404 



took entirely too long to start work, and, 

 besides, required too much heat. My last 

 one is just right in this respect. 



The melter as shown in the illustration is 

 1-1 inches square, and there is a l>^-inch 

 space for water, which space communicates 

 with the square tube 

 shown in the corner, 

 which I use for filling 

 and for heating the 

 uncapping- knives. 

 There is no water along 

 the sides of the can. 

 as I have found this 

 unnecessary. I have 

 three or four braces in 

 the water space at the 

 bottom to prevent the 

 heavy cappings from 

 sagging down in the 

 middle and forcing the 

 hot water up out of the 

 filling tube. 



As shown in the en- 

 graving, I have the 

 melter almost entirely 

 surrounded w i t h a 

 wooden jacket to con- 

 fine the heat. I have 

 found that a two- 

 burner oil-stove i)ro- 

 vides enough heat in 

 view of this wooden 

 jacket. The tank rests 

 on iron braces so that 

 there is no wood that 

 comes in contact with 

 the stove, and there- 

 fore no danger of burn- 

 ing. Some of the small particles of wax 

 pass over into the separating-pail beforie 

 they are melted, but this does no particular 

 harm, as I always remelt the wax any way, 

 to get it in shape for market. 



At the outyards the honey from the sepa- 

 rating-pail passes over into a can on the 

 rloor, but at the home yard it runs direct 

 into the strainer and is then pumped over 

 to the tanks with the rest of the honey. 



The two-inch o])ening clear across the 

 front of the melter is ample in size, and I 

 have never known it to clog. The back of 

 the melter is about 2}^ inches higher than 

 the front, to give a good fall. With this 

 much slant, large pieces of comb, etc., might 

 pass over unmelted, and so I have a wooden 

 gate that swings across the front, coming 

 within two inches of the bottom, as stated. 

 This is hinged so I can turn it back out of 

 the way when I wish to remove the melter 

 from the box. 



In spite of the precautions I have taken 

 to confine the heat, I find that the stove 

 makes the room a little warmer; but prac- 

 tically all of our extracting is done with a 

 power outfit, and a fan is always running, 

 so the higher temperature makes no partic- 

 ular difference. 



Mayfield, X. Y. 



[The principles of this capping-melter are 

 along the right line; but we would suggest 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



that 14 inches square of heating surface for 

 melting the capjnngs is hardly enough to 

 take care of two people uncapi)ing. When 

 a power extractor is used, vinless the combs 

 are kei)t very long in the machine it will 

 take two people with a knife to keep up. 



Ql^h^OT WATER 

 KNIFE HEATER 



WAX LINE 

 SYPHON 



Such a machine as here shown will become 

 congested. The scheme of the wax-sei)ara- 

 tor is the same as that employed by F. R. 

 Beuhne, of Australia. — Ed.] 



EXTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN 

 AND EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD. 



BY E. F. PHILLIPS, PH. D. 



[For a good many years efforts have been made 

 to photograph diseased brood and reproduce the 

 exact appearance of the cappings, the diseased lar- 

 va*, etc.: but a photograph fails to show clearly the 

 distinguishing features of disease. In other words, 

 a comb containing chilled or starved brood may 

 have all the outside appearances of disease, so that 

 many, seeing the photograph only, would be deceiv- 

 ed. The Bureau of Kntoraology of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture has just issued (May 6, 

 1911) Farmers" Bulletin 442, on the subject of "The 

 Treatment of Bee Diseases." The illustrations in 

 the form of carefully made pen drawings being 

 ahead of any thine we have previously seen, we at 

 once asked permission to reproduce them for our 

 readers, and the following is an extract from this 

 bulletin, with the illustrations that go with it.— 

 Ed.] 



AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. 



American foul brood is frequently called 

 simply "foul brood." It usually shows it- 

 self in the larva just about the time that the 

 larva fills the cell and after it has ceased 



