472 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



MayI 



uses the term "queenright," which is almost 

 as short as "queenless," referring to the op- 

 posite condition. If our correspondents will 

 permit us we will shorten these phrases down 

 to some of the terms already suggested. 



HOW PURE FOODS ARE PLACED UNDER THE 

 BAN OF DISTRUST. 



It has been stated that the average man 

 is more capricious, timid, and more subject 

 to panic over his food and drink than almost 

 any thing else. Some of the late scientific 

 articles for popular reading, while confined 

 very largely to the actual facts, have a ten- 

 dency to create general distrust in nearly all 

 lines of pure foods that are capable of adul- 

 teration. Reputable manufacturers and hon- 

 est producers over the country generally are 

 beginning to feel the eff'ects of these arti- 

 cles, because they have been copied widely, 

 fearfully distorted, and commented on in the 

 most sensational manner by the average 

 daily press. The consumer reading these 

 distortions will not dare to buy any more 

 canned goods or syrups, much less honey, 

 because this food is reported to be very gen- 

 erally adulterated. The result has been a 

 general "panic" among consumers. Even 

 ripe fruits have been placed under the ban 

 of distrust, because, forsooth, somehow the 

 story got into circulation that a "poisonous 

 fungus" was affecting the cucumbers, and 

 that even tomatoes might cause "locomotor 

 ataxia," and that often heads of lettuce 

 would be the nesting-place of "deadly vi- 

 pers." The trouble is, it is sometimes wise 

 not to tell the whole truth, for the reason 

 that yellow journals desiring something sen- 

 sational to "fill up space" will take that 

 truth, garble it, and make a mess of lies out 

 of it. That is exactly what they have done 

 regarding honey. There can be no doubt at 

 all that producers of both comb and extract- 

 ed honey have been heavy sufferers. 



FOUL-BROOD LEGISLATION THE PAST WINTER. 



Attempts have been made in the various 

 State legislatures during th*e past winter and 

 spring to get foul-brood laws in several of 

 the States where the disease exists and is 

 making progress. I have already referred 

 to the bill that passed both houses of the 

 Missouri legislature, but which was finally 

 vetoed by Gov. Folk. This is the first time 

 a foul-brood bill has ever been killed by a 

 governor; and it goes to show the great im- 

 portance of having the chief executive prop- 

 erly posted as to the nature of such a mea- 

 sure before it goes before him. 



I have before me a copy of the recent law 

 that was passed in Kansas, based on what 

 is known as the county plan, a plan that 

 provides for an inspector for each county 

 upon petition of a certain number of bee- 

 keepers. As originally presented it was a 

 much better measure than what actually 

 passed. The salary of the inspector was 

 cut down from $3.00 to $2.00 a day, and the 

 number of petitioners was increased from 5 

 to 2d. Each one of those petitioners must 



be an actual resident of the county, and a 

 bee-keeper. If there are only a dozen bee- 

 keepers in a county, and the disease is rag- 

 ing in the apiaries of one of them, it would 

 be simply impossible to get an inspector. 

 In this respect the smart legislators pretty 

 nearly (if they did not quite) nullified the 

 law in many, if not a majority of the coun- 

 ties. In other respects the law is very 

 good; but all county laws are inferior to 

 those that give jurisdiction over the whole 

 State to one man who will be something more 

 of an expert than might be picked up in one 

 county. In Kansas, or in fact in any State, 

 it would be hard to find a man for $2.00 a 

 day who would be willing to leave his bees 

 and incur the possible enmity of some of 

 his neighbor bee-keepers in his efforts to 

 enforce the law. The original draft of the 

 bill provided for $3.00 a day, and this was 

 somewhat better. 



A bill has been presented to the Pennsyl- 

 vania legislature providing for the appoint- 

 ment, by the governor, for two years, of 

 two inspectors of apiaries, for the whole 

 State, who shall be practical bee-keepers, 

 and who shall be skilled in the knowledge of 

 the disease and its treatment. It further 

 provides that the inspector or inspectors re- 

 ceive $100 per month. This amount would 

 secure the services of good men. In oth- 

 er respects the bill is an excellent one; and 

 if it finally passes, it goes without saying 

 that the disease will be eradicated in the 

 speediest manner possible. This is in mark- 

 ed contrast with the weak Kansas law. 



So far as I know, the following States 

 have foul- brood laws of some sort: 



New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wis- 

 consin, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, 

 California. Bills are or have been pending 

 in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maine, Min- 

 nesota, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington. 



I should be glad to have both lists correct- 

 ed by our subscribers. If any of the States 

 where bills have been pending have finally 

 passed laws, will our subscribers in such 

 States notify us? In the last list, some of 

 the legislatures may have adjourned, and 

 with that adjournment have gone all hopes 

 of foul -brood legislation for the present. 

 There may be other States that have pre- 

 sented foul-brood bills, but so far I have not 

 received notice. 



THE NON-SWARMING METHODS GIVEN IN THIS 

 ISSUE. 



Attention is directed to the various arti- 

 cles on the Sibbald or the modified Sibbald 

 plan of non-swarming, presented in this is- 

 sue. These various procedures maybe some- 

 what confusing to the beginner ; but the 

 practical bee-keeper will be able to sift out 

 which method or combination of methods 

 will give him the best results. The essen- 

 tial principle of all the plans is the catching 

 of flying bees by jumping a pair of hives 

 over their neighbor, putting it on top, mov- 

 ing it at right angles to it, and a few feet 

 away, or moving it away entirely. Take 

 your choice. 



