Gleanings In Bee Culture 



Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio 



H. H. ROOT, Assistant Editor. 



A. I. ROOT, Editor Home Departmeot 



E. R. ROOT, Editor. 

 Entered at the Postofiice, Medina, Ohio, as Second-class Matter, 



A. L. BOYDEN, Advertising Manager. 

 J. T. CALVERT, Business Manager. 



VOL. XXXVII 



APRIL 1, 1909 



NO. 7 



Editorial 



By E. R. Root. 



DEATH OF E. L. PRATT. 



Just as our last form was going to press for the 

 last issue we were able to squeeze in a short an- 

 nouncement of the death of E. L. Pratt, general- 

 ly known as " Swarthmore," which tooic place 

 on March 11. We have no particulars relative 

 to his death, except that he died of pneumonia, 

 and his illness was very brief. We intended to 

 get a biographical sketch in this issue, and had 

 written for certain facts in his life, but they have 

 so far failed to come in. 



Mr. Pratt was a genius at queen-rearing. He 

 devised and improved many a method, both in 

 Europe and America. More anon. 



ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE THAT PAYS; ALSIKE AND 

 BUCKWHEAT. 



Elsewhere in this issue, pages 198 and 199, we 

 refer to our practice of furnishing alsike-clover 

 seed to the farmers within the vicinity of our bee- 

 yards. Where the seed is to be sown within one- 

 fourth of a mile, say, of a yard, we furnish it 

 free ; but for all distances from that to one mile 

 we furnish it at half price. Any thing over a 

 mile we charge full price. 



If a farmer proposes to sow a field within one- 

 fourth mile of a bee-yard, and there is a piece of 

 woods intervening, we charge him half price. 

 While the bees will fly over the woods, we esti- 

 mate that its very presence increases the distance 

 so that the bees will not visit the field in question 

 nearly as much as if the obstruction were not in 

 the way. 



We consider this distribution of alsike-clover 

 seed as one of the most important things that a 

 modern apiarist can do to improve his locality 

 for honey. Alsike comes on earlier (and very 

 often lasts longer) than white clover; and even if 

 the field in which the seed is sown is plowed up 

 in two years, the very fact that it is self-sowing 

 makes it more or less perpetual. 



Mr. Wm. McEvoy, of Canada, a year or two 

 ago called attention to the importance of furnish- 

 ing the seed free or at half price, as he found it 

 very materially increased the honey-flow. We 

 are of the opinion that one can increase his sur- 

 plus possibly 50 per cent in some cases. Suppose 

 one docs give away $50.00 worth of seed; 10 lbs. 

 extra of comb honey for 100 colonies will twice 

 cover the cost. By giving away seed in this way 

 for three or four years the farmers will be willing 

 after that to pay full price; and in the mean time 



the soil will be permeated with alsike that will 

 keep on self-sowing in a way that means a con- 

 stant dividend for many years to come. 



In a like manner one can put out buckwheat 

 providing he has a locality where buckwheat will 

 furnish honey. A field of ten acres near a yard 

 will make a very strong showing. While it will 

 not add much to the surplus it starts brood-rear- 

 ing afresh and brings on new and younger blood 

 for the winter; and if there be more fields they 

 will materially diminish the necessity of feeding. 



We expect this summer to furnish seed for 40 

 acres near one of our y2irAi free. The farmer will 

 make a good thing; so will we. 



the relation of etiology (cause) of bee dis- 

 eases TO the treatment. 



Elsewhere we refer to a bulletin by Dr. Phil- 

 lips, from the Bureau of Entomology, giving the 

 general statistics and facts regarding the status of 

 apiculture in the United States. Another bulle- 

 tin, 75, part 4, has been sent out by the Bureau, 

 entitled " The Relation of Etiology of Bee Dis- 

 eases to the Treatment," by Dr. G. F. White, 

 Expert in Bacteriology, under Dr. E. F. Phillips. 

 Dr. White for a number of years has been givisg 

 his full time to the general subject of bee diseases. 

 His bulletin, so far from being an abstract scien- 

 tific paper, is written in popular form so that any 

 one can understand it. 



He very properly says that, in order to under- 

 stand the nature of bee diseases, we must study 

 and know the causes — that is, their etiology. 

 After speaking of the predisposing causes such as 

 are induced by age, sex, heredity, race, climate, 

 etc., of diseases in general, he goes on to describe 

 the "exciting causes," such as food and micro- 

 organisms. Under the latter he refers to bacteria. 

 He says " it is unfortunate that it is necessary to 

 use the word bacteria, because too many at once 

 think that they are not able to understand any 

 thing about bacteria. This is a mistaken idea. 

 It is not difficult to understand the facts about 

 them." Quoting him directly he says: 



Bacteria (often called germs, microbes, and parasites) are very 

 small plants — so small, indeed, that 12,000 placed end to end 

 measure but one inch. They increase in nnmber with marvel- 

 ous rapidity. Under favorable conditions each bacterium in 

 twenty minutes becomes two. At this rate countless milliens 

 are formed in twenty four hoars. As the soil becomea exhatisted 

 in which they are growing, many species form spores which are 

 in a way comparable to the seeds of higher plants. These 

 spores are very difficnlt to destroy by heat and other disinfec- 

 tants. It is well to remember, concerning the distribution of 

 bacteria, that they are found in very large numbers everywhere 

 aboat us, but that most of them are as hamless as the vegetables 

 we eat. But should there be introduced Into an apiary, for ex- 

 ample, the species of bacteria which causes American foul 

 brood, then the brood becoimes exposed to the disease and will 

 probably conuact it 



Having determined these things about bacteria, we are inter- 

 ested in finding out what they are capable of doing. We learn 



