200 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the insides all even the whole heighth, 

 so that the parts would be inter- 

 changeable. The surplus arrange- 

 ments are made on the same plan as 

 tlie Ileddon case, and the sections are 

 handled in the same manner. J have 

 a '4-inch bee-space between each tier 

 of sections, and the same bee-space 

 between the lower sections and the 

 brood-frames. I can tier the sections 

 up as high as I wish, and when the 

 sections are not needed on the hive, 

 they are removed and tlie cover 

 placed directly on the body of the 

 hive. This arrangement of the hive 

 is the most convenient and most easily 

 handled of any that I have ever seen 

 or used. I have entirely discarded 

 separators, as I do not wish to be 

 bothered with them, for with my 

 present arrangement, and the use of 

 narrow sections and foundation, I can 

 crate 95 per cent, of the combs. 

 LigoBieT,6 Ind. 



For tLe American Bee JoumaU 



Another Cure for Foul Brood. 



WM. F. KANZLER. 



I consider it my duty to give to my 

 fellow bee-keepers, whose apiaries 

 contain colonies of bees afflicted with 

 that dread disease, foul brood, the 

 following cure which I found in the 

 Bienenzeitung for Feb. 1, IS80 : 



In 1880, a bee-keeper by the name 

 of Mr. Klempin, cured with the 

 smoke of thyme, 2 colonies which 

 were strongly infected with the foul 

 brood. In ISS;^, 8 of his colonies be- 

 came infected by robbing his neigh- 

 bor's bees which had the foul brood ; 

 the affected colonies in botli apiaries 

 were smoked with thyme, and in the 

 fall all colonies were cured, except 

 one which was destroyed by fire, as 

 it was totally rotten. In lss4 he 

 watched his bees until June, and 

 alter finding no foul brood, he paid 

 no more attention to them, but in 

 July he found 2 colonies infected, one 

 considerably, and he again used the 

 smoke of thyme, and after 10 days 

 the larva; were dried by the smote 

 and carried out by the bees, all cells 

 were cleaned, and the colony saved. 

 Also two large infected apiaries in 

 the neighborhood were cured by the 

 same remedy. 



It was done in this way: He took 

 a piece of paper and made a hint of 

 thyme as thick as a thumb and 4 

 inches long, then he ignited it at one 

 end and put it into a smoker; in the 

 evening, after the bees quit flying, he 

 held his smoker in the hive-entrance 

 and gave the infected colony 20 or 30 

 puffs of smoke. He continued this 

 every evening during the first two 

 weeks; after that tmie, S times a 

 week; and if he found, after 3 or 4 

 weeks, that the cells were clean and 

 the brood healthy, he applied the 

 smoke only once or twice a week. 



Thyme is our common garden herb, 

 used for Seasoning several dishes; 

 5 cents will procure a paper of seed. 

 It is time to sow it now, and it is to 

 be pulled when in bloom, and dried 

 in the shade. 



I consider myself very fortunate, 

 for in the long course of my keeping 

 bees— over 60 years— I have made no 

 acquaintance with this dreadful dis- 

 ease in my own apiary ; but notwith- 

 standing, I will raise some thyme in 

 my garden this year for any case of 

 emergency. Years ago, the true 

 cause of foul brood was discovered to 

 be a very small fungus, and the reme- 

 dies for killing it are, salicylic acid, 

 plienol and thymol ; the last-named is 

 contained in our common thyme, and 

 is the cheapest of all. 



Fulda, 9 Ind. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Market Quotations for Honey. 



C. C. MILLEK, (200—299). 



United action on the part of bee- 

 keepers in settling upon the price at 

 which they can afford to sell honey 

 may be one of the things to be accom- 

 plished in the future, but it is quite 

 likely that the ordinary laws of sup- 

 ply and demand will control the mat- 

 ter the same as they control the prices 

 of wheat and corn. Although I have 

 little faith in any extraordinary con- 

 cert of action as to the price of honey 

 amongst producers, I have faith in 

 the same kind of concert of action as 

 takes plaoe among farmers with ref- 

 erence to the prices of wheat and 

 corn. 



There seems to be a somewhat 

 rapid progress toward the settling of 

 honey into its proper place as a staple 

 article, which progress will be hast- 

 ened by concert of action among bee- 

 keepers. Not by a meeting and set- 

 tling in convention the price at which 

 honey can be afforded, and a resolu- 

 tion that no one shall sell below that 

 price, but by the general diffusirrrTof 

 knowlejlge as to the condition of the 

 market with reference to supply and 

 demand, the amount of honey in tlie 

 country, and all tlie items that might 

 influence the price. For this diffu- 

 sion of knowledge we must look al- 

 most entirely to the press, and es- 

 pecially to those publications which 

 make a specialty of bee culture. 

 Through these we are to learn 

 whether the crop is light or heavy, 

 and this knowledge alone is of great 

 value even to those who depend en- 

 tirely upon their home market. 



If I know that there is a general 

 failure of the crop, whether my own 

 harvest is light or heavy, I am safe in 

 asking a good price for my honey at 

 home, without fear that the local 

 dealers will send to Chicago or New 

 York an 1 bring in honey to under- 

 sell me. Especially do I need to be 

 informed about the markets if I pro- 

 duce largely and ship to one of the 

 larger cities. If I could sell outright 

 my crop of honey at one transaction, 

 to a cash buyer, that would suit me 

 the best, but if I can get a better 

 price for it by sending it to a commis- 

 sion house, I should so send it, even 

 if it must be sent in several lots, and 

 it is of some consequence to be in- 

 formed from time to time as to the 

 state of the market, that I may know 

 whether it is best to crowd my crop 



in or hold back for an emptied market 

 or a higher price. 



We need light on every point bear- 

 ing upon the subject, and it is the 

 province of the bee-papers to give us 

 that light. If the price demanded by 

 commission men upon the same grade 

 of honey varies 3 cents per pound, 

 then can they not tell us what that 

 price is, with the variation of 3 cents? 

 At any rate, can they not give us 

 what information is to be had on the 

 subject V It is not the price that 

 commission men demand that should 

 be reported, for they, in some cases, 

 demand according' to instructions 

 from consignees, a much higher price 

 than they can obtain ; but the thing 

 wanted is the price at which they are 

 making sales. If the objection is 

 made that they vary in prices, that 

 objection hold's with greater force 

 against buyers' quotations, for last 

 year there was a variation of more 

 than 3 cents in the otters I had on the 

 same grade of honey from three dif- 

 ferent; Ohicngo buyers. 



This full information as to what 

 buyers are giving, what commission 

 men are selling at, the present quan- 

 tity on the market, the prospect for 

 the future, etc. — this it is that will 

 help to make honey as staple as wheat 

 and corn. 



Marengo, 5 Ills. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Foul Brood or What ? 



A. B. MASON. 



The expression on page 140, in 

 Query No. 30, " I could Hud a few 

 cells with brown mucus," may indi- 

 cate foul bicxul. The remainder of 

 the description would indicate some 

 other trouble, and it may not. At 

 any rate, it does not describe foul 

 brood as I have seen it in some por- 

 tions of this State and Michigan. 



Last season a bee-keeper in Michi- 

 gan sent me a piece of comb inquiring 

 if it contained foul brood. It was ob- 

 tained from one of his neighbors 

 several miles away, and was very 

 badly affected with the disease. Later 

 in the season he had some trouble in 

 his own apiary, and fearing that it 

 was foul brood, lie wrote me, giving a 

 description of the trouble. I assured 

 him that it was not foul brood, but I 

 neglected to say what I thought was 

 the trouble. In September lie sent 

 me a full-sized Langstroth comb just 

 as it was taken from the hive, bees 

 and all, wishing to know if it was 

 foul-broody. Owing to its accom- 

 panying live bees, and being busy and 

 from home several days, it was not 

 examined for some time, and a nicer, 

 cleaner comb I never saw. I believe 

 some one told him that the trouble in 

 his apiary was foul brood, and he put 

 his bees through the starving process, 

 melted the combs, and purified his 

 apiary, hoping to thus get rid of the 

 trouble. 



Since the publication of Mr. Web- 

 ster's article on page 58, he has writ- 

 ten me that Mr. Webster gives a de- 

 scription of his trouble. In reply, I 

 told him how I used to be tormented 



