GLEANINGS IN BEE CUIiTURE 



lo run is unthinkable. Leave that for the 

 careless. 



I called on one such this very week. He 

 had twenty-five colonies left, but I would 

 not give a cent apiece for them to keep. 

 The wax-worms had already destroyed the 

 combs in a large number, and those left 

 were fast reaching the stage when the 

 worms will come into full possession. I 

 advised him to treat the whole to the fumes 

 of burning sulphur, strain out the honey in 

 tlie old-fashioned way, and make the rest 

 into beeswax. 



There are other., who have no trouble, 

 although this disease is on every side of 

 them. One extensive beekeeper even told me 

 that it was a blessing in disguise, as it 

 cleans out the small slipshod beekeepers 

 and leaves the field all to himself. 



If we are to fight this disease we must 

 know its strong points as well as its weak 

 ones, that we may fight intelligently. To 

 begin with, European and American foul 

 brood are as distinct from each other as 

 two diseases well can be. I ,have had a 

 better opportunity to study European foul 

 brood this season than ever before. I find 

 one of the most striking differences in the 

 two diseases is in the rapidity with which it 

 spreads. American foul brood may be in a 

 hive for j-ears, and yet the colony do a fair 

 business, while with European foul brood 

 it very quickly runs down. Not only does 

 a colony run down quickly, but it spreads 

 from hive to hive with great rapidity ; hence 

 the necessity that the beekeeper, where this 

 disease exists, be able to recognize it at 

 once and apply the remedy. If the colony 

 is small it should, if badly infected, be 

 broken up or disturbed at once. If of fair 

 strength the queen should be removed, 

 which will stop the spread of the disease in 

 the hive, and after two or three weeks a 



young Italian queen introduced, or a virgin 

 in a week or ten days. 



Some time in June I called on a lad, 

 perhaps thirteen years of age, who had the 

 care of ten or twelve hives. I found two 

 of them had European foul brood. I gave 

 him the above directions, and when I called 

 on him in August those colonies were as 

 vigorous and healthy as one would care to 

 see. I have seen other colonies this seasor^ 

 clean up in the same way. 



Now, here is a very curious thing: If we 

 were to take a colony with American foul 

 brood and cut out every cell of diseased 

 brood it would be about as sure to come 

 down again with disease as it is to live. 

 That has been my experience, while with 

 the other disease the hive may be half full 

 of honey. If you give the bees a chance 

 they will clean up and remain free from 

 disease, with a new vigoi'ous queen, pro- 

 vided the colony is of sufficient strength. 



I am inclined to doubt Mr. Holtermann's 

 theory that bees from diseased colonies car- 

 ry the disease germs to flowers, and these 

 bees from healthy colonies take the germs 

 to their oAvn hives, although I have no way 

 to prove he is wrong. The past season a 

 number of colonies were brought from a 

 yard where there was some European foul 

 brood last year. Several of these came 

 down during the spring with European foul 

 brood, and the disease spread in this home 

 yard; but in nearly every case it spread to 

 those nearest the diseased colony. Now, if 

 the disease had spread by way of the flow- 

 ers it would be as likely to appear in hives 

 furthest from the ones that were diseased 

 as those nearest; so I have come to think 

 that the disease spreads largely or often by 

 bees drifting from a diseased colony and 

 entering, by mistake, a healthy hive. 



Middlebury, Vt. 



THE CURIOUS SEASON IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN 



BY E. E. COLIEN 



The beekeepers of central Wisconsin 

 rejoice because of the realization of a 

 bountiful crop of honey this past season, 

 and the very promising jrospect for anoth- 

 er good harvest the coming year. The sea- 

 son just closed was moht emphatically one 

 replete with quick and striking changes of 

 weather conditions that brought hope and 

 almost despair in quick succession. 



The heavy fruit-bloom of this section 

 presaging a fine start in brood-rearing was 

 cut short by a long spell of cool cloudy 

 weather and heavy rains. This long-con- 



tinued cool moist wef.ther, however, started 

 up the white clover, and oceans of bloom 

 7'aised the beekeepers' spirits. But the 

 spread of beautiful white had no nectar in 

 it with its first appearance, when, presto! 

 almost in tlie twinkling of an eye, willi the 

 coming of a spell of normal warm weather 

 the floral kingdom seemed suddenly, as if 

 by magic, filled with sweets. One of Wis- 

 consin's best lioney harvests was on. 



The beekeeper who was ready, and sup- 

 l)lied his colonies with supers, surely had 

 " no kick coming " on account of a short 



