256 



The Distance Bees Fly, Again 



In this issue, in his regular department, 

 Mr. J. L. Byer evidently had not read what 

 we said about the flight of bees, page 150, 

 Feb. 15, or he would have seen that he was 

 more nearly in accord with our own views 

 than his statement implied. He finds that 

 there is a condition in a level stretch of 

 country under which bees will fly further 

 than 3I/2 miles. So have we. He cites one 

 year (1913) when a dearth visited the sec- 

 tion in which the apiary was located. Near- 

 ly three miles away from the apiary was a 

 strip along a river-bank where alsike clover 

 kept in bloom. The bees went to this strip, 

 and some of them went as far as five miles 

 away. By turning to page 150 it will be 

 seen, in referring to a place where bees or- 

 dinarily would not fly more than three- 

 fourths of a mile, we said, " When there is 

 no natural nectar which the bees can gather 

 less than three to five miles away, it is not 

 an uncoimnon thing for them to fly that 

 far. But they do not always do so." 



Testing the Soil for Sweet Clover, and 

 Something about the Largest Grower 

 of it in the United States 



In this issue, page 284, appears an article 

 from Mr. Frank Coverdale, of Delmar, 

 Iowa, on how to test soil — in short, how to 

 make a sure catch of a seeding of sweet 

 clover. Mr. Coverdale is probably the best 

 authority on this plant in the United States ; 

 and when the farmers in the country begin 

 to wake up to the value of this wonderful 

 legume as a foliage plant, and want to 

 know something more about it, they will be 

 asking for Frank Coverdale at farmers' 

 institutes all over the United States. 



We would suggest that beekeepers and 

 farmers make a general request that Mr. 

 Coverdale be employed next winter to 

 speak at farmers' institutes on how to grow 

 sweet clover. The first state that gets him 

 will be fortunate. Any one who has heard 

 him talk will be convinced that he knows 

 sweet clover from A to Z, for he is the 

 largest grower of it, probably, in the Unit- 

 ed States. 



Summer Beekeeping Course of the 

 Iowa State Collegf- 



A COURSE in beekeeping is to be offered 

 during the first six weeks of the summer 

 session at the Iowa State College. This 

 course will consist of three lectures and 

 recitations a week, and three periods of 

 practical work a week for the six weeks. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



The course will not occupy all the students' 

 time, and they will have opportunity to 

 take other studies that may be related to 

 apiculture in other departments of the 

 college. 



This course will fill a long-felt want 

 among the beekeepers of Iowa as well as 

 those interested in beekeeping. It is oiSer- 

 ed in addition to the new four-year course 

 in apiculture which will be offered for the 

 first time at the beginning of the next col- 

 lege year in September, 1916. 



The Iowa State College is to be commend- 

 ed for the recognition it has given to the 

 value of teaching apiculture, and the op- 

 portunity it is offering to students who may 

 be interested in the subject of beekeeping. 

 It will offer an opportunity for school- 

 teachers and beginners to obtain informa- 

 tion for successful beekeeping, and it will 

 offer to beekeepers the chance to learn the 

 latest and best methods as well as to gain 

 information they could seldom gain from 

 practical beekeeping. 



Information in regard to this course may 

 be had by writing to the Director of the 

 Summer Session, Iowa State College, Ames, 

 Iowa. 



The Lament of Job, Again; or the Sil- 

 ver Lining to the European Foul- 

 brood Situation 



Two articles in this issue will give our 

 friend Job (Holtermann) a few crumbs of 

 comfort. We refer to one by Geo. H. Rea, 

 on page 272, and the other by L. A. P. 

 Stone, page 274. Mr. Bea's method is 

 somewhat drastic in that it involves the 

 destruction of combs or melting them up. 

 According to most of the evidence in hand 

 it appears it is not necessary to do this for 

 ■ European foul brood, altho possibly such 

 drastic means would have to be applied 

 provided every trace of the disease is to be 

 wiped out as Mr. Holtermann stipulates. 



The article by Mr. Stone promises relief 

 by simply using Dr. Miller's method of 

 cure, dequeening for ten days, and using 

 vigorous Italian stock, and saving the 

 combs. In fact, there are so many reports 

 endorsing Dr. Miller's treatment for Euro- 

 pean foul brood we really believe that the 

 disease can be handled without very much 

 difficulty pi'ovided a good strain of Italians 

 can be secured. In any case, neither Mr. 

 Holtermann nor anybody else need fear 

 that European foul brood will cut down 

 the honey crop. 



The Miller treatment, boiled down in a 

 nutshell, quoting from Mr. Stone, is very 

 simple. He cover's it in one sentence ; name- 



