TULY 1, 191f 



551 



causes for delay on account of the acts of 

 God. 



The fact that the receipt given by the 

 express company or any common carrier does 

 not specify any specific date of delivery does 

 not relieve the carrier when its employees 

 are grossly negligent in the handling of 

 shipment, thus causing these delays. Usual- 

 ly the common carrier will settle claims of 

 this nature where they have no good reason 

 for such delays. They are wise to the fact 

 that the courts would not sustain them. 



Generally speaking, we would consider 

 four to ten days.' time taken over and above 

 what is termed a carrier 's schedule is basis 

 for claim and can be collected. 



In the case above cited your customer 

 would be the one to make the claim on the 

 express company, and the customer pay you 

 for the bees; but it is getting to be more 

 and more fhe custom to make the claim in 

 behalf of the customer because the shipper 

 knows the procedure better. — -Ed.] 



A Double Hive-bottom. 



For three years I have used fifty double 

 bottom-boards of my own design, as shown 

 in the illustration. At first I expected the 

 bees would build combs between the two 

 floors, but have had no trouble along this 

 line. I made these principally for conven- 

 ience in moving during hot weather for a 

 buckwheat honey-flow, but I like them so 

 well that I intend making two or three 

 hundred more, altho I do not expect to do as 

 much moving in the future as I have in the 

 past. 



The lower floor is solid, while the upper 

 one, which is really the floor of the hive, is 

 movable so that it can be shifted up or down 

 as needed for ventilation, or, if required, it 

 can be taken out altogether. There are two 

 openings in this upper floor % of an inch 



-' ■ Button 



wide, running from front to back. These 

 may be covered with a strip of tin or roofing 

 paper if desired. Thru these openings the 

 bees can go down to a feeder shoved in be- 

 tween the two floors. They will take syrup 

 from a feeder located in this bottom quite 

 late in the fall. . 



In the swarming season I lower the upper 

 floor in front so that the bees have about a 

 3-inch entrance. I also leave the two slots 



c^en and pull the floor ahead so there is 

 about a one-inch ojiening at the back be- 

 sides. This gives abundance of ventilation, 

 which goes a long way toward discouraging 

 swarming. 



The movable slide controls the size of the 

 entrance outside the vestibule; and when 

 moving I can replace this slide with a screen. 



Smithville, Ont. Lewis Minor. 



Can a Colony Clean up American Foul Brood? 



Have you ever heard of bees cleaning up 

 American foul brood f A case has come to 

 my attention that I should like to have your 

 opinion on. 



About three weeks ago I found two cases 

 of American foul brood in a neighbor 's 

 apiary. One was bad and weak, so he killed 

 it. The other he started to transfer, but no- 

 ticed that the bees were cutting out some of 

 the cells containing the diseased brood. He 

 then let it go and called my attention to it. 

 Sure enough, they had cut some out — usually 

 destroying the walls connecting at least two 

 adjoining cells. The colony is in fine condi- 

 tion, and the first heavy honey-flow is on. 



There is no doubt as to its being American 

 foul brood, tho I had a hard time convincing 

 the owner of it after they had started clean- 

 ing up. Even now he wants an expert's 

 opinion on it. My own opinion is that he 

 took a splinter and mussed up the diseased 

 brood, enlarging or even breaking the cell. 

 Could this account for it? or is it that they 

 are very strong and making an attempt of 

 their own? 



Eamona, Cal., May 18. C. A. Quincey. 



[While a vigorous strain of Italians will 

 help clean up European foul brood, it is very 

 seldom that they can handle American with- 

 out assistance from the owner. Usually it is 

 required to remove all infected material, 

 either by removing the frames entirely or by 

 cutting ovit pieces of the comb in the frames 

 and substituting foundation instead. Occa- 

 sionally a very powerful colony will clean 

 out even American foul brood; but there is 

 always danger that the disease will reapj^ear 

 again in a year or two. We always think it 

 advisable, whenever the disease is found" in 

 any set of combs, to melt up all the combs 

 even if only one or two cells appear. We 

 have never known of a time yet when a 

 strong colony cleaned out American foul 

 brood, but what, if that colony was left 

 long enough with the same set of combs, the 

 disease would reappear again in one or two 

 vears hence, so it is well to err on the safe 

 side.— Ed.] 



European Foul Brood in San Diego Co., Cal.; 

 Apicultural Nomenclature. 



Many bees here in San Diego Co. are dying 

 from European foul brood. I can 't under- 

 stand why one swarm of bees should be 

 called a colony or the cells on foundation 

 called "drawn." My bees build white cells 

 on dark foundation. Am I too particular? 



Potrero, Cal. Geo. W. Riker. 



