(Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. i 

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



GEOKGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL., JULY 5. 1906 



Vol. XLVI-No, 27 



orial .Ad 

 and Comments 



wf 



Changeableness of Honey-Sources 



Editor Hutchinson has the following editorial in his 

 last Bee-Keepers' Review : 



Very few of the honey-sources remain the same for a long term 

 of years in the same locality. Probably white clover comes as near 

 doing this as any of the honey-plants. The sages that grow in the 

 mountain canyons of California have furnished honey for many years, 

 and probably will continue to do so, as the steepness of the mountain 

 sides prevents their being plowed up. The same might be said of the 

 clover upon the hillsides of old Vermont; but, in many sections of 

 the country, the sources of the honey-supply are continually shifting. 

 For instance, in some parts of Northern Michigan the basswoods once 

 furnished bountiful harvests of honey; then came the lumberman's 

 ax and cut them away. In their wake came the raspberry, which fur- 

 nishes a larger and surer harvest; but it is only a question of time 

 when the farmers' plow will root out the berries, and their place will 

 be taken by the clover, that even now comes creeping in. 



In some partsof New York buckwheat is now the main source of 

 honey supply — what it was years ago I don't know — possibly basswood 

 and clover. 



In many parts of the West irrigation was followed by the cultiva- 

 tion of immense fields of alfalfa, from which the bee-keeper has reaped 

 a bounteous crop; but the tendency of late, on the part of the farmer, 

 to cut the alfalfa early is lessening the yield of honey, and the out- 

 come is somewhat uncertain. 



A new or timbered country always furnishes different sources of 

 honey than abound after the country is cleared. Civilization brings 

 the fruit-bloom, the alsike and white clover, the buckwheat, the sweet 

 clover, etc. 



The bee-keeper who expects to succeed mu6t 6tudy all of these 

 things, and govern his actions accordingly. Don't buy land and put 

 up expensive, special building, cellars, etc., in a locality where the 

 bee-pasturage is likely to pas6 away in a few years. 



Mr. Hutchinson has, in the foregoing', called attention 

 to an important matter. And yet, Dr. Miller secured his 

 largest crop of honey in 1903, in a locality which is quite 

 thoroughly tilled by the farmers. It seems that Nature has 

 so ordained that when there is a lack or shortage in certain 

 directions there are other things that make up for it, so as 

 to sustain a somewhat even balance. 



Some 20 or 25 years ago there were good honey seasons 

 in succession, and then came a series of almost total fail- 

 ures. Some began to enquire, Will the good honey seasons 

 ever come again ? and seemed to argue that it was quite 

 possible that they might not. But they did come again, 

 and so abundant that 1903 was considered the greatest 

 honey-year ever known in this country. 



There are a lot of things about which most of us " don't 

 know " anything very definite. And the future honey-sea- 

 sons is one of them. 



Black Brood in the United States— A Warning 



The following is an editorial that appears in Gleanings 

 for July 1. It was considered so important that an advance 

 proof was sent to us so that we might also get the warning 

 to our readers as quickly as possible : 



Is Black Brood Spreading in the United States?— A Note or 

 Warning. 



Anywhere from one to half a dozen specimens of affected brood 

 are being sent us every week during the summer. I have been fearful 

 for some lime that, in addition to the regular foul brood, so named in 

 this country, we have been getting specimens of black brood, or what 

 the United States and Cornell bacteriologists call the European foul 

 brood. During the last 30 days we have been handing in several sus- 

 picious samples to Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Washington, D. C, who, in turn, handed them over to the Gov- 

 ernment Bacteriologist. The reports that I got back were somewhat 

 alarming. One specimen of brood from Illinois, and 3 from Pennsyl- 

 vania were pronounced to be black brood I feared as much when I 

 forwarded the specimens to Washington. Other specimens have been 

 found in California. 



I have just examined 2 specimens sent from Michigan, which, I 

 think, are black brood, without question. 



When I first received this report from Washington I was a little 

 uncertain what to do ; but the more I thought of it the more I became 

 convinced that I ought to inform the bee-keepers of those States that 

 the insidious disease i6 lurking in their borders. 



When it is remembered that black brood came very near wiping 

 out bee-keeping in New York, and that it was only by the most strenu- 

 ous efforts on the part of 4 of the best inspectors in the country that it 

 was brought under control, the bee-keepers of these other States may 

 well pause and ponder. 



I would respectfully urge every bee-keeper to keep a tab on the 

 brood in his yard. When he 6ees any unsealed dark-colored brood, 

 especially if it be of a coffee color, yellow or brown, and finds, further, 

 that it is accompanied by a sickening or foul odor, he would better 

 send a sample of the brood without any honey at once either to Wash- 

 ington, D. C, or Medina, Ohio. But in any case send it in a stout 

 wooden or tin box, the whole wrapped in Tieavy manila paper. Besides 

 using a strong box, wrap the brood itself in paraffined or oiled paper. 

 It is not necessary to have a large sample of brood; but hunt up a 

 small wooden or tin box and cut the brood to fit, so it will go in with- 

 out crowding after it has been wrapped in paraffined paper. 



Remember to send brood only, and no honey with it, for the honey 

 introduces an element of danger to the recipient. Brood samples put 

 up in paper, or paper boxes, we shall not examine, but bum them before 

 unwrapping : so don't send them. 



When sending samples be 6ure to put on your own name and ad- 

 dress. About half a dozen of the samples sent us were not marked. 

 As we are getting a good many every week, absolute identification of 

 each sample is rendered difficult, if not impossible. 



Dead Brood, Not Foul. 



Shortly following a chill or cold spell in the East, quite a number 

 of bee-keepers reported a quantity of lead brood. One or two apiaries 

 seem to have had a large amount of it. Samples of the brood were 

 sent here, and we diagnosed them as <iead or poisoned brood. They 

 were sent, one to N. D. West, of Middleburg, N. Y., and the other to 

 N. E. France, of Platteville, Wis., foul brood inspector of Wisconsin. 

 Both men confirmed our diagnosis. On receiving the samples we 

 wrote all the parties that we thought it was nothing serious; that it 

 would all disappear in 10 days or 2 weeks. Happening to be in the 

 East lately on special business, I visited one or two of the affected 

 yards, and found, as I suspected, that the bees were coming out all 

 right. The brood that had died seemed to be all of one age. All new 

 brood was healthy, and seemed to be in first-class condition. 



