Bkcembkr, 1920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE C V L T U R E 



715 



combs, often lirippiiig vvtili lioiiov, are jilaoed 

 ill boxes or barrels that leak like a sieve, 

 with the result that tlie railroad ears are 

 smeared up with loose honey. When these 

 ears stop on a siding they are quite likely 

 to be visited by bees. If the shipment gets 

 lost or is delayed in transit at some junc- 

 tion where there is a large number of bees, 

 tlie inevitable result in either ease is the 

 spread of foul brood. If the dealer or foun- 

 dation-maker has bees, they are quite liable 

 to help themselves to the infected honey 

 when the shii)ment arrives at his platform, 

 and disease will be spread again. 



Too many beekeepers do not fully realize 

 the importance of extreme care in the dis- 

 position of the combs when treating diseased 

 colonies. The moment such combs are taken 

 from the bees they become more dangerous 

 than they were while still in possession of 

 the bees, unless proper care is used in their 

 disposition. 



Even some of the most eareful beekeepers 

 have found to their sorrow that it is not 

 safe to store such combs in rooms or con- 

 tainers which arc supposed to be bee-tight; 

 for robber "bees usually find a way to break 

 in, even if the combs are not exposed by 

 some accident. 



If the beekeepers in all cases would melt 

 down all combs containing disease as soon 

 as they are taken from the bees, the prob- 

 lem of their further disposition would be 

 greatly simplified. 



Put all such combs into boiling water; 

 skim off the free wax, which will be con- 

 siderable, and then ship the residue to the 

 foundation-maker to be further treated. This 

 residue, or slumgum, will be perfectly safe 

 to send anywhere, as it will have been ster- 

 ilized. The free honey will flow away with 

 the wax or mingle with the hot water. This 

 plan involves no apparatus beyond a com- 

 mon iron kettle or wash-boiler. If one has 

 access to a jet of steam, a common barrel 

 will be better yet. 



When the combs have been sterilized in 

 this way, and some of the wax removeil, the 

 express or freight on the residue, ^lAdum- 

 guni, will be much less, and alwayHRre to 

 ship at any time. The hot water will kill all 

 possible moth worms and eggs, remove the 

 diseased honey, and sterilize the wax. 



Such a treatment of combs, whether dis- 

 eased or not, is a convenient method of tak- 

 ing care of them during the busy season, 

 for it renders the material safe to store 

 until it can be run thru the wax press 

 by tlie beekeeper, or sent away to a wax- 

 rendering plant. 



We wish to urge with all the emphasis 

 that we can command the use of this treat- 

 ment of all combs from colonies treated for 

 American foul t>rood. Unless the beekeepers 

 and the dealers combine on some plan of 

 this kind we shall be continually handicap- 

 ping the industry by scattering bee disease 

 along the railways and general highways, 



ami jilaciiig unnecessary burdens of expense 

 on the industry as a whole. The spread of 

 bee disease in the United States is getting 

 to be almost apjiiilliiig; and we are con- 

 vinced that a large part of it is due to the 

 careless handling and shipping of combs. 



Let us take a case in point. Two years 

 ago we visited a beekeeper in California who 

 showed us a very pretty apiary of newly 

 made factory hives, and the general sur- 

 roundings looked good. He explained that 

 the inspector had ordered him to burn up 

 his old hives aiul render his combs, and 

 shake into clean hives. This inspector, in- 

 stead of giving him the proper instructions, 

 or, better yet, staying there on the job, mere- 

 ly told him to clean up. He certainly did 

 "clean up" every beekeeper within range 

 of his bees. Not knowing how foul brood 

 is carried by robbing he melted his combs 

 outdoors. He showed us a big pile of frames 

 out of which he had cut the combs. We 

 asked him if he did not have a lot of rob- 

 bers. 



"Yes," he said. "They came in very 

 handy because they licked up all the old 

 honey. ' ' 



He really thought he had done a good job. 

 His bees had all been shaken into new hives 

 oil clean frames of foundation; and the pity 

 of it was that every comb in the whole yard 

 at the time of our visit had infection, and 

 he wondered why. 



We learned of a case recently where an 

 inspector shipped a barrel of combs, infected 

 with American foul brood, to be rendered 

 in late summer. Mind you, this man was in- 

 spector and ought to have known better. The 

 dealer complained that the barrel was drip 

 ping with honey. The result can be imagined, 

 because there was a large number of bees 

 in the vicinity. Better, by far, to fire such 

 inspectors and send to each man who has 

 disease some printed instructions as to how 

 to melt combs. 



A number of dealers and foundation- 

 makers are willing to receive combs to be 

 rendered into wax. We wonder if those deal- 

 ers have realized that such a policy will in 

 the end react on themselves. Gleanings de- 

 sires not only the co-oj)eration of these deal- 

 ers, but of every beekeeper in the United 

 States, to the end that we discourage the 

 shipping of brood-combs at any time any- 

 where, whether diseased or not. Bee disease 

 is spreading fast enough without hastening 

 it on in this way. 



It should be remembered, jjcrliaps, that in 

 a large number of States there are laws 

 against shipjiing infected material from one 

 l)lace to another without the consent of the 

 bee inspector. Perhaps the day will come 

 wheit there will be a federal law against the 

 shipping of such combs to be rendered, or, 

 rather, a law against shipping any combs 

 that do not bear the inspector's certificate; 

 but, unfortunately, that time has not yet 

 arrived. 



