264 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



August 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



=S Ettabllihad by Samud Wagner In 186 1 C= 



The oldest Bee Journal in the English language. 

 Pablisked monthly at Hamilton, Illinoi*. 



Entered as second-class matter at the Postoffice at Hamilton, Illinois. 



Subscription Rates — In the United States and THE STAFF 



Mexico, $1 per year; three years, $2.60; five r p n c- 



years. $4. Canadian postage 15 cents, and ^- '^- "a^^t Editor 



other foreign countries 25 cents extra, per Frank C. Pellett Associate Editor 



,ii'"'i. ■ .■ ^ J . • .• r^ . C. C. Miller Questions Department 



All subscriptions are stopped at expiration. Date T»r ^ t-. 



of expiration is printed on wrapper label. Maurice G. Dadant Business Manager 



(Copyright 1920 by C. P. Dadant.) 



THE EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT 



A Starvation Swarm 



On page 271 of this number, Rev. 

 A. A. Evans gives a very pretty exam- 

 ple of devotion on the part of starv- 

 ing bees, showing them as leaving the 

 hive so that the remainder of the 

 colony might have enough to eat. 



We know that bees are devoted, 

 but we have never seen an instance of 

 this kind. Yet, why should it not be 

 so? When caged bees arrive from a 

 long trip, short of food, the queen is 

 usually the last one to die. Evidently 

 she is fed by the others to the last 

 drop. We can understand it, since we 

 see bees feeding their queen con- 

 stantly, as they meet her, in the hive. 

 Skeptics have doubted the bees' de- 

 votion and said that the queen 

 outlived the others becatise she had 

 more powers of endurance, and not 

 because the bees denied themselves to 

 feed her. But when we see their love 

 for her, and the despair which they 

 show when she is lost, we can under- 

 stand and appreciate their devotion. 



Are bees more devoted to their race 

 than the average human being is to 

 his own? Very probably they are. 

 The example of Captain Gates is as 

 fine an illustration as could be given. 

 But we are likely to be selfish while 

 we accuse others of the same fault. 

 The detested German's "Deutchland 

 uber alles" looks monstrous to us. 

 But pretty soon we are ready to cry 

 "America First" and consider that 

 word as a great evidence of devotion. 



We are like the bee in the care for 

 our family or country to the exclusion 

 of all others. They certainly give us 

 fine examples of industry and devo- 

 tion. 



Bacillua Pluton Versua 

 Bacillus Alvei 



The American and European bac- 

 teriologists who read the American 

 Bee Journal are requested to fake 

 p rticular note of Dr. White's "Ob- 

 servations on European Foulbrood," 

 concluded in this number. On page 

 267 (note) Dr. White very plainly ad- 

 vances an explanation of why scient- 

 ists disagree upon the odor or lack of 

 odor of the so-called European foul- 

 brood. He says: "When the larvrc 

 die Bacillus pluton stops growing, but 

 Bacillus »lvei begins to multiply then 



at a very rapid pace and invades the 

 entire larval remains. 



In the first installment of his arti- 

 cle (July number, page 226), Dr. 

 White wrote: "The name 'stinking 

 foulbrood' has been used in some 

 countries for the disorder in which 

 Bacillus alvei occurs in large num- 

 bers, and 'sour brood' for the one in 

 which Streptococcus apis is present 

 in considerable numbers. The writer 

 wishes to suggest that these are two 

 names for one disease and that the 

 disease is the same as the one for 

 which the name European foulbrood 

 is being used in this country." He 

 goes on to explain that the foul odor 

 which some scientists charge to Euro- 

 peon foulbrood is to be found when 

 Bacillus alvei is contained in the 

 brood in large numbers. 



Evidently, if Dr. White is correct, 

 the stinking odor comes from the lar- 

 vae which have been invaded by Ba- 

 cillus alvei, after death, while those 

 dying from Bacillus pluton give but 

 little odor. This explains, until a bet- 

 ter explanation comes, why there is a 

 division of opinion as to whether Eu- 

 ropean foulbrood has, or has not, a 

 marked odor, sufficient to stamp it as 

 "stinking foulbrood." We trust our 

 European friends will seize upon this 

 ■and verify Dr. White's statements. 

 Every day we gain a little towards 

 the truth. When we remember how 

 many centuries passed before man 

 found out that yellow fever was 

 caused by the bite of a mosquito, we 

 need not be astonished at the length 

 of time it takes to decide what is 

 foulbrood. 

 Mr. C. P. Dadant,' ' 



Hamilton, 111. 

 Dear Mr. Dadant: 



I wish to say that the manner in 

 which the European foulbrood arti- 

 c'e is printed is very pleasing. The il- 

 lustrations have been printed very 

 \ve\\. A few typographical errors are 

 noted. Most of these were made by 

 our typist here and overlooked by me 

 when I read the copy. Thinking you 

 might wish to mention some of these 

 at the close of the article, possibly, I 

 am referring to them at this time. 

 Errata 



Page 226, column 2, line 40. for "af- 

 terwards" read "after death." 



Page 227, column 1, line 6, for 



"those" read "these." 



Page 227, column 1, line 33, for 

 "arena" read "area." 



Page 227, column 3, line S, for 

 "germs" read "queens." 



Page 227, in legend to Fig. 5, line 3, 

 for "O" read "Q." 



The most important error, of 

 course, is the 4th one mentioned, the 

 others being minor ones and probably 

 are not worthy of mentioning. 

 Very sincerely, 



G. F. WHITE. 



Georgia Beekeepers Meet 



A drive for the passage and en- 

 forcement of a bee disease inspection 

 law was begun by the beekeepers of 

 Georgia at Waycross, Saturday, July 

 3, when a committee was named to 

 appear before the present session of 

 the Legislature in that State and ask 

 for a law and an appropriation for 

 its regulations. 



J. J. Wilder, of Waycross, was 

 named President of the Georgia Bee- 

 keepers' Association at a meeting 

 held the same day, attended by 75 

 beekeepers from throughout the 

 State. After a talk on the advantages 

 of organization and of having apiary 

 inspection service, given by Kennith 

 Hawkins, of the G. B. Lewis Com- 

 pany, the organization was efifected. 

 Vice Presidents who were named are: 

 John W. Cash, Bogart ; W. C. Bar- 

 nard, Glenville; A. B. Crenshaw, 

 Pavo; W. H. Young, Bainbridge, and 

 W. L. Wilder, of Macon, each Ijeing 

 chosen from a diflferent part of the 

 State to facilitate State-wide organi- 

 zation. The Secretary is Mrs. Madge 

 Merritt, of Brunswick, and the Treas- 

 urer is C. H. Herndon, of Waycross. 



N. L. Stapleton, of Colquitt, together 

 with President J. J. Wilder, heads the 

 delegation chosen to present the 

 claims of the Association to the Leg- 

 islature. An attorney pledged himself 

 to prepare their bill and arrange- 

 ments have been made to have the 

 bill introduced both in the House and 

 Senate. It will be practically a dupli- 

 cate of the Florida apiary inspection 

 law and will be enforced by the State 

 Entomologist 



American foulbrood has made its 

 appearance in serious infections in 

 northern Georgia near the South 

 Carolina line among some of the best 

 apiaries of the State, and is believed 

 to have been introduced through 

 shipments of nuclei to Georgia from 

 States north. Great confidence was 

 shown in Mr. Wilder, who enter- 

 tained the visitors at his factory, 

 where dinner was served to all who 

 attended, Mr. Wilder being assisted ' 

 by his factory workers. The meeting 

 lasted from 10 o'clock in the inorning 

 until 6 o'clock at night, and interest 

 never flagged during the entire time. 

 Beekeepers numbering about 20 from 

 various parts of the State were called 

 upon to express their opinion of bee- 

 keeping possibilities and methods in 

 various parts of the State. The own- 

 ership or control of over 50,000 colo- 

 nies of bees was represented by the 

 men and women who attended this 

 session. ■ 



