1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



761 



deed, if I find the cells well polished I feel 

 almost as sure a queen is there as if I saw 

 the queen. Now, it seems to me that it must 

 make quite a difference whether the bees 

 are left utterly queenless for twenty-one 

 days, or whether in the last ten or eleven 

 days they have a virgin. After being queen- 

 less for ten days they begin to feel discour- 

 aged and inclined to let things go at loose 

 ends; but let a virgin enter upon the scene 

 and they are wide awake to clean up in 

 preparation for the work they expect her to 



This is not all I know about foul brood, 

 but is, perhaps, enough for the present on 

 such a malodorous subject. 



Marengo, 111. 



[We are not sure but Dr. Miller has made 

 some real discoveries in the treatment of 

 European or black brood. His modified 

 form of Alexander treatment looks reason- 

 able, and the fact that he has been largely 

 successful with it commends it to our thought- 

 ful consideration. 



When Mr. Alexander some years ago show- 

 ed us how his whole apiary that had been 

 treated on his plan was all healthy, notwith- 

 standing there were yards of bees in the lo- 

 cality that were rotten with the disease, we 

 felt convinced that he had something that 

 was good. We accordingly paid him $50 to 

 make the details of the plan public, and this 

 he did. But one or two of the New York in- 

 spectors apparently believed there was noth- 

 ing in it — that the disease in the Alexander 

 apiary had run its course, or, rather, run out. 

 This feeling was apparently shared by Dr. 

 E F. Phillips, of the Bureau of Entomology; 

 but nevertheless we had faith in the plan, 

 but thought it not wise to say very much 

 about it until we could secure further reports. 

 Either the original Alexander treatment or 

 the one modified by the sage of Marengo is 

 very simple, saves a lot of time and material, 

 requires no destruction of brood or combs, 

 and the only loss, apparently, is the entire 

 suspension of brood-rearing in all stages for 

 a period of three weeks. The McEvoy treat- 

 ment involves considerable work, the pur- 

 chase of foundation, the melting-up of other- 

 wise good combs, the building-out of combs 

 from starters, melting these up again, and 

 compelling the bees to build comb again 

 from starters or foundation. The actual cost 

 of this treatment in time and money is con- 

 siderable; and while we do not go so far as 

 to say that the Alexander plan or Dr. Miller's 

 modification is going to be a success, we do 

 think the possibilities are such as to merit 

 our consideration. To that end we should 

 be pleased to get reports from those who 

 have tested the original Alexander treatment, 

 and in addition we should like to hear next 

 summer from those who are in position to 

 try Dr. Miller's modification. 



In this connection it would seem that Dr. 

 Miller's idea of introducing a young virgin 

 in 10 days rather than a laying queen in 21 

 days is a decided improvement. While we 

 are not sure, we believe Dr. Miller is right 



in supposing bees will do a better job of pol- 

 ishing in the cells when there is a virgin in 

 the hive than when they are hopelessly 

 queenless. It looks reasonable that they 

 should do so. 



We have already had a few favorable re- 

 ports and some unfavorable ones of the origi- 

 nal Alexander treatment; and it is possible 

 that the last named were due to the Tact that 

 the colonies were not strong enough. 



It is true that Mr. Alexander did not make 

 the claim that his treatment would cure the 

 old-fashioned or American foul brood; but 

 one or two of his disciples have made that 

 claim. — Ed.] 



rOUNDATION IN SECTIONS. 



The Extra Thin Makes but a Slight Midrib. 



BY F. GREINER. 



As to the use of full sheets of comb foun- 

 dation in section boxes (pages 528, 604), a 

 practice I have never felt like endorsing, I 

 want to add that, sometimes, under very 

 favorable conditions, the extra-light section 

 foundation is well worked out, and can scarce- 

 ly be detected in the finished product. At 

 other times the same article becomes quite 

 objectionable. My good friend Dr. James 

 Moss, minister of the M. E. Church in Naples, 

 is taking some interest in bees and honey of 

 late. He was taking dinner at my house 

 lately, and on this occasion I showed him the 

 difference between genuine virgin comb 

 honey and that with fishbone or backbone in 

 it. I also explained to him how profitable it 

 would be for me to use full sheets of founda- 

 tion in all my sections; and also the position 

 I took in regard to using the artificial midrib. 



"Well," he said, "don't stand in your own 

 light, brother G. Use the midrib." 



I did not intend to say any thing about 

 this, but it is out. 



Dr. Miller rather excuses himself for using 

 full sheets of foundation in sections by say- 

 ing he would have to use queen-excluders 

 under supers with starters only. With us it 

 rarely happens that queens go up into the 

 supers, even when the brood-chambers are 

 reduced to six or seven L. frames. When 

 the contraction is carried any further we 

 have trouble; but even then, more with pol- 

 len than with brood. I would hardly expect 

 less pollen were I to use full sheets of foun- 

 dation in the sections instead of mere start- 

 ers. The tendency would be the other way, 

 I judge. 



Bee-keepers in Germany are still taking a 

 very firm stand against the use of foundation 

 in comb honey. This may be due in part to 

 the fact that many beekeepers over there 

 make their own foundation with the Rietsche 

 press. They can not make as delicate an ar- 

 ticle as is made in the United States by the 

 regular manufacturers, and it is quite likely 

 that very many of the Germans do not know 

 how fine a product is used here in sections 

 by the large majority of honey-producers 

 who are using foundation. Possibly their 



