1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



343 



clothes; and if any honey is daubed on, it should 

 be sponged off. If there should be any honey 

 scattered on the ground, several pailfuls of water 

 should be poured over the place to wash out any 

 trace of sweet. The hands should always be 

 thoroughly washed, and if any tools are daubed 

 with honey or foul -broody matter they should 

 be scalded or held for a moment over a flame. 



In the limits of this article it will not be nec- 

 essary to go over ihe method of cure, as that is 

 fully given in all of our standard text-books and 

 in our government bulletins. In this connection, 

 perhaps it will be well to remind our readers that 

 the Bureau of Entomology, Department of Agri- 

 culture, Washington, D. C, is prepared to ex- 

 amine and report on any specimen of diseased 

 brood that may be sent in. This service is free, 

 and, what is more, the government is willing to 

 offer information on how to cure. The Depart- 

 ment is endeavoring to get information regarding 

 foul-brood districts in every part of the United 

 States, not for the purpose of publication but that 

 it may keep in touch with the localities. 



We «re willing to help our readers at any time; 

 but we would suggest that they will get more re- 



liable diagnoses if they will send direct to the Bu- 

 reau of tnioniology, lor the reason that all speci- 

 mens of doubtful brood will be further subjected 

 to microscopic and bacteriological tests. We do 

 not feel ourselves competent to decide on doubt- 

 ful specimens. As a matter of fact, no one but a 

 bacteriologist can make a positive determination 

 in such cases. 



WHY THE BEES DIDN'T PAY. 

 The Let-alone Policy. 



BY DANA F. DOW. 



I notice that one of your Massachusetts cor- 

 respondents, who possibly wears blue "specs," 

 complains that in New England he finds nothing 

 but " discouraged failures" in bee-keeping. 



Well, Mr. Editor, if you could see the hives 

 of some of these so-called bee-keepers you would 

 not be at all surprised — clumsy, antiquated af- 

 fairs such as Noah used in his bee-cellar in the 

 ark. Many of these hives have not been opened 

 for twenty years or more, and the brood-combs 



TRANSFERRING BROOD-COMB FROM A BEE-TREE. 



[Alter the tree is felled, a saw-cut is made aboie and below the hollow part containing the bees, and enough of the wood split 

 away to expose the combs. Every little while some one writes of a new scheme for holding pieces of transferred comb in frames; 

 but it it doubtful whether any of the different forms of bent wires, etc., are as good as cheap string. When a piece of comb is trans- 

 ferred large enough to fill the frame, a long piece of string may be wound around the comb, frame and all; or rubber bands may be 

 used. But if small pieces of comb are to be transferred, as from a bee-tree, for instance, short pieces of string may be arranged on a 

 board as in the illustration above, an empty frame placed over them, and enough pieces of brood comb cut to fill it. The ends of the 

 string may then be brought together over the top, and tied. When string is used, no harm is done if it is not removed, for the bees 

 •ooD do that.— Eu.] 



