JUNE 1, 1914 



Fig. 6. — Tlie Baldensperger apiarj' among the olive-trees in the Alps. 



hideous of bee diseases — foul brood. Many 

 " fixists " (so we call the old-hive apia- 

 rists) are about us; and though by some 

 writers the notion has been spread that the 

 movable-frame hives are carriers of disease, 

 this is true for only the negligent beekeep- 

 er. I know well that the contrary is true. 

 For me, " movable " beekeepers are at least 

 very careful, and Ave can examine not only 

 our hives but every frame — ^every cell — and 

 put a stop to tlie pest ; at least, every care- 

 ful beekeeper does it. At tlie first visit in 

 spring, every frame is lifted out and every 

 cell containing brood is examined. In its 

 eai'lier stage it is very easy to fight, provid- 

 ed every affected lai-va is attended to — that 

 is, a liquid or solid of some kind is strewn 

 over the diseased colony, which enables the 

 bees to get rid of it withoiat danger of 

 spreading the evil. By the careful bee- 

 keeper, the European or American fo:il 

 brood can be handled Avithout danger from 

 the next colony, even though you go to work 

 at it after examining the sick one. 



Some apiaries are miles and miles distant 

 from the central apiary, itself (in summer) 

 miles away from our home in Nice. In these 

 out-apiaries a bee-tent is set up, and ex- 

 tractors and honoy-cans are cai-ried there. 

 Fig. 7. As the tins contain 60 to 120 lbs. 

 of honey, it requires strong and surefooted 



mountaineers to carry them down the de- 

 clivity on their broad shoulders till the car 

 carrying them to the central station is 

 reached. 



When honey was first put on the market 

 in earthenware jars and without cases, our 

 ancestors were still proud of their products. 

 Progress has brought clear glass jars — has 

 taught us to manipulate with great care, 

 and to seek the customer sometimes with all 

 kinds of persuasive talks. Staple prices 

 have gone up ; life is dearer ; yet with all 

 this our honey fetches only a few cents more 

 per bottle than it did^certainly not suffi- 

 cient to pay extra expenses. 



Nice, France. 



[We wonder what the migratory beekeep- 

 ers of to-day would say if they could trans- 

 port their bees over the country at the rate 

 of only 2^2 miles an hour; yet that is the 

 average speed of a camel with a load, not 

 including the stops. Our fast freights some- 

 times reach a speed of from 40 to 50 miles 

 an hour — twenty times as fast as the camel ; 

 but, nevertheless, we fancy that the wi-iter 

 of the following article, Avhen obliged to 

 wait/ so long for ti^ains, would have been 

 glad to accept camels or any other kind of 

 animals to help him out. — Ed.] 



