1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



525 



H. S. IV., Mick.— It is pretty hard to es- 

 timate what the income would be from a 

 colony of bees. It may be anywhere from 

 nothing- up to ten dollars. A fair average 

 in a good locality would be somewhere 

 about five dollars; but the uncertainty of 

 ■the season is such in the northern part of 

 "the United States that the net earnings of a 

 ■colony may not be more than fifty cents. 

 But in Central Michigan it ought to aver- 

 age not less than from two to three dollars. 

 Mr. M. H. Hunt, of Bell Branch, in your 

 own county, a little town a short distance 

 from Detroit, could give you more exact 

 data, and I suggest that you call on him. 



W. L. P., Ind. — If your combs are badly 

 bridged the combs or frames of your hives 

 are possibly not properly spaced. The 

 normal distance of combs is from 1;^ to 1>2 

 irom center to center. When so spaced 

 there will be but very little bridging pro- 

 viding, of course, the combs are reasonably 

 flat, without any bulged place in them. 

 If combs are built crosswise or crooked in 

 "the frames there will be more or less of 

 bridging in them, and in that case combs 

 should be cut out, and the frames filled 

 with sheets of foundation. Crooked combs 

 might be put back after being straightened 

 •out ; but a better way is to melt them up 

 and use the foundation as suggested. 



SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF FOUL BROOD. 



C. J. JV., Cal. — Foul brood proper has the 

 •odor of a common glue-pot; but when the 

 disease is sufficiently advanced the larvse 

 will die, turning first to a yellow, then a 

 brown, and then a very dark brown like 

 coffee. In the last stage the larvae will as- 

 sume a mucilaginous condition; and if a 

 toothpick be introduced in it, and drawn 

 back a little, the diseased matter will ad- 

 here like so much stringy glue. In the ear- 

 ly stages of the disease the form of the lar- 

 va will be perfect, but it will have a slight- 

 ly yellow color. In that case you will no- 

 tice exactly what you describe. If you 

 have real foul brood, about this time (if you 

 make a further examination) you ought to 

 find a pronounced ropy condition as well 

 as a pronounced odor from the matter in the 

 combs. It is evident, from what you write, 

 that you have either foul brood or black 

 brood. The last named is a disease that is 

 fully as serious as foul brood. To enable 

 you to determine which you have, it will be 

 necessary for you, perhaps, to have a mi- 

 croscopic examination made. Dr. W. R. 

 Howard, of Fort Worth, Texas, a professor 

 in the University there, makes these exam- 

 inations for $2.00; and we therefore suggest 

 that you send him a sample of the diseased 

 brood, inclosing the money, when he will 

 tell you definitely just what you have. But 

 on the assumption that you have either 



black or foul brood, we would advise you 

 to treat the hive just as if you had foul 

 brood; and we are, therefore, sending our 

 pamphlet on foul brood. The method rec- 

 ommended will be applicable alike to either 

 foul brood or black brood; and if you have 

 not already taken the proper steps to erad- 

 icate the trouble you would do well to do so 

 at once. If you do not wish to go to the ex- 

 pense of destroying the combs, and the 

 combs are not very badly diseased, move 

 all the diseased colonies to an out location, 

 at least two or three miles from any other 

 bees if you can. This would be a wise pro- 

 cedure, no matter what you do; for in treat- 

 ing any contagious disease among bees it 

 is always advisable, as with the human 

 family, to establish a quarantine, and put 

 all affected colonies in that quarantine. 

 You will realize the importance of washing 

 the hands thoroughly after handling the 

 diseased colonies. It might be advisable to 

 put on a pair of overalls and a wamus, and 

 remove these at the time of leaving the api- 

 ary under quarantine. 



We have cleared a piece of ground right 

 in the depth of the forest, down near the 

 "big spring;" and in place of the rank 

 luxuriant growth of wild flowers, ferns, and 

 other plants that thrive in dark wet soil, 

 we have already celery, onions, and pota- 

 toes, right beside the "babbling brook." 

 Almost all my life I have had a fancy for a 

 garden with a never failing stream of wa- 

 ter running through the middle of it, and 

 now I have it. The slope is steep enough 

 so there is a succession of little waterfalls; 

 and the sight of this water, hustling over 

 its bed of white pebbles and white sand, 

 with the growing plants close to the edge of 

 the water, is to me a "thing of beauty" 

 and a joy such as I can hardly describe. 



About as soon as the celery had got hold 

 of the rich dark soil, a woodchuck evident- 

 ly "took in" the advantages of the spot, 

 and "moved in," and the boys are now 

 greatly engrossed with their attempts to 

 get a steel trap that he can not pull out of. 

 If daily ' ' clipping back ' ' is good for celerj', 

 some of ours in the middle of the patch 

 ought to do well. 



Last season I offered the boys half a dol- 

 lar if they would find a growing plant of 

 ginseng in our woods. This spring they 

 found so many I had to stop offering a re- 

 ward for them, and now there are half a 

 dozen or more in or near our celery-garden. 



A few days ago, while I was giving my 

 potates some loving touches, right on the 

 summit of one of the highest hills I stooped 

 to pull a weed, and was just grabbing for 

 another that had sprung up quickly in a 

 potato-hill, when I stopped with a shout of 



