 

 foul brood. Moreover, please remember that 

 with me European foul brood came back as 

 mucli with shaking as with dequeening. Say 

 — isn't it a bit ungrateful in you, Mr. Edi- 

 tor, to go back on me for advocating the 

 saving of combs in European foul brood 

 when I began it just to please you? [No, 

 we did not go back on you. We stated that, 

 with your knowledge and your environment, 

 we would do exactly as you are doing. We 

 only thought it was a little dangerous to tell 

 the general jDublic that it was safe to use 

 the old combs over again that have been af- 

 fected with European foul brood. While it 

 is true we originally promulgated the idea 

 that such combs could be saved (and Ave 

 believe they can be in the hands of an 

 expert), j'et we, as publishers of Glean- 

 ings, are dealing with the great masses who 

 are not experts; hence our advice to burn 

 the combs as a general proposition. While 

 we believe we can save the combs of Euro- 

 pean foul brood, yet on the other hand we 

 are selling colonies in nuclei to beekeepers 

 all over the United States; and it would be 

 unwise for us to send out any combs, even 

 after they have been cleaned up by the 

 bees, that have once contained European 

 foul brood, and Ave would be seA-erely cen- 

 sured if Ave did. Y^ou yourself Avould folloAv 

 our policy. 



We realize the fact that it is a little 

 difficult to be entirely consistent clear 

 through unless we take into consideration the 

 parties Avith whom Ave are dealing. It does 

 look as if we Avere reA-ersing our policy to 

 advocate burning the combs of European 

 foul brood Avhen it Avas Ave who made public 

 the Alexander treatment and published 

 many articles indorsing it, shoAving that 

 the combs of European foul brood could be 

 saAed. If Ave had it to do OA'er again we 

 Avould do it again, because in so doing Ave 

 Avould save experts thousands of dollars. 

 If Ave Avere in the business of honey produc- 

 tion only and were not shijiping bees or 

 colonies, Ave Avould burn no combs contain- 

 ing only European foul brood, because we 

 believe our knowledge and experience Avould 

 enable us to do just as you have done. 

 There, noAv, doctor, have we made ourself 

 clear?— Ei).] 



