E 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



JUNE, 1921 





EDITORIAL 



THP] American Honey Producers' League 

 thru one of its committees is endeavoring to 

 arrange with the oflfi- 

 A Circuit of cers of various bee- 

 Conventions. kee])ers' associations 

 to hold their annual 

 meetings on consecutive dates in adjacent 

 States, thus arranging a circuit of meet- 

 ings. Such an arrangement would enable 

 one person to attend several conventions 

 without excessive traveling expense, and 

 would thus make it possible to secure speak- 

 ers in many cases who would not be able to 

 attend if a separate trip were necessary for 

 each convention. It is to be hoped that the 

 \aiious associations will co-operate with the 

 League committee in arranging for such 

 circuits of meetings in \arious ]iarts of the 

 country. 



IN a paper published in the Journal of Eco- 

 nomic Entomology for February, A. P. Stur- 

 tevant, Specialist 



Mixed Infection 



in the Brood 



Diseases of Bees 



in the Bateriology 

 of Bee Diseases, 

 Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, U n i t e d 

 States Dejiartment of Agriculture, discusses 

 the subject of mixed infection in bee dis- 

 eases. 



Since the Bureau of Entomology began 

 the examination of samples of brood dis- 

 eases a total of 38 samples containing both 

 American foul brood and European foul 

 brood was received, n2 of which were re- 

 ceived during 1919 and 1920, two in 1918, 

 one in 1917, two in 1916, and one in 1911. 

 It was formerly thought that mixed infec- 

 tion was of extremely rare occurrence, onlv 

 one such sample having been found prior 

 to 1916; but the number found during the 

 past two seasons, when 32 out of 11591 sam- 

 l)les examined contained both diseases, 

 shows th.at mixed infection is by no means 

 rare. 



Of the total of .H8 samples of mixed infec- 

 tion, 12 came from California and five from 

 New York, the others coming from 11 wide- 

 ly separated States, chiefly from prominent 

 beekeeping regions. 



These are important facts for beekeepers 

 located in regions where both diseases are 

 imminent for when both diseases are in the 

 same apiary and sometimes in the same col- 



The Dr. Miller 



Memorial 



Fund. 



ony, the problem of treatment becomes com- 

 plicated. It is well known that if the shak- 

 ing treatment used in treating American 

 foul brood is given to colonies having Euro- 

 pean foul brood the trouble is often aggra- 

 vated instead of being cured. When both 

 diseases are found in the same apiary, and 

 possibly in some cases in the same colony, 

 Mr. Sturtevant recommends first the elimi- 

 nation of European foul brood by strength- 

 ening and requeening all the colonies with 

 vigorous, young Italian queens, then treat- 

 ing any colonies which do not respond to 

 this treatment as being American foul 

 brood. 



O) —10 1^ CH — H a 



AS INTIMATED in last issues of Gleanings 

 and the American Bee Journal, the birthday 

 of Dr. Miller, June 

 10, has been set 

 aside as the date 

 when we should, 

 one and all, give 

 expression in a 

 practical w'ay of 

 our indebtedness to the great beekeeper 

 and leader who has left us. Some letters 

 that have come in expressing the writers' 

 love for the man, accompanied with a re- 

 mittance, almost bring tears to one 's eyes. 

 For example, a young girl, crippled for life, 

 who in her earlier years had paid her 

 way thru college with the money she had 

 earned with her bees, sends a dollar. 

 After she had gotten thru college a seinous 

 spinal trouble developed, with the result 

 that she is confined to her bed much 

 of the time, being able to get about with 

 difficulty only by means of crutches. Of 

 course her earning powder is gone largely; 

 but she lias not forgotten Dr. Miller. She 

 did it out of pure love. 



Another incident comes to our mind of a 

 young man who started with few bees, and 

 witli their help he is putting himself thru 

 college. He has been a great lover of Dr. 

 Miller and his writings; and even tho the 

 dollars come hard during these strenuous 

 times, and even tho their purchasing power 

 is only about half their value during the 

 pre-war days, this boy sends in five dollars. 

 Several have proposed to establish a pro- 

 fessorshiji in apiculture in some college, a 

 scholarshi]), a beekeeping library at some 



