GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Don't know what treatment I may use lat- 

 er; but as a starter I've adopted the car- 

 bon-disnltide-furnace treatment — earbon- 

 disulfide for the bees, and then the furnace 

 for bees and combs. [While we are awful- 

 ly sorry for you, yet we cannot repress a 

 feeling" of satisfaction that what will be 

 your loss will be a gain, perhaps, to the 

 fraternity at large. We believe that bee- 

 keepers have profited greatly by your ex- 

 perience with European foul brood. While 

 your plan for European will not work in 

 all cases and in all localities and with all 

 strains of bees, it will work in a good many 

 cases. After all, is not this the basis of the 

 Alexander treatment? — ^Ed.] 



" Familiarity breeds contempt." I sup- 

 pose it's according to that old adage that 

 R. F. Holtermann, p. 707, thinks American, 

 and I think European foul brood the lesser 

 of the two evils. With his vigorous treat- 

 ment I don't believe he'll have much trouble 

 with European foul brood. At present I 

 don't believe I dread European foul brood 

 any more than I dreaded wax-moth with 

 black bees. R. F. rather belittles the dam- 

 age from destroying combs; but I've found 

 that shaking means the loss of half to the 

 whole of the surplus for that season, while 

 with European foul brood the caging of 

 the queen for ten days makes little impres- 

 sion on the harvest. And taken in time 

 that caging is all that's ever needed. But 

 we'll know more about it a year from now, 

 Bro. Holtermann. [We should like to get 

 reports from our subscribers Avho have tried 

 this ten-day caging plan of Dr. Miller's for 

 the treatment of European foul brood. 

 While you are a.bout it, do not get the plan 

 mixed np with the American disease, for it 

 will not work. — Ed.1 



Mr. Editor, you ask, p. 701, my opinion 

 of the Fowls i)lan of swarm control. Please 

 understand that my quarrel with Miss lona, 

 April 15, J). 261, was not at all about the 

 value of the .Fowls plan, but because she 

 said " putting the queenless colony right on 

 top with nothing but the honey-board be- 

 tween the chances are that the 



swarming tendency would very rapidly de- 

 velop into a mania," for I had done that 

 very thing many a time, at all stages of the 

 swarming fever, up to sealed cells, and even 

 after the colony had swarmed, and it al- 

 ways cured the fever instead of developing 

 a mania. What's that? "Want me to stick 

 to the point and i^ny what I tliink of the 

 Fowls plan?" Well, it's excellent. Splen- 

 did! I'm not sure about that philosophy 

 about the young bees, but it's quite possible 

 that there is an advantage in having those 

 intervening empty supers; for without them 



I've known the queen to sulk several days 

 before laying, and it may be that with the 

 Fowls ]ilan she goes promptly to work. If 

 no increa.se is desired, all that's needed is 

 to kill cells again in 8 days. Yes, it's a 

 good plan, and I'd give $49.98 (marked 

 down from $50.00) if I could use it. But 

 it won't do for comb honey. [The Fowls 

 are good beekoepeis; and while we will ad- 

 mit that ihej' do not know as much about 

 the production of comb honey, the dit^er- 

 ence in their expei'iences is probably ac- 

 counted for by locality as well as by the 

 kind of honey produced. The attention of 

 ^Ir. or ]\liss Fowls is hereby directed to 

 what Dr. Miller says. — Ed.] 



No matter how dry a cellar or refrigera- 

 tor may be, says ye editor, p. 698, the ten- 

 dency to granulate is hastened materially, 

 meaning, of course, hastened by the cold. 

 Very true; but isn't there such a thing as 

 honey without a tendency to granulate? 

 At any rate, I want to register my belief 

 that comb honey properly ripened will not 

 granulate with cold. That belief is based 

 on seeing honey that had been roasted in 

 an attic through the summer remain unin- 

 jured by freezing the next winter. [Prac- 

 tically all honey, both comb and extracted, 

 no matter what treatment it may have had 

 l^reviously, will granulate if given time 

 enough and subjected to alternate cold and 

 warmth. Comb honey that has stood in a 

 warm or hot attic for six months, if well 

 ripened at the time it was taken oft, prob- 

 ably would not granulate for a year if 

 exposed to continuous cold; but it will be 

 almost sure to do so the second year, espe- 

 cially if the temperature I'ises and falls. 



A very thick and Avell-ripened comb hon- 

 ey would not be injured by freezing, be- 

 cause the water content is very small com- 

 })aratively. 



But look 'e here, doctor; you do not cover 

 the point directly as to whether comb honey 

 or extracted honey should be kept in a cold 

 or hot place contimwushj. We assume, of 

 course, that you are in line with the ortho- 

 dox teaching on this jioint, although you 

 did not say so in our last issue, and now 

 you are silent again. You would not rec- 

 ommend putting a well-ripened thick or 

 attic-stored comb honey into a refrigerator 

 or ice-box and keep it there as a matter of 

 good practice. Would you not rather keep 

 honey in a warm dry ]ilace, and then store 

 it in a refrigerator, or before an open win- 

 dow in winter time, for a few hours before 

 eating? This last point has never before 

 been emphasized so far as we can remem- 

 ber, and perhaps oui' old orthodox teaching 

 should be modified slightly. — Ed,] 



