228 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Let us hear later from Mr. Foster the re- 

 sults of wintering the 800 colonies in Colo- 

 rado without protection. 



CONCEALING PRESENCE OF DISEASE UNWISE. 



Mr. Root remarks that I make no con- 

 cealment of my experience with American 

 foul brood. Is it not a mistaken policy for 

 any beekeeper to attempt to conceal the 

 presence of foul brood among his bees? Is 

 it not better that the fact be known if any 

 contagion exists, so that it may be combat- 

 ed, and others protected from its spread? 

 Can any good purpose be served by a pol- 

 icy of concealment? 



The editor is of the opinion that it would 

 be perfectly safe to use those frames again, 

 as they had been boiled pretty thoroly, then 

 exposed for months to snow, frost, rain, 

 sun, and wind. What say the contributors 

 to Gleanings on this point? Can any one 

 give us the result of experience? 



THAT OUTDOOR CAPPING MELTER. 



Regarding the wax-melter, it is 30 inches 

 wide, 10 inches deep, 7 feet long, made of 

 galvanized iron. It is raised up about two 

 feet from the ground, something after the 

 fashion of a molasses-boiler, with an open- 

 ing and a free space at the front end. A 

 budge of the same material as the vat. 

 about four inches from the bottom, extends 

 from about twenty inches from the front 

 end to the same distance from the back 

 end. Under this budge the frames are 

 pushed. There is room between the budge 

 and the bottom of the vat for three frames 



laid Hat, ono on top of the other, and the 

 vat is wide enough for three frames side by 

 side so that nine frames may be pushed in 

 at a time. The next set of frames pushes 

 these on toward the opening at the other 

 end of the budge. This budge sei-ves to 

 keep the frames under the water until all 

 the wax is melted out, then they are taken 

 out at the other end and a little tap on a 

 board crosswise of the vat causes all adher- 

 ing wax to leave the frames. Tllis is the 

 best apparatus I have seen for melting 

 combs in a large way. Of course, where 

 one is equipped for using steam the furnace 

 would be unnecessary. 



Yes, I did have a pretty big dose of foul 

 brood, ignorantly, from the other fellow. 

 As stated in my article of July 15, p. 586, 

 I shook every colony, healthy and unhealthy 

 alike, in three yards. More than 4000 frames 

 were run thi-u the melter. From this proc- 

 ess I obtained about 1500 pounds of nice 

 wax, and I averaged better than 150 lbs. of 

 honey per colony of those shaken. 



I am preparing for the readers of 

 Gleanings a further discussion of my last 

 season's experience with foul brood, and I 

 sincerely hope that next season the sequel 

 will show that the drastic treatment admin- 

 istered has pretty effectively cleaned things 

 up. 



Salem, Idaho. 



[In the matter of cellar wintering one 

 must be governed by the conditions in the 

 cellar itself. Mr. Andei-son is doubtless 

 right for his conditions. — Ed.] 



SPRING— WITH THE FOUR-COLONY CASE 



BY A. J. KNOX 



In the November 1st issue, page 905, I 

 gave my general way of handling the four- 

 oolony ease in preparing for winter. In 

 trying to point out some of the snags I had 

 struck as regards packing, entrances, snow, 

 etc., I ran foul of the editor, who backed up 

 H. I. Bernation in stating (Dec. 1, page 

 964) that the four-colony ease as it is gen- 

 erally used, with from four to six inches of 

 packing on the sides, and ten over the top, 

 is probably no better than a single-wall 

 hive in a forty-mile gale in the absence of 

 snow packing. 



Now, if we could be assured of plenty of 

 light snow, to come early and cover the 

 hives to a depth of several feet, and stay 

 that way, we should have little need of 

 packing of any kind, so far as the actual 

 winter is concerned. But on the approach 

 of spring, then the shoe pinches. During 



the fall and early winter months the bees 

 seem to be less susceptible to outside influ- 

 ences than later in the season. Warm sun- 

 shiny days do not always coax them outside. 

 There has been considerable mild weather 

 this fall, but scarcely a bee has been out. 

 After midwinter, and along toward March, 

 conditions inside seem to change, and a 

 restlessness exists that is absent in the fall. 

 From this time on, depth of snow around 

 the cases, upward ventilation, depth of 

 packing, and sheltered location, all have 

 their effects in stirring up the colony, or in 

 keeping it quiet, as the case may be. 



Single colonies with a few inches of pack- 

 ing, and four colonies packed together, are 

 entirely different propositions in the spring. 

 Colonies isolated from each other do not de- 

 velop heat enough to cause undue excite- 

 ment, even when the sun shines on them. 



