1900 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CUIvTURE. 



849 



up their work next season ; for the Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture of New York is determin- 

 ed that the power and authority of the great 

 Empire State shall be used to stamp out brood 

 diseases of all forms. 



Taking it all in all, I believe that the New 

 York law, as now amended, is the very best 

 possible one that could have been enacted. 

 One inspector, even if he had unlimited au- 

 thority, would be almost powerless to cope 

 with the diseases; but now that there pre four 

 energetic and progressive men we shall hope 

 that black and* foul brood will be narrowed 

 down to very close limits. But it should be 

 understood that, even if those diseases are 

 stamped out temporarily, there are liable to 

 be the germs of either in honey or combs, 

 that may at any time give rise to the disease 

 again. It is, therefore, wise to take precau- 

 tionary measures. 



I would advise all bee-keepers in New York 

 to medicate with beta naphthol all syrups they 

 feed to their bees for winter food, as directed 

 in our last issue. "While carbolic acid may be 

 used instead, yet in nine cases out of ten the 

 bees will almost refuse to take the syrup ; but 

 they offer no objection whatever to food med- 

 icated with beta naphthol. As the latter is 

 much safer in every way to handle, and is 

 quite as destructive to the bacilli of either 

 black or foul brood, it should by all means be 

 used. 



As we are buying large quantities of honey 

 to sell again, we are constantly running the 

 risk of having some lots broken just as they 

 arrive at our station. If some of the honey 

 should perchance come from these diseased 

 localities it might be the means of conveying 

 the infection, through our own robber bees, to 

 our hives. To provide against any thing of 

 this kind, our bees are wintered almost ex- 

 clusivel}' on beta naphthol syrup. Two or 

 three dollars' worth of the drug will medicate 

 enough syrup for between 300 and 400 colo- 

 nies. It costs so little to use it, and requires 

 so little labor to apply it, that it seems to me 

 that in this day and age of the world one 

 would be foolhardy not to use it, especially if 

 he were located in a place where foul brood 

 and black brood are known to exist. Foul 

 brood is certainly spreading in many sections 

 of the United States, and it is wise to take 

 every precaution. 



THE PICKARD BEE-BRUSH AND THE PICKARD 

 FAMII^Y. ^ 



The Pickards, of Richland Center, Wis., 

 were quite in evidence at the great national 

 convention held in Chicago. Mrs. Pickard 

 started bee keeping by buying up a whole api- 

 ary, I believe. Her husband cared nothing 

 for bees — did not care to be bothered with 

 them ; but he had no objection to the "wo- 

 men-folks " taking up with the new fad if they 

 wished to. But as time went on, it appears 

 the whole famil}' got into the business, and 

 that too quite heavily by running a series of 

 out-apiaries. But the member of the family 

 who is best known to the bee-keeping world 

 is Miss Ada L. Pickard, who has written a 

 number of articles for the Bee-keepers' Revieiv 



and for some of the other apicultural publica- 

 tions. She and her mother have been unusual- 

 ly successful with bees, taking care of and 

 managing several hundred colonies, while the 

 father, also a bee-keeper {had to be one, you 

 know), devotes the greater portion of his 

 time to other business. 



Some time ago a subscriber wrote, asking if 

 we had ever seen or tried the Pickard bee- 

 brush. I remembered that such a brush was 

 described and illustrated in the Bee-keepers' 

 Review, and on the strong recommendation of 

 our correspondent I wrote to the Pickards for 

 a sample of the brush. One came duly to 

 hand, and is shown herewith in a half-tone 

 tViat appeared originally in the Review. 



This brush is by no means a toy affair, but 

 is large and substantial, evidently calculated 

 to clean ofif the surface of a comb with one 

 sweep. It consists of a handle 15 or 16 inches 

 long, slotted at one end. In this slot, or wide 

 saw-cut, are fastened the strands of an ordina- 

 ry hemp rope raveled out. These strands are 

 nicel}' flattened down and evenly distributed. 

 They are then made fast by driving a few 

 nails through the sides or halves. They are 

 next squared off with a pair of shears, when 

 the implement is ready for use. Just how ef- 

 fective this would be in comparison with the 

 Coggshall bee-brush I am not able to say, for 

 I should not consider the use of the brush on 

 only one or two combs a fair test, but I should 

 be glad to hear from our readers who have 

 tried the two brushes. Oh yes ! J. M. Jenkins 

 has been selling a brush like this for several 

 years. Whether he got this idea from the 

 Pickards or not, I can not say. 



