(Entered at the Post-OfBee at Chicago as Second-Class Mall-Matter.) 

 Published Weekly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Co., 334 Dearborn St. 



GEORGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, MAY 3,1906 



VoLXLVI— No. 18 



(Sbttorial Hotes 

 anb Comments 



J 



Chilled Brood Not a Cause of Foul Brood 



In the Swiss Bulletin, a Mr. Fleury has advanced the 

 theory that foul brood is caused by the bad habit of some 

 apiarists of spreading the brood in spring and causing it to 

 die of cold. He thinks this is an inducement to the produc- 

 tion of foul brood, which he calls " le cauchemar des api- 

 culteurs " — "the bee-keeper's nightmare." This has caused 

 a general protest among the better informed, who assert 

 that it is out of the question to hold that foul brood may be 

 caused by the accidental death of the brood. This is right. 

 Foul brood has for its origin bacillus alvei, and where there 

 is no bacillus there is no foul brood. 



Brood to the Top-Bar 



Some time ago Editor Root claimed as a great advan- 

 tage for shallow frames that the combs would be filled with 

 brood clear to the top-bar, while with deeper frames there 

 would be one or two inches of honey next to the top-bar. 

 Dr. Miller said his Langstroth frames often had brood to 

 the top-bar. The following Stray Straw of Gleanings 

 seems to show why the observation of the two men should 

 be so different : 



E. F. Atwater, in the Review, has given, pertaap6, the key to some- 

 thing that has been a puzzle to me. Editor Root said that, with Lang- 

 stroth frames, there was an amount of honey in the upper part of the 

 combs that I knew was not to be found in mine; for often my combs 

 have brood clear up to the top-bar. Mr. Atwater say6 that foundation 

 sags in the deep frames, at the upper part, " to such an extent that 

 there was very little brood reared within perhaps 2 inches or more of 

 the top-bar." With horizontal wiring I can easily believe that would 

 be so. With vertical foundation splints in my own frames there is no 

 more sagging at the top than bottom, giving me, in that respect, the 

 advantage of shallower frames. — [Score a point in favor of splints in 

 place of horizontal wires; and I am not sure now but it was a mistake 

 to change from vertical to horizontal wire6, for which I was largely 

 responsible, if I mistake not. — Editor.] 



Improvements in the American Bee Journal 



It is a desirable thing at any time to have suggestions 

 from members of the American Bee Journal family looking 

 toward improvements. " What will make the Journal bet- 

 ter ?" is a live question at this end of the line, and much 

 thought is given to it, sometimes in "the wee sma' hours " 

 of the night. One trouble in the case is that there are so 

 many view-points to be considered. 



One correspondent has written that when the volume 

 is bound at the end of the year a smaller page would make 

 a more convenient volume to handle. That is true. It 

 would also be more convenient to handle if there were a 

 smaller number of pages. But who wants less of it in the 

 year ? If the size of the page were less, and the number of 



pages increased, the thickness of the annual volume would 

 be still more objectionable than at present. The more im- 

 portant consideration, however, is that with the page of 

 present size the subscriber gets more Journal for his money 

 than he would with a smaller page. A number of the most 

 popular magazines — Ladies' Home Journal, Success, and 

 others — have a larger page than this Journal, a thing that 

 would not be without weighty reasons. Then, it spoils- 

 uniformity for library purposes, if the size of page is- 

 changed. 



A correspondent has written that he would like to have 

 all the advertisements on separate pages, so they might be 

 left out in binding. On the other hand, here comes the fol- 

 lowing note : 



Mr. Editor: — I am not a publisher, but I know enough about the 

 publishing business to know that it is to the interest of the readers of 

 the "Old Reliable" to have its advertising department in as flourish- 

 ing a condition as possible, and I have wondered why you continue to 

 have your advertisements segregated so much as you have. Some of 

 the best magazines have advertisements on the reading pages, and, of 

 course, an advertiser would in general prefer an advertisement so 

 placed. But 1 am more interested in the reading than the advertising, 

 so I ought not to complain, especially so long as you are giving us so 

 good a paper. Subscriber. 



Is it really a desirable thing to have the advertisements 

 left out in binding? Certainly not all bee-keepers would 

 think so. Frequently it is desirable to look up some matter 

 of the past upon which light may be found in the advertise- 

 ments rather than in the reading matter. No little of the 

 history of bee-keeping is contained in the advertisements. 



It is a matter for congratulation that at the present day 

 there is no longer any complaint that the Journal is not 

 entirely occupied with reading matter. Intelligent readers 

 understand that in the long run more advertising means 

 more reading. While this Journal has more advertising 

 space than formerly, it also has more extra pages than ever. 



Reading the Bee- Papers— Queen -Breeders 



Editor York gives us some good advice on page 117, relative to 

 reading the bee-papers. As I notice occasionally where some sub- 

 scriber orders his paper stopped because he ha6 no time to read it, I 

 always draw on my imagination that there must be something decid- 

 edly wrong. How a subscriber can order his paper stopped simply for 

 this reason is more than I can understand. 



A few years ago we heard so much about the book farmer, and it 

 wa6 said that the farmer who sought knowledge through literary 

 sources, and did not follow the steps of his ancestors, would turn out 

 a failure. But all this has passed, and the time has arrived when if we 

 want to get anywhere near all out of our business we must read about 

 it. It has been said that " the man who reads is the man who suc- 

 ceeds," and I honestly believe there is a lot of truth in it. 



One thing about it is almost certain : that the reading man is the 

 thinking man, and it is the thought put into a business that brings 

 success. There is nothing that will start us thinking so much as 

 reading, and for this reason beekeepers should read as much as pos- 

 sible. Whether you believe it or not, I am of the opinion that a great 

 deal of the inferior honey found on our markets to-day can be traced! 

 to bee-keepers who do not read. By all means, subscribe for the bee- 

 papers, read them, think over what you read, put your thinking into> 

 practise, and success can not be held back. 



On page 97 mention is made relative to dishonest queen-breeders. 

 On examination of a colony of bees during the month of September, 

 last year, I discovered the colony queenless and much dwindled in 

 bees. I sent an order for a queen to a regular advertiser in this Jour- 



