940 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



all diseased colonies in rotation at one job, 

 and do not skip about the yard treating sep- 

 arate colonies perhaps a week apart. Get 

 things ready, and do the job all together till 

 the disease is under. If a colony goes 

 wrong, shake it and render combs into wax. 

 The wax, when made into foundation, I have 

 no fear of; but the honey, I am satisfied, is 

 bad to feed back. W. S. CoMRiE. 



Johnstown, N. Y., July 25. 



[Once in a great while we get reports of 

 combs built to the posts of fence separators. 

 This difficulty sometimes occurs in some lo- 

 calities and with some methods of manage- 

 ment. If the hives are very much crowded 

 for room the bees will do this somewhat; 

 but, after all, we have had many reports of 

 comb attachments from sections to old-style 

 wooden separators. 



We have had several reports of how dis- 

 eased honey, after being boiled, transmitted 

 the disease again to colonies to which it was 

 fed. Inspector France is an experienced 

 foul-brood man, and probably realizes the 

 very great importance of boihng the honey 

 thoroughly, and for a sufficient length of 

 time to disinfect it. Ten minutes' boiling 

 has not been sufficient to kill the germs, in 

 some reports we have had, while an hour's 

 boihng is usually deemed sufficient. A good 

 deal will depend on how the boiling is done, 

 and very possibly Mr. France can accomplish 

 the work of disinfection in a few minutes. — 

 Ed.] 



new methods of curing foul brood not 

 successful. 



I have been trying George E. Hinckley's 

 plan of curing foul brood, but with no suc- 

 cess. The spraying seems to keep the dis- 

 ease in check, is all. I also fumigated 

 combs, and gave to a healthy colony; but the 

 disease appeared at once on comb given. I 

 followed Weber's directions. For a fumigat- 

 ing-box I used a wooden skeleton covered 

 with soldered tin, with small door under- 

 neath. It is surely tight enough. See 

 Hinckley's article in Dec. 1st issue, and p. 

 1014, 1903. You will notice Mr. Haines cures 

 black brood, but says nothing about curing 

 foul brood by the fumigating process .1 

 think I'll try the old plan of curing it next 

 year. Do the decayed larvae still retain the 

 sticky character after being fumigated? 

 Those I tried did. F. W. Morgan. 



De Land, 111., Aug. 5. 



[Decayed larvae, so far as I know, will 

 still retain the sticky character after being 

 fumigated. We should be glad to hear from 

 you further as to whether the formalin 

 method of disinfection proves satisfactory. — 

 Ed.] 



SAINFOIN AS A HONEY AND HAY PRODUCER. 



I quite agree with Mr. Adrian Getaz, page 

 752. Sainfoin deserves all that he has said 

 of it. It is largely grown in England for 

 hay; and if the land is suitable, very large 

 crops are obtained; and as it roots deeply in 



the soil it stands a drouth better than most 

 crops grown for hay. Sainfoin yields a 

 large amount of most excellent honey; in 

 fact, many prefer it to white-clover honey, 

 and it seldom or never fails. The second 

 crop comes at a time when there is little 

 else for the bees to gather from. In Eng- 

 land it is more universally grown than lu- 

 cerne, or alfalfa, as it is called in the United 

 States. I feel sure if some of your readers 

 would try an acre or two of sainfoin they 

 would be pleased with the result. 



Being a perennial, when once established 

 it lasts for years if a little top dressing is 

 given occasionally. John M. Hooker. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



EXCELSIOR TO KEEP BEES FROM DROWNING 

 IN BEE-FEEDERS. 



At the close of the season there are always 

 more or less colonies which are short of stores ; 

 and under the circumstances the apiarist 

 must supply the necessary food for such colo- 

 nies. For the past few years I have been 

 trying different feeders and various methods 

 of feeding, finally purchasing a lot of tin 

 pans holding about five pounds of feed which 

 I set in the upper story above the brood- 

 frames. After filling I take a fair-sized 

 bunch of excelsior (new and clean) spread- 

 ing it over the pan and around the sides so 

 bees can have easy access to the feed. By 

 this method you can refill the pan without re- 

 moving the excelsior, and feed any amount 

 with scarcely any bees drowning or loss of 

 feed caused through leakage in using wood- 

 en feeders. 



When through feeding remove the pans; 

 tier them up, and place them in a remote 

 place for further use. This does away with 

 cloth or floats to keep bees from drowning, 

 and is quick as well as economical. 



Akron, O., Aug. 30. A. T. Halter. 



[This is a most excellent suggestion. As 

 soon as the feed is consumed, more can be 

 poured right into the pan, and there would 

 be no danger of drowning the bees. I will 

 endeavor to have this idea incorporated in a 

 future edition of our A B C of Bee Cul- 

 ture.— Ed.] 



KEROSENE FOR BEE-STINGS ; ALSIKE HONEY. 



I saw on page 708 that kerosene is good 

 for robbing. It is also the very best medi- 

 cine for bee-stings that I have ever tried. 



In Gleanings I have read all sorts of 

 praise of alfalfa as a honey-producer; also 

 white or German clover; but I never read 

 any praise of alsike. With us it beats white 

 clover, and makes a finer grade of honey. 

 Of course, the largest flow of honey we have 

 is from buckwheat and goldenrod. We get 

 about 2 lbs. of this to one of clover and bass- 

 wood. Myron B. Wollpert. 



Blanchard, Mich., July 27. 



[Never read any mention of alsike ? That 

 is probably because you are not an old read- 

 er of bee-papers. Some years ago our col- 



