1012 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



that no untinkered colony shall swarm. I'm 

 "arm-in-arm" with you there, Mr. Editor. 

 I never expect that. But I do hope to reach 

 some inexpensive plan of tinkering that 

 shall take away all thought of swarming, 

 and yet leave the full force of the colony 

 intact, brood and all. "You haven't that 

 hope?" Good-by. [You say you hope to 

 reach some inexpensive plan of tinkering 

 that will take the swarming idea out of a 

 colon}'. What is the matter of tinkering by 

 shaking or brushing ? What more do you 

 want, doctor? — Ed.] 



Brother A. I. Root, it's all right for 

 you to go off into the woods "for a season" 

 to rest up and get the dust and noise blown 

 out of your brain by the balmy breezes of 

 the wildwood ; and when you get back home 

 rested up, j'ou'll do more good in the rest of 

 the year than you would in the whole of the 

 year without that season of abandon, to say 

 nothing of the blessings you may take to 

 those people up in the woods. How I do 

 wish I, and especially that "same wo- 

 man," rould take advantage of your invita- 

 tion. But, say — who knows? [Don't let 

 that be an idle dream. Plan to make the 

 dream materialize into fact. It will please 

 Mr. and Mrs. A. I. R. You can leave Chi- 

 cago by boat and actually go clear up to 

 Bingham dock. The cost will be insignifi- 

 cant, the trip delightful, and those balmy 

 woods upon high ground overlooking the 

 deep blue bay ^ — well, you will live longer 

 too. Say — you intist go. — Ed.] 



Mr. Editor, you want to know, p. 972, if 

 the cost of two tinkerings will not be less 

 than that of chasing a swarm to the top of 

 an elm-tree. Now see here ; please read 

 again. We are talking about an "untin- 

 kered colony that ?iever thinks of swa^-ni- 

 ing ;'''' How can it swarm when it never 

 thinks of swarming? [But the colony you 

 think never thinks of swarming may swarm 

 just the same, and go to the top of that elm- 

 tree. I will bet a c<okey that is just where 

 it will go. When it does, telegraph for me 

 and I will come down and photograph you 

 in the act of climbing up the tree; then 

 when you get down "all tattered and torn" 

 "and all forlorn," we will figure up how 

 much that untinkered colony has saved in 

 time, in pants, shirts, and the epidermis on 

 the inside. If you have some secret by 

 which 3^ou can positively know that some 

 untinkered colony will never swarm, out 

 with it. The Root Co. will give you a per- 

 petual royalty on it as long as you live. 

 —Ed.] 



A. I. Root says if he hasn't told us all 

 about lettuce-raising, he'll tell us more (p. 

 993). Well, brother Root, about temper- 

 ature You say, "Keep the temperature 

 right — not too warm." Now, that's clear 

 and explicit in one direction, but you don't 

 say whether the temperature may be too 

 cold or not. Then some might want to know 

 whether "not too warm" means not above 

 212° or not above 32°. Then couldn't you 



give us a little hint as to what you mean 

 when you say "just wet enough and not too 

 wet"? [Friend M., I did think of giving 

 directions according to the thermometer ; 

 but then I decided it would be best to let 

 the novice in lettuce-growing learn by ex- 

 periment what temperature was best rather 

 than to lay down too many cast-iron rules. 

 Eugene Davis said, "Make your green- 

 house so it will be just right for brisk work 

 in shirt-sleeves, not too hot nor too cold." 

 I suppose a temperature of from 45 to 50 at 

 night, and from 55 to 60 in the day time, 

 would be about right; but it will do no 

 particular harm if the temperature should 

 go up to 70 (in the shade) at noon, and 

 down to 40 at night. In regard to moisture, 

 it is a great deal the same way ; but you do 

 not want tnoisture kept at exactly the same 

 point. Let the beds go until they need wa- 

 ter ; then give the ground a thorough soak- 

 ing. The beds must have drainage enough 

 so the surplus water will get away. You 

 see we want to imitate nature. Wait until 

 the plants begin to need rain or water; 

 then give them a good thorough drenching, 

 just as the summer shower does. Sub-irri- 

 gation is probably the very best way of 

 watering the lettuce ; but it is more expen- 

 sive to prepare the beds. — A. I. R.J 



The startling announcement comes 

 through Le Ruclier Beige that bacillus al- 

 vei, the microbe of foul brood, is identical 

 with bacillus niesentericus vulgaris, which 

 is distributed throughout nature, especially 

 in the vegetable creation. It is the miscre- 

 ant which, under certain conditions, makes 

 bread stringy like foul brood, and we are 

 given the unwelcome information that it 

 may even be found in healthy colonies of 

 bees, ready under favorable conditions to 

 set up business in the foul-brood line. No, 

 you can't pooh-pooh it as the groundless 

 assertion of some penny-a-liner. At the 

 request of La Societe d'Apiculture du Bas- 

 sin de la Meuse, investigations of foul 

 brood were instituted at the laboratory of 

 the Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology 

 of the Universitjr of Liege, in Belgium, 

 probably without any thought of unsettling 

 the claim of bacillus alvei to be a specific 

 bacillus found only in cases of foul brood, 

 and the most searching tests were made be- 

 fore Dr. Ul. Lambotte was ready to say 

 that bacillus alvei was an old acquaintance 

 under a new name. It isn't a pleasant 

 truth, but I'm afraid we'll have to swallow 

 it. [This is an important piece of news. 

 It may explain why foul brood apparently 

 starts up spontaneously in some apiaries 

 where the owners have never interchanged 

 bees, queens, combs, or hives from another 

 locality. If it is an old enemy under a new 

 name, the sooner we know the fact, and the 

 sooner we know its common habitat, the 

 better it will be for us. I shall be glad to 

 get hold of the full text of the article to 

 which you refer. Send us a copj' of the 

 paper containing it, and we will give our 

 readers a translation. — Ed.] 



