May 1, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



279 



because it is necessary that the disease should be conlinod 

 in as small a space as possible. 



This is very much like battlinf,' with small-pox. Our 

 little town was invaded by that dread disease last Novoim- 

 ber. Just as soon as it was detected, the facts were jjub- 

 lished by the Mayor ; the houses of the sick were quaran- 

 tined, and the public houses were closed. The town put 

 itself under strict ([uarantine for some 40 days, and at the 

 end of that time the disease had disai)pearcd. In a nei^h- 

 borinK^ city they kept the lipht under the bushel, for fear of 

 losing trade, and the result was a much longer and much 

 more extensive siege of the disease. 



But while we are carefully guarding against foul brood, 

 let us not be hasty in declaring the existence of foul brood 

 at the first sight of a cell or two of dead brood. Foul brood 

 is a special disease, which has been described often enough 

 to make every body familiar with it, and when a case of 

 dead brood is found, one ought to make absolutely sure that 

 it is a case of maligant foul brood before resorting to the 

 extreme measures which foul brood demands. 



At two different times in my experience I have had 

 samples of dead brood sent me by bee-keepers who thought 

 they had the dread disease in their apiaries, and in both 

 cases I had the pleasure of informing them that I did not 

 believe the disease was the true contagion. In both cases 

 the subsequent disappearance of the disease proved that this 

 was correct. 



But in the modern methods of rearing and shipping 

 ■queens all over the country, there lies a great danger, and, 

 for that reason, I believe that the State inspectors, after 

 making absolutely sure of the existence of the disease in a 

 locality, ought to publish the fact in their report. After 

 the disease is cured, it would be their duty publicly to men- 

 tion that fact also. Can we not hear from some foul-brood 

 inspectors in regard to this matter ? Hamilton Co., 111. 



[Any or all the official foul-brood inspectors are invited 

 to express their opinions on this subject, in these columns. 

 — Editor.] 



No. 5.— Bee-Keeping for Women. 



An Ideal Occupation for People Suffering- from 

 Nervous Troubles. 



BY EMMA M. WILSON. 



I HAVE received a letter from a lady in New York, ask- 

 ing a number of questions, seeking further information 

 in regard to bee-keeping for women. As the answers to 

 these cjuestions may be of benefit to other readers of the 

 American Bee Journal, I have concluded to give them here. 

 This lady is suffering from nervous prostration, and 

 would like to know if I had any of her symptoms, and, if so, 

 if I took much medicine, or simply trusted to the open air 

 and suitable diet to cure me. I did not have nervous pros- 

 tration, but I do not know how soon I might have had it if 

 I had kept on teaching, as I needed a rest, both physically 

 and mentally. It is not best to take any more medicine 

 than can possibly be helped for nervous trouble, and I cer- 

 tainly would trust much to out-door air and suitable diet. 



If you belong to the class of nervous people, bee-keep- 

 ing is an ideal occupation for you, if a genuine interest in 

 bees is once awakened. Why ? Because it keeps you in the 

 open air : gives you physical exercise of the right sort in 

 that which deeply interests you ; and because it takes your 

 thoughts entirel)' away from yourself. That last is what 

 you need more than anything else. You are obliged to give 

 your whole attention to what you are doing while working 

 in the apiary. Often and often people have stood for some 

 time a few yards away from Dr. Miller and myself, watch- 

 ing us work, and neither of us knew they were there until 

 they spoke, so intent were we on what we were doing. Not 

 much time to think of your own aches and pains, you see. 

 And nervous people can make themselves believe they have 

 any disease under the sun if they only think about their 

 own aches and pains long enough. Nervous people are 

 poor sleepers, and that which will keep their thoughts off 

 from themselves, and keep them in the open air, will induce 

 sleep, if anything will. It must be dreadful not to sleep a 

 wink for two or three nights in a week, and certainly any- 

 thing that would help to counteract such a state of affairs 

 would be a boon, even if there were no money in it. 



This lady has been taking boarders. She says she 

 would like to hire most of her housework done, and work 



with her husband in the apiary. lyct me advise you to give 

 u|) all thoughts of boarders for the present, get as good a 

 hired girl as you possibly can (fori think a poor one is 

 worse than none), and give up all the care you can. No 

 matter how good your help, the care of boarders would still 

 be left upon you. It is not work that kills people so much 

 as worry and fretting. A good, hearty laugh is worth more 

 than a dose of medicine for nervous trouble. 



The first thing to do is to get well. So please remem- 

 ber what I say : (live up the boarders as the first step. Try 

 not to worry about anything, and keep in the open air as 

 much as possible; then think about your bees instead of 

 yourself, and I firmly believe you will soon be well. 



To your further questions I answer as follows : 



No, I do not run an apiary of my own. I work with Dr. 

 Miller. 



When we have a large enough crop of honey we ship it ; 

 if very small, we .sell at home. 



Yes, I wear gloves. I have described what kind in 

 previous article. McHenry Co., 111. 



A Feeder for Feeding over the Frames. 



BY H. DIPKET. 



MR. TURNER BUSWELL, of Maine, desires me to 

 describe the chimney feeder covered with glass, which 

 I referred to on page 215. 

 In answer, I beg to say that the chimney feeder is a 

 very simple affair. The principle involved is to allow as lit- 

 tle warmth to escape from the cluster of hees as possible, 

 and at the same time to give the bees free access to the feed, 

 without compelling them to take more than they want. Any 



Fig. I. — Communication Bridge with K-inch space under it. 



Fig. 2.— Chimney Feeder on top of the frames. 



Fig. 3. — Feeder and Communication Bridge combined. 



tin bos or can will do. Punch a hole in the center, about 

 one inch in diameter ; solder a tube or chimney around this 

 hole, taking care to make the chimney shorter than the 

 walls of the box by '4 inch at least. Put in the feed (if 

 liquid, cover it with bits of cork or wax to prevent the 

 drowning of the bees), place the box in communication with 

 the cluster of bees, on top of the frames, providing a stick 

 as a ladder in the chimney for greater convenience of the 

 bees. Then cover the feeder box with a glass, so that you 

 can watch the actions of the bees whenever you wish. Cover 

 also snugly the top of the frames with any warm material. 



For greater convenience together with this feeder I use a 

 Hill's device of my own. In fact, every hive is prepared for 

 winter with such device, which serves as a communication 

 bridge for the handy clustering of the bees during the cold 

 season. 



This communication-bridge, to be placed on top across 

 the frames, and a ,'4 inch space for the free communica- 

 tion of the bees from one frame to another, and is provided 

 with an auger-hole, which, when not in use. is covered with 

 a bit of glass. Now any hive marked as light in stores in 

 the fall will receive in the spring an early feeding through 

 this auger-hole. Honey in sections can be given to the 

 bees if the feeder be made of the right size. 



In conclusion I must say that I found the principle of 

 this feeder in the French paper, " L'Apiculteur," of Paris. 



Quebec, Canada. 



