784 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



average 24-pound case of sections marked 

 " iNot less tliaii 12 ounces net " per section 

 will run anywhere from 12 to 18 ounces 

 more than tjie actual minimum weight of 

 IS pounds. The producer is permitted to 

 sell a easeful of sections at its actual 

 v^eight exclusive of the case and the wood 

 around the combs; but the weight should be 

 marked on the end of the case. On that 

 basis he gels pay for every ounce of honey 

 he sells. 



The retailer, however, will probably sell 

 the sections at so much a piece. One cus- 

 tomer will get just exactly 12 ounces, while 

 another will get I2V2, and still another 

 nearly 13 ounces; but the dealer, in order 

 to protect himself, will mark the price of his 

 sections high enough to cover the variation. 

 But there is nothing to prevent his selling 

 each individual section at its actual weight. 

 He will then be obliged to stop and figaire 

 up the price as he would that of a chunk of 

 meat or a plate of butter that is dipped 

 out of a crock. On a busy day this is im- 

 practicable. In nine cases out of ten he 

 will sell by the piece; and right here the 

 federal net-weight law, instead of being a 

 hardship, is welcomed by the dealer and 

 the buyer; and it ought to be welcomed by 

 every honest producer, because he knows 

 that his customer knows just how much he 

 is pajdng for. 



But there is another way by which our 

 correspondent can protect himself, and it is 

 used by a large number of producers and 

 wholesalers; and that is, to sell the honey 

 at so mucli per case. For instance, a 24- 

 pound case o£ sections marked " minimum 

 of 12 ounces " will bring, we will say, $2.75 

 per case, or •'t'H.OO, whatever figiire he can 

 get. A case o£ 11-ounee sections will bring- 

 correspondingly less; or, if he chooses, 

 there is nothing to prevent him from selling 

 all his comb honey at so much per ease, 

 whether it is 10, 11, or 12 ounces per sec- 

 tion. It is the usual practice to sell the 12- 

 ounce as " fancy," the 11 ounce as " No. .1," 

 and the 10 ounce as '' choice," each bring- 

 ing' a corresponding price. 



As time goes on, we believe the public 

 will appreciate the fairness of the federal 

 net-weight law, because it will operate to 

 the advantage of the honest producer and 

 dealer alike. The only fellow it hits and 

 hurts is the producer or dealer who was in 

 the habit of selling irregular sections of all 

 kinds of weight, and light sections at the 

 price of a regular and first-class graded 

 product. As it is not practicable nor nec- 

 essary to mark the actual weight on every 

 intli^ndual section, he is compelled to mark 

 ilip minimum, and to grade by weight. 



What is it — Nosema Apis, Bee Paraly- 

 sis, or What ? 



])URTNG the last tw-o months we have had 

 complaints from a good many beekeepers, 

 paiticularly in the Northwest and extreme 

 Northwest, to the effect that a peculiar 

 malady, something like bee paralysis, was 

 carrying off adult bees by the thousands. 

 They have seen traces of it other seasons, 

 but this year it is particularly bad, ruining 

 entire apiaries in some localities. 



In some places, particularly in and about 

 Portland, Oregon, the disease has disap- 

 peared. In other eases it seems to be as 

 virulent as ever. Many of the symptoms 

 are similar to those of bee paralysis, and 

 yet just enough unlike it to make one think 

 it is something else. A description of the 

 malady, whatever it is, appears to tally 

 veiy closely with the disease known as 

 " nosema apis," or Isle of Wight disease of 

 Great Britain. 



It has been found this season in parts of 

 Wisconsin, Minnesota, and clear along 

 down the Mississippi Valley ; but it seems 

 to be partictilarly severe in and about Seat- 

 tle, Wasliington. One of our subscribers, 

 Mr. M. Y. Calcutt, writes : 



I am enclosing you herewith a clipping from the 

 .Seattle Times. You will see what Prof. Trevor 

 ivincaid has to say regarding a disease that has 

 scourged the bees. 



On the 28th of July I noticed the bees were hop- 

 ping about in the gras-s, and were to be found in 

 bunches on the ground with their heads together as 

 if starving. On examining the hive I found they 

 had plenty of stores. I then examined yard No. 2, 

 and found like conditions existed there. I then 

 started out to other yards, and found the same con- 

 dition in all hives in this part of the county. Bee 

 'len from other parts were soon calling ou me to sec 

 if I could give them some advice as to what was the 

 matter v.Mth their bees, and the remedy to be ap- 

 plied. I was sorry indeed that I could do nothing 

 for them but to advi.se shaking and feeding up for 

 new broods, as all or nearly all the brood was dead 

 or dying. The disease seems to attack the larvje 

 from three dajs old to that about the time the larva 

 is to burst its cocoon. The cell-cappings are the 

 same as American foul-brood cappings. Prof. Kin- 

 caid tells mo th.it the I'ees' heads are full of spores, 

 and he is convinced the disease is communicated 

 through the flowers, which must be so, judging from 

 the rapidity with which it has spread. I am in- 

 clined to think be iruderestimates the number of 

 bees destroyed since July 28. I am fully convinced, 

 from examination of all the hives here, and those in 

 my yards, that fully SO per cent of the bees have 

 died since that date. Two-story hives do not to-day 

 contain one good frame of bees. It looks at this 

 writing as if no bees will be left. If shaking and 

 feeding will not stop it, then nil the bees are doom- 

 ed; and, as Prof. K. says, the fruit crop for 191C 

 will be small indeed. I am sending samples to 

 Washington, D. C. 



Seattle, Wash., Aug. 28. M. Y. Calcutt. 



The newspaper clipping referred to is 

 as follows: 



