iny:. 



THE AMERICAi*: BEE JOURNAL. 



115 



pasturage, followed for three years or more in one spot ; we 

 have had evidence of this, right at home, for years. 



Melilot may be made a useful plant. Mr. Chas. Peloquin, 

 of Canada, a dairyman, has for years grown it for early pas- 

 ture. He flnds that the second year's growth begins very early 

 In the season, and that if the clover is cut when about knee 

 high, it is very good feed for milch cows. He therefore cuts it 

 in the beginning of May, when there is practically nothing as 

 yet, in the way of green pasture, in the Province of Quebec, 

 and harvests a paying crop in this way, before it blooms aud 

 gives his bees another paying crop. 



Why is it, then, that they are trying to pass, or are pass- 

 ing, laws prohibiting the sowing of melilot? Because bee- 

 keepers do not keep awake to their own interests. Our law- 

 makers, I am sorry to notice, are not farmers, but lawyers, 

 and they are easily influenced in matters lil^e this, and there 

 are always some persons, (scarce though they may be) who 

 are jealous of anything that may help the success of others. 



Hancock Co., III. 



Watering Bees — A Trough for the Purpose. 



Br JOHN G. COREY. 



This subject having been so fully discust at the late an- 

 nual meeting of the North American Bee-Keepers' Association 

 held at Lincoln, Nebr., it would appear useless to many 

 to add anything of value to our fraternity. Bee-keepers, 

 as a rule, exhaust a subject pretty effectually before dropping 

 it. (See articles on size of hives, for example.) 



On the Pacific Coast we have very different conditions 

 from those existing elsewhere. The air becomes very dry at 



with the watering-trough, and the mill was run an hour or so 

 every day, which not only filled the trough, but overflowed 

 quite a piece of ground around it. The amount of water used 

 varied, I found from observations taken daily, and was gov- 

 erned by atmospheric conditions, and ranged from 5 gallons 

 to 25 daily. The capacity of the trough was fully 30 gallons, 

 and it would be found empty before noon In cases where the 

 wind failed to run the mill the day before. 



This entire outfit cost me less than §20 outlay, and has 

 been of more service to me, and more satisfactory, than any 

 other appliance used in and about my apiary. Although a 

 plain and not ornamental improvement, it fills the bill. The 

 tower is a piece of 12x12 bridge-timber picked up in the river. 

 The windmill shaft is a reaper shaft and crank that cost me 

 %Y. The fans, four in number, are made of Jj-lnch lumber, 

 and a cross-head is spiked firmly to the tower, and the boxes 

 are wood, but kept well oiled. The mill is rigged so that 

 when the wind blows up the valley it runs one way, and when 

 It comes down the valley it runs the other way. The sketch 

 of the trough herewith was made by a friend to illustrate more 

 fully the manner of its construction. 



Los Angeles Co., Cal. 



Importaut Foul Brood Ouestious Answered. 



BY W.M. M'EVOY. 



The following questions on foul brood, received from J. 

 H., of Iowa, 1 will attempt to answer : 



"I have read Dr. Howard's book on 'Foul Brood,' and 

 think I know a little more than I did before reading it, but I 



iMi'M!l!l!U ' 



HillllllllMULy 



l ll.l.l l ii l lJ i p || |] I I,J, I „I,W 



Corey's Waterimj Trough for Bees. 



times, and an apiary of 200 to 300 colonies requires so much 

 water that a resort to something of greater capacity than fruit 

 bottles is deemed advisable. I am a strong advocate of water 

 close at hand, for many reasons, a few of which I will state : 



1st. A long flight by bees for water is very destructive to 

 bee-life, as a change in temperature of a few degrees, when a 

 bee is filled with cold water, is sure death. 



2nd. The question of transportation comes in as a strong 

 argument, as a great quantity of water is used during the 

 breeding season, and, in fact, during the whole of the dry, 

 warm weather up to October in this State, and the furnishing 

 this supply from a long distance is a heavy draft on the work- 

 ing-force of the apiary. 



My apiary in the Solidad Canyon being located nearly a 

 mile from permanent water, I used a well for my supply, and 

 when a sufficient quantity was not fnrnisht, my bees would 

 go down 30 feet into this well and drown by thousands. To 

 remedy this, I provided a cover for the well, of wire cloth, 

 and set myself to work devising a scheme to furnish an ample 

 supply, which I did In the following manner: 



I built a cheap wind-mill, and fitted up a pump composed 

 of a cylinder 2-inches in diameter, and 35 feet of 1 Ji-lnch iron 

 pipe, the whole costing me .Sli. Then I prepared a water- 

 ing-trough costing .Si more, besides my own labor. The 

 trough is made of a sheet of No. 22 galvanized iron, 36x84 

 inches, and is made In the form of a large dripping-pan, with 

 sides and ends 5 Inches high and perpendicular. The sides 

 and ends were stiffened with 1x4 inch lumber, and five pieces 

 of the same material nailed across the bottom to hold it level 

 when filled. The sides and ends of the iron were then bent 

 over the wood rim and nailed firmly with 1-inch wire nails. A 

 float in two sections was then made of lath, fitting at the sides 

 and ends so exact that a bee could not pass under It. 



This trough was then placed in a sunny place well pro- 

 tected from wind : a pipe was then laid cgnnecting the pump 



want some information that I think such a book ought to 

 contain. Hence, I ask these questions : 



" 1. (a) Is all the honey in an infected hive infected ? (b) 

 Suppose the disease is in the center of the brood-nest, is the 

 honey in the outside frames, and in the sections above, in- 

 fected, or just the honey close to where the dead brood is ? 



" 2. In the first stages of the disease, is the honey in sec- 

 tions or extracting-frames where there is no brood, considered 

 unhealthy and not fit for table use '? 



" 3. Does a colony ever do enough good after it is infected 

 to store any surplus ? 



"4. Does Dr. Howard claim that the spores that are in- 

 fectious are confined to the honey and pollen ? Or does the 

 comb contain them ? I mean comb where there has never 

 been any dead foul brood ? 



" 5. Will combs taken from the top story and extracted 

 last fall, put back for the bees to clean off, then taken out 

 and packt until spring out-doors, contain the disease ? 



" 6. Is it possible for the disease to be carried by new 

 foundation? • 



" 7. The Doctor gives treatment for during the honey-flow. 

 I would like to have it for winter or early spring. — J. H., 

 Iowa." 



Answers. — 1. (a) No. If all the honey in foul-broody 

 colonies was affected, all the larvK would die of foul brood 

 just as soon as any of the honey was fed to them, (h) Yes, 

 and sometimes pretty badly affected. Honey and pollen to 

 become diseased must be stored in cells where foul-brood mat- 

 ter has dried down, and when the bees, in making more room 

 for brood in times of honey-flows, remove the unsealed honey 

 ontof the diseased cells to cells partly filled with good honey 

 In the supers above or In any part of the brood-chamber, it 

 will become diseased at once. 



2. As a rule, where a colony has only a few cells of foul 

 brood, and these in the first stages of the disease, the honey 



