692 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15, 



bees. He said that it was not, for he had just 

 been over them all and clipped Ihe queens' 

 wings, and all were clean from it. The first 

 hive I opened was rotten with the disease. 

 Out of 12-5 colonies, 60 were badly diseased. 



I wish you could be here to see the bees 

 rushing in the honey from buckwheat. Tons 

 of honey are going to waste for the want of 

 bees to gather it. The country is dotted vdth 

 many white fields now in full bloom. In one 

 yard in the edge of Albany Co. we have moved 

 24 colonies. I will venture to say that there 

 are over 1000 acres of buckwheat within three- 

 fourths of a mile. I never saw buckwheat 

 looking so finely as now; but I have great 

 fear that we shall have to stop bee-keeping or 

 move out of the range of foul brood. 



I have written this in a great hurry, for we 

 have to rush with the bees, as there are only 

 two of us, and four yards of bees to look after. 

 I have one colony that has made 2-51 lbs. of 

 white honey in sections, and it has now 112 

 boxes nearlv finished from buckwheat. 



A word in regard to J. F. Teel, page 584, as 

 to how to start foul brood. I must state that 

 I think Mr. Teel is mistaken. I am sure foul 

 brood can't come from chilled brood. Twen- 

 ty-six years of experience, wholly as a bee- 

 keeper, makes me say that it is impossible to 

 start such a dreadful disease as foul brood 

 from brood that has died from exposure or 

 cold. 



Gallupville, N. Y. 



[When I was in Schoharie Co. last fall I 

 heard of foul brood all round, but did not 

 think then it was so badly scattered as seems 

 to be apparent from Inspector Boomhower's 

 report. But, dear me ! what can a good in- 

 spector do if his territory is limited to 07ie 

 countv ? Suppose, for instance, that the dread 

 disease is working over into Albany Co. and 

 the other counties adjacent. It ought to be 

 followed up just as vigorously in those coun- 

 ties as in Schoharie. Nay, further : a law 

 should be passed at once whereby an inspector 

 will have jurisdiction over the whole State; 

 and to make the law effective there should be 

 an appropriation of at least $500, as in Wiscon- 

 sin. The bee-keepers of York State should 

 bestir themselves at once. The State and 

 county associations should immediately con- 

 sider this, and make such arrangements as 

 will be necessary to secure the immediate 

 passage of a law similar to the Wisconsin law. 

 GivEANiNGS will be glad to lend its columns 

 in any way possible to bring about the desired 

 legislation. 



I know of no better man to lead the fight 

 than Mr. W. P". Marks. Mr. M. has already 

 rendered some quite distinguished service in 

 the matter of forcing a measure before his 

 State legislature, and in securing its final pas- 

 sage. He knows well how to ' ' pull the ropes, ' ' 

 and I hope that he or somebody else the York 

 Staters may appoint to lead them will see that 

 something is done at once. 



The regions of Montgomery, Seneca, Scho- 

 harie, Otsego, Tompkins, and Albany Counties 

 represent some of the best bee country in the 

 world. Now, if it is a fact that foul brood 



has got a fearful start right in the heart of 

 that region, it is high time that the bee-keep- 

 ers of the Empire State should rise in their 

 might and stamp it out. — Ed.] 



THE INVENTOR OF THE QUEEN-EXCLUDER. 



His Giant Hives and Queen-cages, etc. 



BY F. GREINER. 



Now to return to Mr. Hannemann again. 

 He was so taken up with the superiority of 

 his system and management that he could see 

 but little good in any other ; and, being igno- 

 rant as to the conditions in other lands, nota- 

 bly North America, he showed mistrust of 

 every thing that was reported from here. He 

 says, for instance, at the close of an article of 

 his, written in 1879 : "And while my results, 

 as shown, seem meager by the side of such 

 yields as are reported by an Adam Grimm, I 

 am satisfied with them because mine really ex- 

 ist. Grimm's are only on paper." Our older 

 readers will remember who Adam Grimm was. 

 He was a pioneer in American apiculture ; he 

 made more money with bees than any one 

 else — at least in his time. His writings al- 

 ways had the mark of honesty upon them, and 

 I never heard a word against his character. I 

 took it upon myself to make a reply in the 

 Bienen Zeitiing (this must have been in 1880), 

 explaining to the German bee-keepers Hanne- 

 mann's alleged mysteries of American bee- 

 keeping. Hannemann, for instance, couldn't 

 comprehend how there could be room for 27 

 boxes weighing 1.30 lbs., on a hive having 24 x 

 15 inches of top surface. Grimm had report- 

 ed such a yield from a single ten-frame Lang- 

 stroth hive, such as was then commonly used. 

 Hannemann had evidently never heard of tier- 

 ing up nor of removing full boxes and replac- 

 ing with empty ones, so he could not under- 

 stand how the thing was possible, and at once 

 jumped at the conclusion, "It is all a lie, a 

 great humbug," and, worst of all, says so be- 

 fore the thousands of German readers. He 

 reasoned thus : 



' ' One hundred and thirty pounds of comb 

 honey would occupy a space of .>500 cubic 

 inches. To give this amount of room to a col- 

 ony occupying a hive of 2500 capacity is an 

 impossibility, as every one can see. Further- 

 more, it is impossible for one swarm of bees 

 to fill such a space with combs and honey 

 outside of the hive. It would require, with a 

 six-weeks continuous honey-flow, 9 kilograms 

 (194 lbs.) of worker-bees. No queen is capa- 

 ble of producing this amount of bees in so 

 small a hive, nor, for that matter, in ever so 

 large a hive." 



Well, a good many of us who have been 

 long in the business have now and then had 

 these phenomenal years and yields. We know 

 from experience that it is possible for a colony 

 to fill a space of .3500 cubic inches with combs 

 and honey. We have had these cases under 

 our own hand, and what we have seen with 

 our own eyes can by no theory be reasoned 

 out of existence. Facts are stubborn things. 



