June 1, 1911 



329 



queen gone. The other one 1 tried to intro- 

 iluce by the "tumbler" method. 



I allowed one bee to come u]) through the 

 hole I had made in the oil-clotli cover. How- 

 she chased her majesty around, tugging first 

 at her legs, then i)ulling her wing! In about 

 five minutes she changed from a hostile to 

 a friendly attitude. Then I admitted several 

 more bees, repeating the o})eration until I 

 liad enough bees in the tumljler, all of them 

 treating the (jueen kindly. When I thought 

 all were in perfect harmony 1 allowed the 

 ipieen to go below. The next morning I 

 found her dead in front of the hive. They 

 had not recei\ed her. This queenless colony 

 raised its own (}ueen. 



I ordered three more virgins; but owing to 

 a delay in getting them the season was so 

 advancetl that I couldn't get a single one 

 fertilized, although some remained in the 

 baby hives several weeks. 



Later in October I jjurchased a tine-look- 

 ing select tested Italian queen cheai) from a 

 bee-keeper who had a surplus of queens. 

 Having run the gauntlet in experimenting 

 with queens 1 determined to try the Hour 

 method. This time I caged the dark (jueen 

 in case I should fail again. I sjjrayed the 

 whole colony with i)ei)])ermint water, and 

 literally l)uried the bees and (jueen with 

 dour. In ;i6 hours I found the queen dead 

 on the bottom-board. 



Thwarted again and again in my year's 

 eflforts in ex])erimenting with queens I am 

 far from discouraged. I can hardly wait un- 

 til the season opens again to continue this 

 fascinating work. 



Ashton, 111. 



«-••—» 



MENDELSON'S MODIFICATION OF THE CHAP- 

 MAN SW ARMING-BASKET. 



BY M. H. MENDP:LS0N. 



In Nov. 15th Gleanings, pages 722 and 

 725, 1 note your article describing Mr. S. 1). 

 Chapman's method of hiving swarms with 

 a bushel-basket. I use a similar kind of 

 swarming-basket; but the difference between 

 mine and Chapman's is that I have a han- 

 dle over the center instead of the sides, so as 

 to carry much more conveniently. The 

 handle is fastened securely to each side so it 

 will not move or swing, for a movable han- 

 dle cuts off and kills many bees. I take a 

 heavy, Xo. 8 galvanized wire and cut it long 

 enough to make a hook on one end. The 

 opposite end I fasten by twisting around 

 the center of the handle. This is for the 

 l)urpose of hanging on limbs of trees by 

 liofiking over some limb convenient for the 

 alighting of issuing swarms. As you are 

 aware, after the first swarm has once clus- 

 tered the succeeding swarms will be drawn 

 by the odor of the i)revious swarm and clus- 

 ter on the same lindj, from which the swarm 

 can be easily taken care of. When cluster- 

 ed ((uietly, i catch and remove to a vacant 

 hive in the ajnary; and if other swarms are 

 near, then I place a dui)licate basket in its 

 stead. I ])revent confusion of swarms by 



handling quietly. You will find the center 

 handle a great convenience. 

 Ventura, Cal. 



•-•-• 



WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF FOUL BROOD? 



BY LESLIE BURR. 



A few days ago I visited an ai)iary in which 

 there had been a light flow of honey. The 

 bees were strong for that time of the year, 

 and the queens prolific. There had been 

 sufficient rain, and other conditions were 

 favorable, so the outlook could not be better. 



But, about forty i)cr cent of the colonies 

 had here and there a cell affected with 

 American foul brood. The facts are, that, 

 early in the season, two colonies were found 

 which had been robbed, antl their brood- 

 combs showed that they had been bailly af- 

 fected with the disease. Now, it is safe to 

 wager that aboutevery colony in that apiary 

 has stored away somewhere in the combs 

 the germs of American foul brood. The nat- 

 ural (juestion is, " Where did it come from?" 

 The owner of the apiary said he did not 

 know. He had never had any colonies af- 

 fected with the disease before, and accejjted 

 the situation as a decree of fate. 



The incident started a chain of thought in 

 which I recalled scenes that I have witness- 

 ed, and stories of foul brood which I have 

 heard during the years of iny wanderings. 



My first experience with the disease was 

 when a lad at home. It was on the i)rairies 

 of Illinois, and the only apiaries in the vi- 

 cinity were those of two neighbors and that 

 of my father. The nearest yard was half a 

 mile distant; the other, a mile. So far as we 

 knew, there were no other bees within nuiles 

 of us. Foul brood made its appearance in 

 my father's ajnary, and later in that of the 

 nearest neighbor. Previous to that time 

 the disease was unknown in that part of the 

 State. Where did it come from? 



The next picture in my mind is in Cuba, 

 just after the "(Jovernment of Interven- 

 tion." Those who have read Rambler's de- 

 scription of the ai^iaries along the Calzada 

 have, no doubt, a fair conception of that 

 string of apiaries that sprang into existence 

 along that noted highway, and will recall 

 "Windy Jirown of Tulapan," "Somerford, 

 the man who talked," the energetic Harry 

 Howe, and the droll Harry Beaver, and (i. 

 E. Moe, the man who one month did not 

 know the difference between a queen-bee 

 and Adam's off ox; and the next was one of 

 the most extensive and successful apiarists 

 on the island. West from Harry Beaver's 

 location was a long stretch of barren savan- 

 na, about ten kilometers, where there were 

 no bees; and, so far as it was known, no foul 

 brood; yet it appeared almost simultaneous- 

 ly in Moe'sapiariesalong the Calzada. And, 

 again, there was asked the question, "Where 

 did it come from?" 



In Eastern Cuba, four hundred miles from 

 any known foul brood, Caj)tain Fatjo built 

 up a series of apiaries. The only bees ho 

 had bought, except some queens, were fro..j 



