76 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



April 



Cuba, we remember being very much 

 interested in one of these fi"esh air 

 colonies. In that country bees are liept 

 •in hollow palm logs, not as they are 

 sometimes used in the states, in an up- 

 right position, but are left entirely 

 open at both ends, and lay horizontally, 

 like a fallen tree. 



This colony, which attracted our at- 

 tention in particular, had extended its 

 combs beyond the end of their crude, 

 native hive, into a clump of shrub- 

 bery, fully two feet from the log. 

 It was in January, and the vines of the 

 honey-yielding campanula were en- 

 twined in every direction through the 

 snow-white combs of glistening honey, 

 and their beautiful bell-shaped flowers, 

 resembling a small, white morning- 

 glory, hung in such profusion about 

 the cluster of busy workers that they 

 would often impede their flight, and the 

 sudden jarring of the tiny floral bell by 

 coming in contact with a homeward- 

 bound worker, would startle another 

 gatherer that was deeply interested in 

 sipping the nectar within. 



Another illustration of the bee's 

 marvelous instinct was also presented 

 in this instance. The field force were 

 on duty and the shady spots and side 

 of the combs were left almost without 

 a guard; large slabs of virgin comb, 

 weighted with unsealed honey were ex- 

 posed to plain view, yet a ray of sun- 

 shine was not permitted to fall upon it. 

 Solid clusters of the black Castilians 

 would glisten at every point where the 

 sun was in range. 



If by any means this protection had 

 been removed, these combs would not 

 have withstood the force of that tropi- 

 cal sun for ten minutes. 



Mr. Doolittle's writings show con- 

 clusively that he is not "carried away" 

 with the plain section, as some others 

 of the fraternity seem to be. A four- 

 piece nailed section is still used in his 

 apiary; yet we do not know of another 

 man in the United States who makes a 

 small apiary pay as big as does Mr. D. 



E. R. Root inclines to the belief 

 that the reported cures of foul brood 

 by the use of salicylic acid, were cases 

 where genuine foul brood did not ex- 

 ist: but instead, another disease of 

 very similar appearance known as 

 "pickled brood," which though des- 

 tructive lacks the malignant quality of 

 foul brood, and will in time disappear 

 of its own accord. We have had a very 

 limited experience with both of these 

 maladies, and think there is much to 

 confirm Mr. Root's conclusion. 



The present primitive methods of 

 mari«-eting honey, to which we have 

 frequently referred; and which Mr. 

 Theilmann fays are the same as those 

 of fifty or one hundred years ago, it 

 would seem prevail universally. Hear 

 Wm. McNally, in the British Bee- 

 Keepers' Record: "As years roll on, 

 and I get older in the bee business, the 

 more I become convinced that the 

 honey trade of this country (the Brit- 

 ish Isles) would become of more nat- 

 ional importance if carried through on 

 business lines, more especially as to 

 selling the crop. There is such an un- 

 business-like method of dealing with, 

 and want of uniformity in disposing of 

 the article that nothing short of co- 

 operation amongst bee-keepers can put 

 the trade on a sound basis." 



As a result of the food congress held 

 at Washington Mar. 2. a national pure 

 food law is pretty well assured. Eugene 

 Secor and E. T. Abbott, appointed as 

 delegates from the United States Bee- 

 Keepers' Union, were placed on all the 

 important committees, and bee-keeping 

 received full recognition. Mr. Abbott, 

 in a letter to Gleanings, says: "We 

 got all we asked for, and I do not think 

 the industry was ever before so thor- 

 oughly identified with other industries 

 of the community." That's the idea, 

 exactly. It takes- a national organi- 

 sation to grapple successfully with 

 national questions. Let us foster, en- 

 courage and support the U. S. B. K. U. 



