1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



309 



to get the correct amount of "resist- 

 ance" in the circuit to meet the vary- 

 ing conditions. Perhaps if you use 

 No. 26 wire, as I do, some friend may 

 bring in 10 or 20 frames wired with 

 No. 30 wire and ask you to set them. 

 Then your resistance is again all up- 

 set, because the electrical capacity of 

 the No. 26 wire is about six times as 

 great as the No. 30 wire of the same 

 length. 



Small "transformers" are a great 

 improvement over flatirons, etc., but 

 a transformer that will give a delicate 

 control of the current to meet the 

 above conditions would cost a 

 "pretty penny," so only a few would 

 benefit by it. 



Electricity is usually delivered to 

 the consumer as a current of 110 

 volts, 30 or 60 amperes and 60 cycle, 

 alternating; some have a constant 

 current; it makes no difference in the 

 application of my method what kind 

 of strength of current you have, as 

 long as you have it. 



All methods of controlling the cur- 

 rent I have seen, try to do so by re- 

 ducing the voltage, seemingly forget- 

 ting that a current is made up of 

 other components besides its "force." 

 All currents have also "volume," or 

 amperage. Now, within certain lim- 

 its, and we are well within those lim- 

 its, with the currents and wires we 

 are discussing, a small wire will "ac- 

 cept" a current of small voltage and 

 large amperage, or one of large 

 voltage and small amperage, without 

 heating, but not a current of large 

 voltage and large amperage. 



Instead of trying to vary the volt- 

 age in our small wire let us turn to 

 the amperes and let the volts alone. 

 A piece of No. 30 wire 18 inches long 

 will carry a current of 110 volts and 

 one-half ampere without heating, but 

 a current of 110 volts and 1 ampere 

 will heat it considerably. So let us 

 see if we can in any way apply this 

 principle to our use. 



Take 6 open work porcelain recep- 

 tacles and 5 32 candle power carbon 

 lamps and 1 16 candle power carbon 

 lamp and construct a controlling 

 board in this way: 



} ^ ^ ^ 



Resistance circuit for electrical imbedding. 



A, plug to electric light socket; 

 wires are the flexible lamp cord un- 

 wound. 



1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are the 32 candle 

 power lamps. 



6 is the 16 candle power lamp. 



B and C are the two points used to 

 touch wires in the frames to be 

 heated. 



Each 32 candle power lamp that is 

 screwed down tight will draw 1 am- 

 pere of current, and the 16 candle 

 power lamp will draw one-half am- 

 pere. 



To heat one length of wire across 

 the frame it takes about 1 % amperes, 

 to heat all 4 wires at once takes about 



5 amperes. If you want to heat one 

 wire only, scx-ew down No. 1 and No. 



6 lamps; then a current of 110 volts 

 and 1 V2 amperes is delivered at 

 points B and C. If you wish to heat 2 

 wires it takes about 3 amperes. Screw 

 down lamps 1, 2, and 3, leaving the 

 others loose, and you have a current 

 of 110 volts and 3 amperes at the 

 points B and C. You see, you can get 

 a current varying from 1 V2 to 5 V2 

 amperes with this board. If one-half 

 is not small enough a unit, put in an 

 8 candle power lamp which only 

 draws one-fourth ampere. If 5 Vi 

 amperes is not enough, add more 

 lights in the same way, and as many 

 as you wish. 



I mention the carbon lamps because 

 they are not easily broken and be- 

 cause they happen to draw 1, V2 and 

 Vi amperes. While tungsten lamps 

 can be used just as well, the amper- 

 age drawn does not fit itself so well 

 for this usage; if you use tungsten 

 lamps use all of one size except the 

 last one, and that should be as nearly 

 as you can get it, only one-half as 

 strong. 



The points used to touch the wires 

 ai-e pieces of No. 14 insulated copper 

 wire. Scrape off about 1 inch of the 

 insulation at each end, flatten the tip 

 of one end in a vise and file square on 

 end of flexible cords B and C to other 

 ends and cover with tape. Simple, but 

 very effective. 



Have you foundation to cut? All 

 right, wind the ends of a short piece 

 of No. 26 or No. 24 copper wire 

 around points B and C, turn on the 

 current and draw wire across founda- 

 tion where you wish cut to be made. 



Massachusetts. 



THE FOULBROOD SITUATION IN 

 BRITISH COLUMBIA 



By W. J. Sheppard 



With the exception of the coast re- 

 gion, known as the Lower Mainland, 

 or the Fraser Valley, the whole of 

 British Columbia is practically free 

 from bee diseases. 



"The Fraser River, 750 miles long, 

 has its source in the Yellowhead Pass, 

 close to the foot of Mount Robson. 

 After emerging from the mountains, 

 first northwesterly, and thence al- 

 most due south to within a few miles 

 of the International boundary, it turns 

 westward through a wide valley in- 

 tersecting the coast mountains. It 

 reaches the sea amidst an extensive 

 fertile delta of its own making. The 

 prevalence of moisture-laden winds 

 from off the Pacific ocean, during the 

 winter months, causes heavy rains. 

 During the summer months the ever- 

 changing tidal waters tend to keep 

 the day temperature moderate while 

 the nights are usually cool." 



In the Fraser Valley, where Euro- 

 pean foulbrood is much in evidence, 

 it may be considered as endemic. The 

 moist climatic and other conditions 

 that prevail, are peculiarly favorable 

 to its growth and propagation, so that 



it exists in a severe and virulent form. 

 It has been present here for a long 

 time and consequently obtained a 

 firm hold. This was not realized un- 

 til a special inspection was made, un- 

 der the direction of the Department 

 of Agriculture, in 1918, in a portion 

 of this area. The disease is very bad 

 in the adjoining territory in the State 

 of Washington. As bees cannot be 

 prevented from flying across the in- 

 ternational boundary line, it is obvious 

 that there is always the certainty of 

 re-infection from this source, after a 

 clean up, unless the same remedial 

 measures could be followed on both . 

 sides, this being one of the difficul- 

 ties beyond their control, that the in- 

 spectors have to face. 



Mr. J. E. Crane, in the February 

 number of "Gleanings," is quite cor- 

 rect when he says that "European 

 foulbrood is much' more virulent on 

 some soils and in some locations than 

 others. In some sections it will disap- 

 pear of itself, while in others it is al- 

 most impossible to eradicate it." 



.\s the Fraser Valley has been de- 

 clared an infected area, by the Min- 

 ister of Agriculture, under the pro 

 visions of the Apiaries Act of 1919, 

 wherein the moving of bees is prohib- 

 ited without a certificate of inspection, 

 the disease should be prevented from 

 spreading beyond these limits, espe- 

 cially as the mountain ranges form 

 such an effective natural barrier of 

 protection to the interior. The bee- 

 keepers themselves can do a good deal 

 to assist in this by being loyal and pa- 

 triotic enough to respect this neces- 

 sary regulation, and not try and evade 

 it. 



When the special inspection was 

 made in 1918 it was found that bee- 

 keeping was mostly carried on in a 

 perfunctory and primitive manner. 

 Comparatively few were experienced 

 and understood the art of keeping 

 bees profitably. Most of the hives 

 used were single-walled, without any 

 additional protection, which is really 

 necessary in this cool climate, of vari- 

 ous patterns and sizes, and there were 

 a great many box hives. Many of the 

 beekeepers are farmers who, as a 

 rule, have not much time to devote 

 to this branch of agriculture; conse- 

 quently the bees were very often the 

 last to receive attention. It was 

 found, also, that nearly all the colo- 

 nies consisted of black bees, which 

 are usually looked upon as being the 

 most susceptible to disease. 



During the last two years since the 

 inspectors have been working in this 

 territory (three in 1919, and four in 

 1920), there has been a marked im- 

 provement. The box hives have been 

 done away with, improved and up-to- 

 date hives and appliances have been 

 introduced and brought into use, and 

 many hundreds of colonies have been 

 requeened with good Italian queens. 

 The inspectors have taken a keen 

 and personal interest in their work, 

 and there can be no better method ot 

 imparting information and instruction 

 than by personal visits to the bee- 

 keepers made possible by the present 

 system of inspection. 



