596 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 1 



I also find that driven swarms work with in- 

 creased zeal. I shall do more of this work 

 in the future with such colonies as contain 

 cross-built comb structures as often found 

 among farmers. 



THE DISEASE SITUATION IN EUROPE.' 



Few of us here will indorse the follow- 

 ing: "The combs of hives to be taken into 

 wmter should not be over one year old." 

 This is what the bee-keepers of Holstein and 

 Hannover practice. We can see no good 

 reason for discarding older combs as long as 

 they are good, except perhaps as a precau- 

 tionary measure against foul brood. 



As to foul brood, the German authorities 

 have held for many years that the only sure 

 way to wipe it out was by the cremating 

 process. Over 30 years ago the bee-keepers 

 in Germany and Austria were almost carried 

 away with the salicylic treatment. Herr 

 Emil Hilbert discovered that the foul-brood 

 bacillus would quickly die in a weak solution 

 of this chemical, and by spraying the diseas- 

 ed combs it was said that the disease could 

 be cured. Hilbert was greatly honored, and 

 even decorated by several crowned heads; 

 but after all, the salicylic acid and other drugs 

 like thymol, lysol, etc., did not prove as ef- 

 fective as was hoped, and so it is still advis- 

 ed to burn everything affected with the dis- 

 ease. Herr Lichtenthaler has had 16 years 

 of experience with foul brood, and has con- 

 cluded that all combs containing 25 per cent 

 of the diseased brood should be burned up. 

 On the other hand, he says that the pollen 

 contains the spores and disease germs; and 

 if the bees are put on healthy combs late in 

 the fall the colony will be cured. 



Only I'ecently the American treatment of 

 shaking and treating likf a young swarm has 

 come to the front, particularly in Switzerland. 

 A little book on foul brood has very recently 

 been sent me for inspection and criticism. 

 It is written by Fritz Leuenberger, Berne, 

 Switzerland All the statements made there- 

 in, the methods of treatment given, the pre- 

 cautionary measures, etc., so nearly reflect 

 what we have learned within the last few 

 years in every particular that one would be 

 excusable for assuming the writer had been 

 well posted on what was going on here in 

 America. About the only thing he omits is 

 that, above all races of bees, the Italian is 

 most nearly immune to the disease, and will 

 resist infection, even clean up, where the 

 black bee would succumb. We can excuse 

 the writer for this omission, because, par- 

 ticularly in Switzerland, the black bee is 

 boomed more than any other — in fact, exclu- 

 sively, of late. The Swiss bee-keepers have 

 all the confidence in the world that they will 

 succeed in stamping out the disease, and 

 have organized an insurance agency. The 

 yearly insurance premium is about 1 cent per 

 hive; and if any colony is lost, }:i of its value 

 is refunded. Even bee-keepers who have 

 not insured but submit to inspectors' treat- 

 ment, receive often half of the value if funds 

 are available. The writer of the above work 



! jives the data of this insurance business in 

 lis little book, with many other interesting 



facts as to the work and mission of different 

 bacilli, having a bearing in every-day life. 

 Our German readers might find this little 

 book beneficial reading. The price is only 

 5 cts., which is nominal. I think the bee- 

 keepers of Germany and Austria will soon 

 quite generally adopt our American foul- 

 brood cure, and that with benefit to them- 

 selves. 



LAWS IN REGARD TO HONEY. 



The great bulk of honey produced in Ger- 

 many, Austria, and Switzerland is in the liq- 

 uid form. While with us in America the 

 price of comb honey is twice that of the ex- 

 tracted honey, in these countries little differ- 

 ence is made in price between the two. A 

 bee-keeper would, therefore, be very short- 

 sighted to produce comb honey for the mar- 

 ket. When honey is spoken of, extracted 

 honey is always meant, and the people more 

 readily buy it than they do here, although a 

 lot of adulterating is being done there. More 

 adulterated mixtures are on the market there 

 by a long way than the genuine article. Bee- 

 keepers, however, are not hampered by such 

 a law as we have on our own statute-books 

 — the honey-dew-honey law. The American 

 bee-keepers ought to see to it that this un- 

 just and unwise law is repealed as speedily 

 as possible. What bee-keeper of our land 

 could, with any degree of safety, guarantee 

 his honey as being gathered from blossoms 

 only? He has no way of knowing it, unless 

 he has an analysis made. All he can say is 

 that his honey is the product of the hive. 



A BRAZILIAN METHOD OF SECURING STRONG 

 COLONIES FOR THE HONEY-FLOW. 



I should like to cut this article short; but 

 it would lack in completeness if I did not 

 compare American methods with the Brazil- 

 ian, of which F. A. Hannemann is the origi- 

 nator. We like to see our hives overflowing 

 with bees when the honey season ai'rives. 

 Mr. Hannemann tries to accomplish this by 

 massing together a large number of young 

 swarms. The bee common in Brazil has tht; 

 swarming tendency of the heath and Carniu- 

 lan. Swarms are the object at the beginning 

 of the season. All the swai'ms of the day 

 are usually hived into one great mammoth 

 hive; the queens are all caged, and placed 

 about in different parts of the hive, and thus 

 left until the end of the honey season: when 

 one is liberated, all the rest are disposed of. 

 Even if 15 or 20 swarms should have been 

 massed together in the early part of the sea- 

 son, their energies will all be spent by the 

 time the end comes, and only enough bees 

 to make one good swarm will be left, the 

 rest all having been "swapped" for honey 

 and wax. Just how many pounds of honey 

 a given number of pounds of bees store un- 

 der these conditions I am not able to say; but 

 we have found in our experience that it is 

 more profitable to keep our bees in a more 

 normal condition. We want lots of bees in 

 a hive, it is true; but at the end we are money 

 ahead by hiving 20 swarms into not less than 

 10 hives, and giving the queens their free- 

 dom. Thus our surplus comb honey will be 



