399 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July 1 



see distant fields; and so long as there is pas- 

 turage at hand they will, according to our 

 experience and observation, go only about 

 \'/i miles; for by the time the pasturage is 

 used up in the mile-and-a-half radius it will 

 also be gone at the greater distances. But 

 in York State, where the hills are in some 

 cases several hundred or even a thousand 

 feet high, the conditions would be different. 

 The near-by pasturage would be used up 

 first, provided the bees were in the valley; 

 hen the bees would keep climbing the hills, 

 going further and further from home, until 

 they had gone as far as Mr. Doolittle states. 



This only goes to show that in some parts 

 of York State more bees can be supported in 

 one yard than in , localities such as we have 

 in Ohio. 



Again, we have a recorded instance where 

 bees have flown across a body of water sev- 

 en miles to pasturage. In a strictly prairie 

 country where there are no trees it is prob- 

 able that they can and do go much further 

 than in a more or less wooded country. In 

 a discussion of this kind we must not loose 

 sight of the bearing of locality. 



EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD IN CALIFORNIA. 



The following letter, received from Dr. E. 

 F. Phillips, in cnarge of apiculture in the Bu- 

 reau of Entomology, will explain itself: 



Mr. E. R. /?oof.— Samples of a new outbreak of Euro- 

 pean foul brood in Fresno and adjoining counties in 

 California have just been received at this office. I 

 think you would benefit the bee-keepers of the infect- 

 ed area by calling attention to this in GLEANINGS. 

 This disease is new to that part of the country, and it 

 will be well for the bee-keepers to know the danprer. 

 Any suspected samples may be sent here for identifi- 

 cation. E. F. Phillips. 



Washington, June 12. 



California bee-keepers, especially those in 

 the adjoining locality, should bestir them- 

 selves at once; for unless European or black 

 brood is checked it will nearly wipe out the 

 industry before it can be brought under con- 

 trol. Ordinary foul brood, bad as it is, in 

 our judgment is mild in comparison; and the 

 sooner California bee-keepers recognize its 

 awful virulence the better it will be for them. 

 It spreads with tremendous rapidity, and, 

 what is more distressing yet, it will some- 

 times come back after it has been cured. 



It will be the part of wisdom if the bee- 

 keepers of Fresno and adjoining counties 

 will practice "shook" swarming. Hive the 

 bees on frames of foundation, and melt up 

 all the old combs as soon as the brood is 

 hatched out. 



If black brood should once get started in a 

 yard of ours we would treat the whole apia- 

 ry, irrespective of whether individual colo- 

 nies showed the disease or not. To that end 

 we would put every brood-nest on the top of 

 another body containing frames of founda- 

 tion, separating the two stories with a queen- 

 excluder. Of course we would put the queen 

 below; and as soon as the brood was all hatch- 

 ed out above we would extract the honey, if 

 any, and melt up the combs. 



The plan outlined will sacrifice no brood, 

 honey, nor even wax. It will involve, of 

 course, some extra labor; but in many cases. 



and perhaps all of them, there would be a 

 corresponding gain in honey alone, and the 

 prevention of swarming, to say nothing of 

 the benefits to be derived in killing the germs 

 of any possible black brood that may lurk in 

 the combs. With the modern methods of 

 wax-rendering one can secure practically all 

 of the wax out of a set of combs. When the 

 work is done right, the wax will pay for the 

 foundation. 



NON-SWARMING RACES OF BEES IN SWITZER- 

 LAND; ARE THE BLACKS LESS INCLINED 

 TO SWARM THAN THE YELLOW RACES? 



On page 269 there was some discussion as 

 to whether the black races of bees swarm 

 less than the Italians of Switzerland. Editor 

 Kramer, of the Swiss Bee Journal, had been 

 quoted as saying that the swarming problem 

 in Switzerland was solved by substituting 

 the native blacks for the "hot-blooded ItaP 

 ians." In our footnote we called attention 

 to the fact that the Swiss bee-keepers run al- 

 most exclusively for extracted honey, and, 

 what is more, use very large hives or ' 'chests, ' ' 

 as they are called in that country. We gave 

 it as our opinion that, with any race of bees, 

 there would be but very little swarming un- 

 der such conditions. In proof we referred 

 to the Dadants, of Hamilton, 111., who use the 

 large Dadant hives and Italian bees, yet 

 wim hardly more than two per cent of swarms 

 in a season. We asked for the opinion of 

 Mr. C. P. Dadant, and his reply was publish- 

 ed on page 335 of our June 1st issue. In this 

 article he said, in referring to the black bees 

 of Switzerland, "I do not believe there have 

 been any special characteristics bred into 

 any race of bees by artificial selection thus 

 far. . . I do not believe there is a marked 

 difference between the common bees, and 

 the Italians especially, in swarming." Then 

 he went on to show that the Swiss and French 

 are succeeding in the prevention of swarm- 

 ing even better than the Dadants by "follow- 

 ing the Dadant ideas." 



We also have an article from the same 

 writer, in the June issue of the American Bee 

 Journal, on the same subject. During the 

 interval he has given the matter considerable 

 study and investigation. He introduces con- 

 siderable testimony from authorities, both in 

 this country and in Europe, to show that 

 there is no practical difference between the 

 common black bees and Italians in the mat- 

 ter of swarming under like conditions; but 

 nearly all the authorities mentioned speak of 

 the Carniolans as being excessive swarmers; 

 then he winds up his article by saying: 



Our friends across the Atlantic are producers of ex- 

 tracted honey, like myself. Like myself they use very 

 large hives, perhaps not universally, but <iuite gener- 

 ally. They will, therefore, much more readily succeed 

 in decreasing the swarming impulse than most of our 

 American producers. But it must not be taken for 

 granted that our Swiss friends are the only ones who 

 succeed in preventing swarming. It is almost univer- 

 sal in those countries where large hives, the produc- 

 tion of extracted honey, and house-apiaries or shel- 

 ters, are used. In addition their climate is much cool- 

 er than ours, as nearly all of Europe is north of the 

 40th degree of latitude, while almost the entire United 

 States is south of the 45th. This fact alone would ex- 

 plain the greater success in the prevention of swarm- 

 ing in Europe by artificial means. 



