1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



869 



last one almost an entire season, as it goes a lonjj 

 way. 



VERY LITTLE HONEY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



In answer to our request for reports from Cal- 

 ifornia, page 741, there has been a flood of re- 

 sponses, all denying that there has been a heavy 

 honey-flow in Southern California as reported in 

 the newspaper clipping. They all assert that the 

 crop has been light, and that there will be very 

 little, if any, sage honey shipped eastward. In 

 the orange district there have been some fair 

 flows; but orange honey has never been any great 

 factor in the eastern markets. As it is a very 

 fine article, having a strong demand at home, it 

 will probably be a scarce article away from Cali- 

 fornia. 



HIVE-LIFTING DEVICE. 



We are experimenting with a hive-lifting de- 

 vice. We feel that there has been a long-felt 

 want, as yet unsupplied by the dealer and manu- 

 facturer, for some simple efl^ective device that will 

 relieve the strain of lifting heavy supers, either 

 for the purpose of putting empties under or for 

 taking them off the hive. There are many ladies 

 who would like to keep bees if they could avoid 

 the lifting; and there are many men, either from 

 age or ill health, who find it inadvisable to put 

 any hard strain on the back. Your humble ser- 

 vant, E. R. R., strained his back years ago, and 

 ever since has been unable to do any lifting of 

 heavy weights. He has been testing some hive- 

 lifting devices, and is now of the opinion that 

 some one of them may be made very useful to 

 those who have not the muscle and sinew of a 

 strong vigorous man. We shall have more to 

 say about these at another time. 



TRAGIC DEATH OF AN OLD GLEANINGS CORRES- 

 PONDENT. 



Our older readers will remember Mr. C. Da- 

 venport, of "Southern Minnesota," who used to 

 write such racy, practical articles. He was not 

 a prolific writer, but when he did write he com- 

 manded attention. He was one of the few whose 

 communications are passed directly to the print- 

 ers without reading the manuscript, as we had 

 absolute confidence in the availability of his mat- 

 ter. Within a year or so we have not been fa- 

 vored with any thing from him, for he was a 

 very busy man. 



Mr. Davenport, or, rather, C. Davenport Mo- 

 nette, of Chatfield, Minn., for that was his real 

 name and address, preferred to use a nom dc pltune, 

 as he said his business was such that he would 

 not be able to answer any correspondence except 

 through the printed page. 



We are now pained to observe through the pa- 

 pers of his tragic death, which occurred recently. 

 He was burned to death in his own home, where 

 he lived alone, and had the reputation of being a 

 very successful and practical bee-keeper. No 

 particulars are known of the manner or cause of 

 the fire; but his charred bones were found just 

 in front of what was the doorway, indicating 

 that he had made an effort to escape. He was 

 only 42 years old, and was one of the brightest 

 bee-keepers that we had in our ranks. Our sym- 

 pathies are extended to his parents, who lived but 

 a short distance awav. 



"bee DISEASES IN MASSACHUSETTS." 



There has just been issued from the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of En- 

 tomology, Bulletin No. 75, Part 111, entitled 

 "Bee Diseases in Massachusetts," by Burton N. 

 Gates, Expert in Apiculture. As its title .indi- 

 cates, it has to do particularly with bee diseases, 

 European (black), and old-fashioned or American 

 foul brood. 



A very interesting and instructive map is made 

 a part of this bulletin, showing the distribution 

 of both these diseases, not only in Massachusetts 

 but in Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hamp- 

 shire. European foul brood seems by all odds 

 the most prevalent in both Massachusetts and 

 Connecticut. The author thinks it was import- 

 ed from York State, where it has been raging 

 for years back. 



The old-fashioned or American foul brood has 

 been prevalent in both States for a considerable 

 length of time, but is not of recent origin, Mr. 

 Gates thinks. 



In this connection it appears that the ravages 

 of bee-moth have had something to do with the 

 spread of disease, not because the moth is the 

 primal source, but because a colony, when it is 

 once reduced in strength by it, is made an easy 

 victim of contagious diseases. 



The spread of foul brood has also been brought 

 about in part, says Mr. Gates, by bees kept in 

 cucumber-greenhouses to fertilize the fruit-blos- 

 soms, for there are many of these establishments 

 in Massachusetts. The bees, under these condi- 

 tions, die in great numbers, with the result that the 

 colony is weakened, and finally succumbs alto- 

 gether. The hives with their combs are then 

 thrown out where they are exposed, when another 

 hive is put in its place to repeat the process. Of 

 course, if there is any disease it is spread broad- 

 cast by the means. These greenhouse men do 

 not, of course, know much about bee diseases, 

 and are thus innocently one of the causes of 

 spreading them over the State. 



This whole bulletin is highly interesting, in- 

 structive, and valuable, and somehow w^e have 

 the impression that it is the purpose of the Bureau 

 to investigate other sections of the country in the 

 same careful, painstaking way. If so, it will be 

 the means of doing a great deal more good. 



The map affords a very interesting study, and 

 we hope to present a half-tone of it in these col- 

 umns at an early date, if there are no objections. 



Mr. Gates, under the direction of Dr. Phillips, 

 is doing good work, and we hope the Bureau will 

 see its way clear to make an investigation of 

 other sections of the country. There is a very 

 great need of it, for almost daily we are receiv- 

 ing samples of diseased brood from all parts of 

 the country, with the request that we furnish in- 

 formation. 



CAUCASIANS AT OUR SOUTH YARD; SOME OF THEIR 

 UNDESIRAB.LE TRAITS; THEIR PROPENSITY TO 

 SWARM, RAISE DRONES, AND TO BUILD QUANTI- 

 TIES OF BRACE-COMBS. 



When we established our south yard last fall, 

 we placed in it all of our Caucasian colonies and 

 their crosses, as we thought it better to have them 

 remote from our main breeding-yard at Medina, 

 where we are rearing exclusively Italians. This 



