Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, 0. 



H. H. Root, Assistant Editor. E. R. Root, Editor. A. L. Boyden, Advertising Manager. 



A. I. Root, Editor Home Department. J. T. Calvert, Business Manager. 



Entered at the Postoffice, Medina, O., as Second-class matter. 



VOL. XJLI. 



MARCH 15, 1913. 



NO. 6 



Editorial 



IOWA FOL'L-BROOD LAW; ATTENTION, IOWA 

 BEEKEEPERS ! 



The beekeepers of Iowa are ti-ying to gel 

 appropriations for their foul-brood law. 

 It seems thej' had a law passed, but it car- 

 ried no apiDropriation. Eveiy beekeeper 

 in Iowa is requested either to see or write 

 to Ids Senator or Representative at once, 

 and explain the great need of an appro- 

 priation for the foul-brood law already on 

 the statute-books, but wliich is practically 

 non-operative by reason of no money for 

 carrying on the work of inspection. 



SENDING BEES WITHOUT CO-\IBS. 



We must again caution beekeejiers 

 against trying to send bees bj' parcel post. 

 From the amount of correspondence that 

 has been coming in, many people appear to 

 be getting wild about shipping bees with- 

 out combs. They either do not take Glean- 

 ings or fail to read our repeated admoni- 

 tions, and send bees in any kind of box by 

 parcel post. As not all postmasters have 

 read the ])arcel-post regulations, some of 

 them accejit packages of bees in the mails; 

 and if this continues we are liable to have 

 even queen-bees ban-ed. Sending bees in 

 pound packages is a science. We are per- 

 fectly willing to tell beekeepers how to do 

 it if they will write us. 



A FRUIT-GROWER WHO KNOWS WHAT HE IS 

 TALKING ABOUT. 



One of our subscribers, Mr. Elias Fox, 

 of Union Center, Wis., has called our atten- 

 tion to the following clipping from Tlie 

 Fruitman and Gardener, published at Mt. 

 Vernon, Iowa, taken from their January 

 " Special Spraying " issue : 



Never use poison sprays when the fruit trees are 

 in bloom. Just before and just after is the time for 

 spraying. 



You injure rather than help your crop by spray- 

 ing during bloom. Those few days are sacred to the 

 work of pollenation. 



And the bees, your best friends in that work, 

 must have a clear field. It is adding cruelty to folly 

 to kill your friends at the moment they are doing 

 you a good turn. 



Mr. Fox wishes that all journals devoted 

 to fruit-gTowing in the countrj^ would copy 



this. We, too, wish that they would, for 

 the item, though short, is right to the point. 

 As it comes from a journal not especially 

 prejudiced in favor of bees, it has all the 

 more weight. 



BEE INSPECTION IN CONNECTICUT; A LARGER 

 APPROPRIATION NEEDED. 



According to that part of the report of 

 the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment 

 Station having to do with bees, we note 

 that the two inspectors, A. W. Yates and 

 H. W. Coley, made an effort during 1912 

 to inspect those portions of the State not 

 previously covered in this work. European 

 foul brood was found in Litchfield, Nor- 

 wich, and New London counties. 



The appropriation in the States is only 

 $300, so it is impossible to cover all the 

 ground in one year. At the last convention, 

 however, beekeepers voted to ask for an in- 

 creased appropriation, and also for certain 

 changes in the law which will make it possi- 

 ble to inspect without complaint, and to 

 place a quarantine upon diseased apiaries. 

 Another change asked for is that a certifi- 

 cate of good health be required to accom- 

 pany every sliipment of bees, whether 

 brought into the State from without or 

 moved from one point to another within 

 the State. 



The inspectors barely kept within the 

 appropriation, the total cost of the year's 

 work amounting to $299.80. The average 

 cost of inspection per colony was 21 cts. 

 Fourteen hundred and thirty-one colonies 

 were inspected in 153 apiaries, and 337 

 colonies were found diseased with Euro- 

 pean foul brood in 73 apiaries. 



windbreaks and wintering. 

 We ^vish to indorse as heartily as we can 

 the statements made by Mr. Byer, on page 

 181. of this issue, on the subject of narural 

 windbreaks versus board fences. As we 

 have said before, we believe suitable wind- 

 breaks are almost as important factors in 

 wintering as packed double walls. The best- 

 sheltered location — indeed, one that is ideal, 

 in our opinion — is one that is surrounded 

 by low shrubbery or trees — enough so as to 



