72 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Jan. 25, 19C6 



* (Eontrtbuteb * 

 Special Civticks 



=% 



Some Apiarian Comments and Experiments 



EV ADMAN GETAZ. 



IT IS not often that I enter into a controversy with some 

 other writer. I think that when I have expressed my 

 opinion, and given my reasons for such, and the "other 

 fellow'' has done the same, that ought to be the end of it. 

 That is. as a general rule ; but there are exceptions. Some- 

 times a glaring error, or what may seem to be so, has been 

 made, and should be corrected. This being understood, I 

 wish in this contribution to correct what seems to me er- 

 roneous, and also describe some experiments that may lead 

 to very important results. 



Foul Brood and Adult Bees. 



In reading the report of a late convention, I was quite 

 surprised at the assertion repeatedly made by several of our 

 best bee-keepers, that adult bees do not contract foul brood. 

 If the reader will turn to Cheshire's works, he will see that 

 foul-brood bacilli have been found m the bodies of adult 

 bees, workers and queens, chiefly in the blood. Not only 

 Cheshire, but Prof. Harrison, and several other microscopists. 

 have found them even in the ovaries of the queens. 



We may disagree with Cheshire's or anybody else's 

 opinions, but when competent men tell us they have seen 

 something, there is nothing to do but to accept their asser- 

 tions, at least until positive proof that they are mistaken is 

 given. 



On the other hand, it is incontestable that the disease is 

 not transmitted by the adult bees, or at least very seldom, if 

 at all. Cheshire explains it by saying that the disease de- 

 velops rapidly, and that before any transmission can be made 

 the diseased adult bees go out of the hive to die. It is certain 

 that diseased bees usually leave and die away from the hives. 

 When they do not, they are expelled. All those who have 

 seen bee-paralysis are familiar with these facts. 



In connection with this, it must be remembered that as 

 long as the infected bee or other animal lives, the bacilli will 

 not leave its body, except what few may be carried out with 

 its excrements. They multiply by division. Each bacillus 

 grows in length, and. when sufficiently long, breaks in two or 

 more portions, each one forming a new individual. The 

 process continues as long as there is plenty to eat. When the 

 infected animal dies, and there is no more to eat, the bacilli 

 break into spores, which escape by the thousands and infect 

 whatever suitable material with which they come in contact. 

 As the diseased bees die outside, or are carried out immedi- 

 ately, it is easy to see that they cannot be a serious source of 

 infection. 



Glucose and Chlorydric Acid. 



In a recent issue. Prof. Eaton said that in the United 

 States at least, glucose is no longer made with sulphuric acid, 

 but with chlorydric acid. When the transformation is finished, 

 carbonate of soda is added to neutralize the acid, with the 

 result that chloride of sodium, or. to call it by its popular 

 name, common salt, remains in the glucose. 



I am not in a position to confirm or contradict the 

 Professor's statement, but it is certainly a puzzle to me. It 

 seems to me that the salt remaining in the glucose would give 

 it such an abominable taste that it would preclude its use, at 

 least for eating purposes. 



Moths and Wax. 



In the last edition of his excellent bee-book, Prof. Cook 

 savs that the moths do not attack the combs that have neither 

 pollen nor dead bees, as the wax alone cannot furnish them 

 the nitrogenous substances necessary for their development. 



I am sorry to contradict, but I have had combs which 

 had neither dead bees n<>i- pollen, and where no brood had 

 been reared, completely eaten up; and the moths therein grew 

 to full size and completed their development. Moths fre- 

 quentlv attack and ruin sections where nothing can be had 

 hut wax; they do not seem to eat the honey. 



The Rietsche Comb Foundation Press. 



I have not the last edition of the "A B C of Bee Culture." 

 A correspondent writes me that a German foundation press is 

 mentioned there, but that the editor does not recommend it, 

 because it makes foundation with flat bottoms. There must 

 be a mistake somewhere. None of the presses or rolls made 

 in Europe make flat-bottom foundation. I receive regularly 

 several European bee-papers, but I never saw the flat-bottom 

 mentioned. 



Young and Old Bees. 



• In one of the last numbers of the "late lamented" Western 

 Bee Journal. Mr. Stachelhausen writes the following: 



"Mr. Getaz explains his success [in preventing swarming 

 by caging the queen] in the following way : During the four 

 days or more without unsealed brood, the young bees having 

 no brood to feed, take to the field notwithstanding their age 

 or rather youngness. I am sure this idea is not based on 

 facts. It is proven by many experiments that under no cir- 

 cumstances will a worker-bee fly out of the hive before she 

 is 12 days old. If this were not so, and a young bee could 

 become a field-bee, if not enough brood is present, the swarm- 

 ing fever would never appear in any colony." 



There are two errors in the above. The first is the asser- 

 tion that a bee under 12 days of age will not fly out. That 

 may have been so in some cases, but experiments have been 

 made where bees only 7, 5, and in one case 4 days old, have 

 brought in nectar and pollen. On the other hand, bees several 

 weeks old, and even several months old, when wintered over, 

 do the work usually allotted to the young bees when none are 

 present. 



It is therefore certain that while young bees do the inside 

 work in preference, and the older ones the field-work, there 

 is no absolute date or limit, all depending upon the circum- 

 stances. 



The second error is the assertion that if so, the swarming 

 fever would not appear, or, to put it in another shape, queen- 

 cells would not be constructed. Because young bees can go 

 to the field, there is absolutely no reason why this would 

 prevent them from building queen-cells before taking to the 

 field. If they don't build any when there is no unsealed 

 brood, it is because they can't, and not because they won't. 



Flight-Hole Above Brood-Nest. 



Some years ago a Mr. Richard, a preacher at Amsterdam, 

 took a notion to have a hive of bees. Not having any other 

 place for them he put them in the garret. The shape of the 

 roof was such that it became necessary to have the entrance 

 at the top of the hive instead of the bottom. The following 

 year the hive was taken to the country and another bought 

 besides. The result was that the hive with the entrance at 

 the top of the brood-nest gave three times as much surplus 

 honey as the other. The same results were obtained the fol- 

 lowing year. 



It is needless to say that a large number of apiarists be- 

 gan to experiment on the question. The results as far as the 

 reports I have seen stated, are an increase from 2 to 5 times 

 and in one case 6 times the amount of surplus honey that 

 would be obtained with the entrance at the usual place. Only 

 one case is on record where no increase was obtained in the 

 supers, but considerably more than usual was stored in the 

 brood-chamber. 



The following points were ascertained : 



1st. The brood-nest remains where it is; the queen does 

 not go up in the supers. 



2d. The bees manage to keep the hive, including the 

 bottom-board, as clean as when the entrance is below. 



3d. It is absolutely necessary that when the upper en- 

 trance is open, the other should be closed, and no crack of 

 appreciable size should be permitted below the upper entrance. 



These three points are correct. I have tried the system 

 and found them to be so. 



I hesitated a long time before trying the process myself. 

 I am working for comb honey, and the European bee-keepers 

 work for extracted honey. I was under the impression that 

 an opening above would interfere with the building of comb 

 in the sections. I finally tried a few hives, but instead of 

 having the entrance opening directly outside, I had a kind of 

 passage-way leading down to the bottom-board just in front 

 of the other entrance. This did not work very well. The 

 ventilation was too imperfect. At least I thought so, but I 

 have come to the conclusion that I may have been mistaken, 

 and that the process deserves further trial. 



By that time I reflected that while Europeans work for 

 extracted honey, they hardly ever give a full set of built 

 combs, usually only a few. and the rest is with foundation, and 



