228 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 9, 1903. 



formaldehyde. Bacillus alvei (germ of foul brood) was found In the 

 comb not xubji'fted to lonnaldehyde; none was found in the combs 

 which had been treated with formaldehyde." 



This establishes beyond a doubt that formalin gas is a sure cure 

 for foul brood ; and I hope that bee-keepers who are unfortunate 

 enough to have colonies attlioted with this disease will give the new 

 cure a trial. 



To this Editor Root replies as follows : 



I do not feel so certain myself that formalin gas is an absolute 

 sure cure; but the experiments thus far conducted by Mr. Weber give 

 us great reason for hoping that we have something here of more than 

 ordinary value. /;' we can treat diseased combs by so simple a plan 

 as this, we can wipe foul brood out of a yard with very little expense 

 or trouble. 



For years it has been claimed in European bee-journals that this 

 or that drug could be successfully used in treating foul brood, and a 

 very few in this country have been of the same belief. For some rea- 

 son cases of successful treatment in this country have not been re- 

 ported with the same frequency as in Europe. Some have claimed 

 that a reason for this lies in the lact that in Europe the disease has to 

 some extent run its course, while in the fresher fields of this country 

 it appears with emphasized virulence. 



Editor Root has uniformly insisted heretofore that no drugging 

 could be relied on. Is our esteemed cotemporary not going a little too 

 far to the other extreme when he says,"!/" we can treat diseased 

 combs by so simple a plan as this, we can wipe foul brood out of a 

 yard with very little expense or trouble*" The use of formalin, /; it 

 is as successful as claimed, will enable us to save our combs and 

 honey ; will it do anything more! It will not save the brood. Will it 

 do anything more than to put the trouble of disinfecting the combs in 

 place of the trouble of burning them? Even that, however, will be an 

 important gain. 



Winter Losses in the West seem to have been severe. The 

 Rocky Mountain Bee .Journal says : 



Our reports from the Western slope indicate that the loss will be 

 large, due to the severe cold weather and depleted vitality of the bees. 

 Denver bee-keepers estimate that the average loss in their locality 

 will amount to 50 percent. In northern Colorado the loss is above 

 normal, but not so severe. We have no reports from the Arkansas 

 valley. 



It is too early yet to make a reliable estimate of winter losses. 

 There are colonies that now give promise of survival that will not 

 reach the first of May, unless the spring is extremely favorable. 



Convention Proceedings. 



Chicago-Northwestern Convention. 



Report of the Chicag-o-Northwestern Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention, held in Chicago, 

 Dec. 3 and 4, 1902. 



BY OUR OWN SHORTHAND REPORTER. 



(Continued from page 214.) ^ 



PICKLED BROOD. 



" Is pickled brood ever ropy ?" 



Dr. Miller— No. 



Mr. France — I agree with Dr. Miller on that. I never 

 knew pickled brood to be ropy, neither do I believe that 

 pickled brood will ever develop into anything- else. 



Dr. Miller — It will string a little bit, won't it? 



Mr. France — No, it never gets ropy. 



Dr. Miller — Won't it draw out a little bit ? 



Mr. France — There may be a stage at which it may be 

 drawn out a little — elastic ; but it is only a matter of a 

 couple of days. 



Pres. York — Is it contagious ? 



Mr. France — No, sir. 



EXTRACTING-SUPBRS. 



Mr. Clute — How many prefer the large extracting 

 super ? How manj- prefer 16 and 20 frame extracting su- 

 pers instead of 8 and 10 ? 



Mr. France — I think that hinges largely on the locality. 



Dr. Miller — Wouldn't it also depend largely on his api- 

 ary ? If he had only two colonies he wouldn't want a 16- 

 frame extractor — I beg pardon — super. 



Mr. Niver — How do you use 16 frames in an extractor? 



Mr. Clute — My 16-frames are expanded by a piece on 

 top that allows the 16 frames to go crosswise of the whole. 



Mr. France — I see that Mr. Niver is not understanding 

 Mr. Clute in regard to that. As he came back from Cuba 

 he explained this hive to me. The hive-body has a little 

 projection so that the other set of frames, the extracting 

 frames, go crosswise, and the length is sufficient. When 

 you put the full length in there you have about 18 — some of 

 mine I have 20. The idea came from Mr. Coggshall, who 

 uses them very largely. You are getting extracting combs, 

 two sets in a one-story hive. They are in the next tier to 

 the brood. Now, during extracting I like that style of hive. 

 We can take off honey faster in that than in any other hive 

 I have ever seen. 



Mr. Clute — The plan didn't come from Coggshall. It is 

 the same as the 8 and 10 frame hives. I have a cut of the 

 hive here, which I will be glad to explain. 



LONG-TONGUED BEES. 



" Has this season's test proved any superiority in the 

 long-tongued bees ?" 



Pres. York — I think the man who has the long-tongued 

 bees is not here, as I hear no answer to the question. 



LAYER OF AIR OVER SECTIONS. 



" Is a layer of air over sections usually filled with bees ? 

 and will more honey be stored on that account ?" 



Pres. York — It seems to me that Dr. Miller was the 

 man who talked about " a layer of air." 



Dr. Miller — I think it is usually filled with bees. I 

 don't know whether more honey will be stored. I know if 

 there isn't air there, there will be bee-glue there. In other 

 words, with " a layer of air," as he calls it, when that layer 

 of air is there the bees will come in there, but they will not 

 put bee-glue on a surface as they will in a crack or an 

 angle. Wherever a bee can pass through itself, it thinks — 

 at least I understand it thinks so — that there sliould not be 

 a crack there big enough for anything else to go through, 

 and they will plug that full of bee-glue ; but having the 

 space there for them to get through, they may furnish a 

 little bee-gule, but it won't be anything like the quantity 

 they will put there ; so I will say the advantage of the bee- 

 space is not that you will get more honey, but you will get 

 less bee-glue there with that space than without it. 



Mr. Baldridge — How much space would you use ? 



Dr. Miller — About a quarter of an inch. 



Mr. Baldridge — Do you ever use an inch, or an inch and 

 •a half ? 



Dr. Miller — Yes, I have had in some cases, though per- 

 haps not intentionally. 



Mr. Baldridge — A few years ago Mr. Root made a good 

 many hives with a cover and l}'i or 1;'4 ; and a man shipped 

 me a car-load of hives once, and lie had mats with them. I 

 didn't use them, though ; I threw them away, and that left 

 a space of 2'. to 3 inches above the frames, and I found it 

 very desirable, and I wouldn't object to-day to having a 

 cover made leaving an inch or 1 "2 -inch space. Some say 

 they will fill that space with comb and honey. I have had 

 that done, but that I consider a great advantage ; I am 

 ahead so much, and, besides, it is an indication that they 

 need more room. 



Mr. Craven — I will ask Mr. Baldridge if any burr-combs 

 were built ? 



Mr. Baldridge — Where the space is shallow, but I have 

 found it very desirable. The bees belonged to Mr. Flana- 

 gan. I had a car-load of them. Frequently I used to find 

 them full of young bees when I would take the cover off, 

 especially after they were on the hive for a while. I took 

 the cover to any colony to strengthen them. All young 

 bees, nearly. 



Dr. Miller — I would like to ask whether Mr. Baldridge 

 considers that irregular comb — for, of course, that would be 

 irregular comb built in that space — whether he considers it 

 more desirable to have that there than in the sections ? 



Mr. Baldridge — Well, of course, the comb would be 

 built irregularly in that top cover, but they wouldn't attach 

 it to the frames. 



Dr. Miller — No, that is not the question. Do you con- 

 sider it is more desirable to have that irregular honey up 

 there than to have it built in sections ? Do you think that 

 that irregular honey built there is so much more than they 

 would have stored if they hadn't had that ? 



Mr. Baldridge — Yes, sir; and I am just so much ahead 



