Septkmbkr, 191' 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



671 



any business wilh those sanx^ peoitlo in llu" 

 future. 1 am tryinti' to do an honest busi- 

 ness witli the same people year in and year 

 out." 



There is no doubt thai the bii^' l)uyer and 

 the bii,^ broker have helped to "bull" the 

 market on honey. There are so many of 

 liiem that they bid aiiainst each other. Said 

 on? biiT broker in t'liicago, "Jf the buyers 

 would stay out of the tield for a while the 

 market would decline; but, no; they must 

 all rush in, with the result that we all have 

 to pay high prices." 



There you are. One buyer tries to get 

 ahead of the other fellow; and in the grand 

 rush thej' boost prices. If they could all 

 combine, they could stand back and Say 

 they Avould not pay more than 10 c^nts per 

 pound for honey; but fortunately they can- 

 not control each other, with the result that 

 the bad broker and the good broker, the big 

 buyer and the commission ipan, prevent a 

 cornering of the market. 



But jierhaps one says: "Why not cut out 

 the middleman? Why should net the bee- 

 keepers organize and sell to the markets of 

 Europe direct?" They have been talking 

 that for the last forty years, but have not 

 done it. So far they seem unable to effect 

 the necessai-y organization to accomplish 

 this. The jirobabilities are that the middle- 

 man will always be a necessary evil. He 

 will have the ready cash, and he will be able 

 to get hold of the very large buyers, such as 

 great corporations and even governments, 

 a thing the individual producer cannot do. 



THE DIS- 

 APPEARING 

 DISEASE. 



HOUSE, at the field meet at Camillus. 

 , told us that the disease we described 

 editorially in 

 Gleanings, page 

 500, had appeared 

 last season in his 

 locality, and that 

 he was considerably alarmed, as it cut down 

 his colonies so much that it interfered with 

 the yield of honey. He did not believe it 

 was due to a germ nor to any form of dis- 

 ease — that it was simply a case of malnu- 

 trition. 



This disappearing or Isle of Wight dis- 

 ease, it w^ill be remembered, comes on during 

 a rainy chilly spell, and just before a honey- 

 flow. During periods of intermittent sun- 

 shine the bees have access to pollen and but 

 very little nectar. This thing continues for 

 days and days. At the general opening of 

 the honey-flow the bad symptoms begin to 

 be very manifast; but as soon as the honev- 

 flnw is well under way accompanied by 



goi (1 weather the disea.se disappears — hence 

 the name, "disappearing disease." 



Mr. House's theory is that the intestines 

 of the bees become overcharged with pollen, 

 and that the real trouble is indigestion 

 caused by too nnu-li nitrogenous food in the 

 general di.l. in other words, they arc 

 forced, he thinks, to use an unl)alanced 

 ration. 



Mr. K. F. lloltermann, of Brantford, 

 Canada, and other beekeepers of Ontario, 

 have found considerable of the disappear- 

 ing disease tliis summer, and for a time 

 tliey were considerably alarmed ; but, true 

 to its name, it began to disappear — not, 

 however, until it had done considerable 

 damage in their apiaries. Warm sunshine, 

 lots of it, and plenty of honey seemed to 

 cure it. 



Mr. Bouse may have offered the true so- 

 lution of the trouble. Some two years ago, 

 when the discussion came up, many report- 

 ed that they cured the disease or malady by 

 feeding sugar syrup in connection witli 

 some antiseptic. In almost every case the 

 feeding seemed to mitigate the trouble — 

 sometimes curing it entirely. It was sup- 

 posed by each of the writers that the par- 

 ticular anitseptic that they used was the 

 thing that diet the cure; but the probabili- 

 ties are that feeding sugar syrup for honey 

 would make up a balanced ration. In other 

 words, the bees were given something that 

 they could digest. 



IT HAS BEEN quite generally believed 

 that the feeding value of alfalfa for cattle 

 was ahead of 

 SWEET CLOVER sweet clover. In 



AND ALFALFA our issue for 



AS FEEDS. July, page 512, 



^v^ intimated as 

 much, and new one of the Kansas farmers 

 has 'jome back, saying the statement is not 

 true — at least it is announced that the Agri- 

 cultural College of Kansas conducted som^ 

 feeding tests where the cattle were divided 

 in two separate groups. One group was 

 given rations of alfalfa hay, and the other 

 was given sweet clover. The sweet-clover 

 steers won out, gaining 25 per cent more 

 per 100 lbs. than steers fed on alfalfa hay. 



This might not prove to be true in other 

 localities ; but even if the sweet clover 

 should hold its own on an even basis it will 

 probably take the place of alfalfa. 



Sweet clover grows more readily on al- 

 mrst any kind of soil where alfalfa must 

 have conditions favorable. It does not 

 bloat cattle as does alfalfa, and will go 

 deeper thru hardpan than alfalfa. With 



