MAY 15, 1914 



363 



tlie more critical ones will say that it would 

 be better if the editor would go slower be- 

 fore giving them to tlie world; and to a cer- 

 tain extent that would be correct. But very 

 often a discussion of these new and some- 

 times not thoroughly tried-out schemes de- 

 velops a i3lan that finally proves to be a suc- 

 cess. In this particular ease Mr. Marchant 

 has modified the plan, and later on will de- 

 scribe it. 



With the second annual report on in- 

 spection in Iowa, the State Inspector, Mr. 

 Frank C. Pellett, has incorporated the pam- 

 pers read at the second annual convention 

 held in Des Moines, December 10, 11, and 

 12. The report as a whole is a great credit 

 to Mr. Pellett, and will do an immense 

 amount of good throughout the whole State. 



Mr. Pellett makes the point that, accord- 

 ing to the census report, more than one 

 farmer out of every eight in Iowa keeps 

 bees, but that the average value per farm 

 was only $17.88 in 1910. However, most 

 of the extensive beekeepers of the State do 

 not reside on farms, and were, therefore, 

 not enumerated. 



Referring to the inspection, 311 apiaries 

 were visited, and disease was found in 140. 

 The total number of colonies inspected .was 

 6973; total number diseased, 483. A con- 

 siderable portion of those found diseased 

 have been treated by the owner. In this 

 connection Mr. Pellett strongly emphasizes 

 the value of educational work. 



A good description of the various dis- 

 eases is given, including the disease sac- 

 brood. There has been some inquiry from 

 our readers of late in regard to this disease, 

 and there seems to be some misunderstand- 

 ing. We are, therefore, copying here the 

 symptoms of sacbrood given by Dr. G. F. 

 White, of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, as published on page 15 of the 

 report. 



The strength of a colony in which sacbrood is 

 present is frequently not noticeably diminished. 

 When the brood is badly infected, however, the colo- 

 ny naturally becomes appreciably weakened thereby. 

 The brood dies after the time of capping. The dead 

 larvw are, therefore, always found extended length- 

 wise in the cell, and lying with the dorsal side 

 against the lower wall. It is not usual to find many 

 larvse dead of this disease in uncapped cells. Such 

 brood, however, had been uncapped by the bees after 

 it died. In this disease the cappings are frequently 

 punctured by the bees. Occasionally a capping has 

 a hole through it, indicating that the capping had 

 never been completed. A larva dead of this disease 

 loses its normal color and assumes at first a slightly 

 yellowish tint. " Brown " is the most characteristic 

 appearance assumed by the larva during its decay. 

 Various shades are observed. The term " gray " 

 might sometimes appropriately be used to designate 



it. The form of the larva dead of this disease 

 changes much less than it does in foul brood. The 

 liody wall is not easily broken as a rule. On this 

 account, often the entire larva can be removed from 

 the cell intact. The content of this sac-like larva is 

 more or less watery. The head end is usually turned 

 markedly upward. The dried larva or scale is easily 

 removed from the lower side wall. There is practi- 

 cally no odor to the brood-combs. 



Along the line of treatment the shaking 

 method is given fo)- American foul brood, 

 with some modifications. For European 

 foul brood, requeening with pure Italian 

 stock is recommended, and the shaking plan 

 is also given, being recommended by Dr. E. 

 F. Phillips. 



Four 



from One Sent Down 



The last reports from our men in the 

 field at Apalachicola, Fla., go to show that 

 we shall certainly make an increase of three 

 carloads of bees from the one sent down 

 last November, and a strong probability of 

 an additional ear, or four cars in all. The 

 first car starts May 8 by way of the river, 

 Bainbridge, Ga., and "^Cincinnati. If it 

 makes schedule time it will arrive at Medina 

 on the 13th. Tlie next two or three carloads 

 will start May 20 or 22. One man will ac- 

 company the first car and tAvo men the next 

 two or three. Unfortunately the backward 

 season in Apalacliicola rendered it impossi- 

 ble to move the first car in time to get much 

 of the fruit-bloom in and about Medina; so 

 we have had to scratch around to find bees 

 locally to take care of orchards in tliis vicin- 

 ity- 



Our boys have been able to secure a fair 

 crop of honey, possibly enough to pay the 

 freight on the bees back. But of this we 

 shall speak more i>ositively later. 



The question may be asked whether our 

 scheme of moving bees south for increase 

 and honey, fo Apalachicola, has been a suc- 

 cess. As yet we are unable to give a definite 

 answer. If we bring back four carloads of 

 bees and twenty barrels of honey, the bees 

 arriving in good condition, the venture will 

 pay out well, without question ; but 



There's many a slip 

 'Twixt cup and lip. 



There are 6000 new combs just drawn 

 from full sheets of foundation. While they 

 have all been wired they will not stand a 

 trip of this kind of some 1200 miles like old 

 combs. If the weather should prove to be 

 extremely warm while the bees are on the 

 way, and if there should be poor connec- 

 tions, we might lose a considerable number 

 of bees on account of these new combs melt- 

 ing down. All of them, however, will be 



