JULY 15. 1915 



587 



brood carefully, for he is precision itself. 

 His last paragraph suggests the cause of 

 the recurrence of the disease among his bees 

 where he cays, " A mile from my (wo yards 

 is au apiary where I know foul brood has 

 existed. Jiave my bees carried the disease 

 from there after being shaken? " 



In answer to the last sentence we say, 

 probably, yes. We do not believe the re- 

 currence of foul brood in your yards was 

 due to the fact that there was only one 

 shaking instead of two, or that the Bald- 

 ridge plan was unsafe, although if one uses 

 it he takes a little risk; but if we had much 

 disease in a yard we would use it; for to 

 destroy good brood in a strong colony is a 

 big waste. By the Baldridge plan this is 

 all saved, except what is actually dead or 

 diseased. 



To sum up, it is possible that some of 

 this recurrence was due to the Baldridge 

 plan; but we venture the assertion that 99 

 l)er cent of it, if not 100, came from the 

 yard a mile away. If that other yard con- 

 tained any old combs or hives from which 

 the bees had died the previous winter, the 



Anderson bees would be almost sure to find 

 (liern; and it' (here was infection in them 

 they would carry it to their own lii\es. It 

 IS a well-known fact that the first colonies to 

 die in winter are those that had foul brood 

 (he previous fall. If, therefore, there were 

 dead colonies in (hat 3'ard a mile away, 

 (here is a strong probability that they con- 

 tained diseased honey. 



We would suggest that Mr, Andei-son 

 either buy out that yard or get his neighbor 

 to treat it. 



Years ago, when we had foul brood ex- 

 tensively in our home apiary, we shook only 

 once on foundation; and we never, in all 

 the hundred or so of colonies shaken, have 

 had a recurrence. Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the 

 Department of AgTieulture, has told us that 

 one shaking is ordinarily sufficient; and, if 

 we are correct, he advises only one shaking. 



We shall be glad to hear from our foul- 

 brood inspectors — especially N. E. France, 

 and any of the old-time inspectors in New 

 York. If two shakings are necessary to 

 make it sui'e to cure American foul brood, 

 we are willing to be shown. — Ed.] 



CARLOADS OF BEES MOVING NORTHWARD TO MEDINA 



Some New Tricks in Loading Hives into a Car, whereby nearly 400 Colonies can 



be put into a 36-foot Car 



BY E. R. ROOT 



The first two carloads of bees have ar- 

 rived — one from Virginia, and one from 

 Texas. Announcements concerning the ar- 

 rival of these cars appear in our issue for 

 June 1, page 431, and June 15, page 521. 

 Still another one will come from Virginia 

 some time in July or August. 



The aim was to get the two first cars here 

 before the opening of clover. The first car 

 from Virginia arrived in ample time. The 

 second car did not arrive until June 20 on 

 account of unfavorable weather in Texas. 

 Mr. Harry Davenport, one of our yard men, 

 came with both cars. The distance was con- 

 siderably greater on the second car, and 

 on account of this we arranged to put in 

 ten barrels of water, or enough to last prac- 

 tically the entire trip. Giving the bees 

 water at intervals when (he weather is very 

 warm, in the form of a spray, is veiy 

 essential. A little force pump is used to 

 throw the water on the screens where the 

 bees cluster tightly on the wire cloth; and 

 where the temperature seems to be high 

 enough to be dangerous to the bees or brood 

 a little cooling spray not only gives them a 

 drink, but evaporation immediately lowers 



the tempei'ature. The bees wiU drop back 

 from the wire cloth and go on to the 

 combs where they should be. As soon as 

 they get hot and roar again they are given 

 another light spray. It can be imagined 

 that the attendant, if the weather is very 

 hot, has all he can do to keep the bees cool, 

 and experience shows that he is busy both 

 night and day. As we have before stated, 

 traveling with a carload of bees is no Pull- 

 man job. The gas from the locomotive in 

 going through tunnels is unpleasant to the 

 attendant and the cinders fall on the wire- 

 cloth screens, although we have less of this 

 accumulation by the new method of loading, 

 which I shall now proceed to describe. 



For the convenience of the reader we will 

 reproduce the two cuts as they appear on 

 page 57, Jan. 15, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. 

 Fig. .3 shows the piles of hives and crates 

 after they are loaded in the car. One of 

 the crates (see Fig. 1) is placed on the car 

 bottom, as shown in Fig. 2. As this picture 

 was taken when the bees were moved in 

 October, the ordinary box car was employ- 

 ed ; but when moving the bees north, a cattle- 

 car was used, but the method of loading is 



