1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1017 



the sides of the cell, that no known medical 

 treatment can ever get it ofif. This black 

 scale will hold the disease germ for years. 

 In one instance an apiarj^ was found to 

 have foul brood. No explanation of the 

 cause could be given until it was found that 

 some old combs had been used which had 

 been in a foul-broody apiary eight years 

 before, and which had been stored away 

 in a barn since that time. The cells 

 were examined, and in many of them was 

 found the peculiar black scale of the long 

 dried brood. Honey or pollen stored in 

 cells having this dried diseased brood, will 

 contain the foul- brood germ ; and when fed 

 to the growing larva; it spreads the disease. 

 In the case of robber bees, the germs are 

 carried throughout the apiary. Hence foul 

 brood is contagious because of carelessless. 



No degree of ropiness of the diseased 

 brood can be given, because it depends en- 

 tirely upon the season and age of the brood. 

 In cool weather the mass will be cooled and 

 thickened, therefore the ropiness depends 

 also upon the weather. 



In visiting a supposed foul-broody apiarj', 

 look first at the weaker colonies, because 

 they will be the ones infected first. There 

 may be no odor about the hive ; but by tak- 

 ing out a frame the sunken cappings may 

 be seen, the brown ropy mass of diseased 

 brood, or perhaps only the flattened scale 

 of very dark color. When the odor is pres- 

 ent it resembles that of an old unused glue- 

 pot. 



To cure, shake the bees into empty bodies; 

 screen the entrances and let them starve for 

 about 48 hours so that every particle of dis- 

 eased honey may be consumed. Next give 

 them full sheets of foundation. When the 

 hives are screened, place them in a cool 

 place and give the bees a little water. 

 Generally it is just as well to narrow down 

 the entrance instead of screening it. 



Black brood has somewhat the odor of sour 

 apples, and has a tendency to dissolve the 

 wax of the comb. 



A queen from a foul-brood colonj% if sent 

 through the mails, will not infect the colony 

 to which she is introduced if the mailing- 

 cage is burned and the accompanying bees 

 killed. 



Foul brood germs do not float in the air, 

 but are carried by robber bees. 



Honey from a diseased colony is safe 

 for people to use, though not desirable. If 

 it is thoroughly boiled, and boiled long 

 enough, it will be safe to feed back to bees. 

 Ju-<t bringing the surface to a boil will not 

 answer. This rule, however, is not safe 

 for the average person to follow. Better err 

 on the safe side, and not feed back any such 

 honey. 



Foundation made from old diseased comb 

 is perfectly safe for bees. 



In most cases the hive-bodies need not be 

 disinfected, because the germ is in the hon- 

 ey and not on the surface of the hive-bodies. 

 Generally frames have so much of the infect- 

 ed honey daubed upon them that it does not 

 pay to save them. It seemed a pity to drop 



this subject so soon, but the subject of 

 organization was yet to be considered. 



C0-01>EKATI0N AMONG BEE-KREPERS FOR 

 THE PURPOSE OF SELLING HONEY. 



All agreed that, if comb honey is put up 

 properly, there will never be trouble in 

 selling it. The world has never seen the 

 time when there was too much fine, white, 

 fancy comb honey. It is rather the liquid 

 honey that is a drag on the market, and it 

 is this honey that needs help in selling. 

 The great and one point of the whole dis- 

 cussion was how to interest the people, and 

 not to think of useless details which would 

 settle themselves when the time came. Out 

 of more than 100,000 bee-keepers in the 

 United States, only about 2000 are interest- 

 ed enough to know that there is need of co- 

 operation. In an address by Mr. E. T. 

 Abbott, his point was to use plenty of 

 "printer's ink." Advertise the National 

 Bee-keepers' Association, and let the pub- 

 lic know that there is such a body of peo- 

 ple. When people know that there is such 

 an association they will demand honey 

 which is under its supervision. By in- 

 creasing the membership of the National it 

 could take the place of a proposed organiza- 

 tion of honey-producers. 



In a talk by Prof. Eaton he stated that 

 there was practically no adulterated honey 

 in Illinois. He said that, as a chemist, he 

 knew glucose to be the most easily detected 

 adulterant of honey. He seemed to be a 

 little in doubt whether glucose could be fed 

 to bees in order to get them to put it in the 

 sections. N. E. France said that he once 

 tried to get his bees to take glucose after 48 

 hours of starving. Thej' would not, so he 

 added }:( part of honey. Still they would 

 not touch it, and kept on refusing until it 

 was over half honey, when they accepted 

 only enough to live on. 



The (|uestion came up here whether cane 

 sugar could be fed to bees in order to have 

 them store it in the sections. The strong- 

 est evidence that Ihis does not pay is that 

 it is not done, although it has been tried 

 repeatedly bj' unscrupulous men who would 

 not hesitate to deceive the public in any 

 possible way. W^hen honey is so scarce, if 

 cheap sugar could be fed to bees and a 

 good hone}' be made from it, the world 

 would be full of men doing that very thing. 

 But it does not pay. Mr. Niver fed 30 lbs. 

 of good extracted honey to bees in order to 

 have it put into the sections, and he found 

 that it made just 3 lbs. of comb honey. If 

 extracted honey will produce no more comb 

 honey than this, how much would cane su- 

 gar average if fed to bees for the sole pur- 

 pose of securing comb honej'? 



In closing this brief synopsis of the con- 

 vention I wish simpl}' to say that those who 

 have never attended a convention of this 

 kind do not know what the}' have missed. 

 There is something to be gained which is 

 not found in bee-books or bee-literature of 

 any kind. Go and find out, and regret 

 onl}' that 30U never went before. 



