782 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 15 



to cast some nice swarms. I then began to 

 think of trying to save them. But as the ap- 

 ple bloom and other flora were about three 

 weeks late, and I yet did not feel hke spend- 

 ing money for feeding, and, like some others, 

 I am prone to postpone undertaking a nasty 

 job, not until about June 15 did I begin trans- 

 ferring them to new foundation. In the 

 mean time the bees kept busy robbing one 

 another, and the whole yard smelled some- 

 thing like a glue-factory, on account of rob- 

 bing. I worked nights, doing a few each 

 evening; but, being new to me, it was slow 

 work, and I did not finish until June 26. 

 Then I found I had left from the old stock of 

 28 stands 9 fairly strong ones and 6 nuclei, 

 some without queens. To these I merely 

 gave fresh eggs, letting them work out their 

 own salvation, and it has taken them all 

 summer to do so, as, with one exception, it 

 made a few pounds of surplus. I also had 

 13 new colonies. Heretofore my average 

 surplus has been from 40 to 45 pounds, spring 

 count, counting unfinished sections and all.' 



This year I had 1279 sections, nearly all 

 white, that would grade fancy and No. 1 ; al- 

 so 100 pounds (by weight) of partly capped 

 sections which sell as chunk honey — a total 

 of 1379 pounds. If I am allowed to call the 

 nine strong stands as spring count, it gives 

 me an average of 153 lbs.; or, counting the 

 whole fifteen, it still gives double the yield 

 over previous years. I also had about 100 

 sections drawn"^ out with more or less honey 

 in. These I let the bees clean out for next 

 year's baits. 



Taking away all their honey, comb, and 

 brood just at the beginning of the honey- 

 flow the result was a surprise to me, and so 

 satisfactory that hereafter I shall not hesitate 

 to shake out a loafing colony at almost any 

 time. And I might add that the above sur- 

 plus might have been greater; but under my 

 system (the let-alone) I did not notice that 

 two of the new colonies were crowded, and 

 about Aug. 1 each cast a large swarm. The 

 first circled around a few times, and went 

 off with a rush without settling, proving, I 

 think, that they do have their location select- 

 ed in advance. The other I put in a new 

 hive on the old stand, old hive on top, with 

 queen-cells cut out; then in a few days I put 

 all back in the old hive, and in about ten 

 days they were missing. Of course no more 

 surplus from them was obtained. Although 

 not making a thorough inspection before 

 cold weather began, I have not detected a 

 return of foul brood. This is surprise No. 2. 



In treating the disease, having no furnace 

 I dug a deep trench, made a grating of iron 

 bars, piled the frames of diseased brood on 

 this, sprinkled with coal oil, and set on fire. 

 All that did not burn fell through. I then 

 filled up the trench, and charred the inside 

 of my hives and supers with loose paper and 

 coal oil. 



In driving the bees into the new hives they 

 were stubborn, and inclined to bunch under 

 the board or hive, and creep off into dark 

 corners, until I tried running them up on the 

 bottom-board of the old hive, making it con- 



nect closely with the entrance of the new 

 hive. This I found worked nicely. They 

 stuck to it as though fenced in. 

 Canon City, Colo. 



BEE-DISEASE LAWS. 



Their Enforcement. 



BY DR. E. F. PHILLIPS. 



In controlling bee diseases in a communi- 

 ty, past experience has shown that it is nec- 

 essarj' that every bee-keeper do his part; 

 otherwise the work done by individuals is 

 largely nullified by the carelessness or neg- 

 lect of a few. Where all the bee-keepers 

 are progressive, a simple plan of co-opera- 

 tion would be enough; but, unfortunately, 

 there are in almost all communities some 

 bee-keepers who are either ignorant, care- 

 less, or willfully negligent. If, therefore, 

 they will not voluntarily care for their bees 

 as they should, there must be some legal 

 means of compelling them to abate a public 

 nuisance when disease appears among their 

 colonies. Without such a law for regions 

 where disease exists, progressive bee-keep- 

 ing is difficult and nearly impossible. 



Laws providing for inspection of apiaries 

 with the object of controlling disease are, 

 therefore, drafted primarily for the bee- 

 keeper who does not voluntarily treat dis- 

 eased colonies. The progressive bee-keep- 

 er needs no such law to compel him to do 

 his duty. The inspector of apiaries, how- 

 ever, in actual practice, is much more than 

 a police officer; in fact, his police duties are 

 but a small part of his work. However the 

 law may be worded, the good which an in- 

 spector does is due in the greater part to his 

 work as an educator. It is the dutj' of the 

 inspector, specified in the law in most cases, 

 to instruct the bee-keepers how to know dis- 

 ease and how and when to treat. The great 

 good which has been done by the various in- 

 spectors in the past has been due almost en- 

 tirely to this phase of their work. 



It is, however, most unwise to set the in- 

 spector to work merely as an educational of- 

 ficer without any power to enforce his or- 

 ders. This has been tried, and appears to 

 be a failure. There are, unfortunately, in 

 almost all communities, bee-keepers who, 

 from obstinacy or spite, must be driven to 

 their duty. Most men, however, when once 

 they learn that they must treat disease will 

 accept the teachings of the inspector. 



The following States and Territories now 

 have laws of some kind providing for in- 

 spection: California, Colorado, Connecticut, 

 Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kan- 

 sas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebras- 

 ka, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, 

 Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wash- 

 ington, Wisconsin. Somewhat similar laws 

 exist in New Zealand, some states in Aus- 

 tralia, Ontario, Ireland, and parts of Europe. 

 The bee-keepers in several other States are 

 now agitating the passage of similar laws. 



These laws may be divided into two groups 



