December, 1909. 



American Hee Journal 



there was anything in it. The plan of 

 the late E. W. Alexander in treating 

 European foul brood was to make a 

 colony strong, make it queenless for 3 

 weeks, and then give it a young Italian 

 queen, the bees, while queenless, hav- 

 ing cleaned out all disease from the 

 cells. So I took the brood from the 

 diseased colonies and enough bees to 

 care for the brood, and made a pile 4 

 or 5 stories high, leaving the pile 

 queenless. In 10 days all queen-cells 

 that were started in the pile were 

 killed, and either then or within 2 or 3 

 days a very young virgin queen of 

 choice stock was given. 



The combs of some of these piles, 

 after being thus treated, seemed to be 

 cleaned out all right, and no disease 

 showed in the brood that was in them 

 afterward. Other piles were a failure. 

 I am inclined to think that the success 

 was where the piles were very strong in 

 bees, and the failures where there were 

 not so many bees. 



As before said, we commenced first 

 on the "very bad" cases, leaving till 

 the last the mildest cases, and by the 

 time we got around to take care of 

 these last no bad brood was to be 

 found in them, the bees having appar- 

 ently cleaned out the disease of their 

 own accord. Of course these were left 

 without any treatment. There were 23 

 of these colonies which had at least a 

 few cells of bad brood and were clean- 

 ed up by the bees themselves. 



The regular thing is to shake on 

 foundation or starters in the evening — 

 that, probably, because safer from start- 

 ing robbing. With so much to do, it 

 would have been inconvenient for us 

 to do all the work in the evening. We 

 did it any time in the day when the 

 bees were at work, and although a 

 dearth was on, yet there was at least a 

 little the bees could do for a good part 

 of the day, even if they did not get 

 enough for their own use. We kept a 

 very sharp lookout for robbers, and 

 whenever there was any sign of them we 

 suspended operations. - 



From the experience I have had so 

 far with European foul brood, and 

 from what I know about American 

 foul brood by no small amount of read- 

 ing, I have doubts as to European be- 

 ing very much worse than .American, 

 if indeed it is as bad. But it may be 

 that for some reason the European was 

 not so bad here as elsewhere. 



The Alexander treatment was in 

 some cases successful and in some 

 cases a failure. In all cases where 

 colonies were thrown on foundation, 

 although we did some things that were 

 not according to rule, there was never 

 a single diseased cell to be found in 

 any one of them afterward. Yet if it 

 were to do over again, I should make 

 more use of the Alexander plan, and 

 throw fewer colonies on foundation. 

 A colony thrown on foundation was 

 so much more reduced in strength 

 than one left with its combs, that one 

 could afford to treat again the cases 

 of failure with the Alexander plan. 

 Moreover, it is possible that there 

 would be very few cases of failure with 

 the Alexander plan if all colonies 

 treated were first made stroii/:; enouf^h. 



It is just possible that what suc- 

 ceeded in a year of crop failure might 

 not be just the same in a bumper year. 



And what succeeds with European foul 

 brood may not turn out the same with 

 American. I have some doubt whether 



the Alexander treatment will succeed 

 at all with American foul brood. 



C. C. Miller. 



«'itfC-',,.'%;yi>-\<,-3n5^<, ■;' 



COiscellaneou 

 Heijus -Items 



Oue Dollar a Year Alter tlii> 

 Month 



As we have been announcing for 

 several months the subscription price 

 of the American Bee Journal will be 

 $1.00 beginning Jan. 1, 1910. But those 

 who desire to do so can have it for two 

 years in advance of that date at the 

 present rate of 75 cents a year, if paid 

 before Jan. I, 1910. That is, send us 75 

 cents for 1910, or $1.50 for 1910 and 

 1911, before the end of this month. Of 

 course, any who are in arears on their 

 subscriptions will also pay to the end 

 of the present year at the 75-cent rate, 

 or 6.'4 cents a month. The end of the 

 month to which your subscription is 

 paid is indicated on the printed label 

 which appears on the wrapper in which 

 your copy of the Bee Journal is sent to 

 you each month. 



Please don't forget that the 75-cent 

 subscription price ends with this year 

 — 1909. But if you want to take advan- 

 tage of that price, you miixl order dur- 

 ing "this month" (December), as men- 

 tioned above. After Jan. 1, 1910. it will 

 be $1.00 a year. You can save 5i) cents 

 by paying the $1.50 for 1910 and 1911 

 any time before Jan. 1st — the end of 

 this month. 



The Iiide.v for 1»0» 



This number contains the full index 

 for 1909. We hope it will be of value 

 to the majority of the readers of the 

 American Bee Journal. It shows what 

 a wonderful variety of apiarian topics 

 have been discussed during the year. 

 An index is almost invaluable to one 

 who wishes to discover quickly what 

 has been written in a volume, and es- 

 pecially if the same subject has been 

 treated frequently in the same volume. 

 We feel that the space occupied by 

 this index is well used. All who have 

 preserved the rest of the year's num- 

 bers should have them bound so as to 

 have them for future reference. 



(^hioaso - Northwe.steru Conven- 

 tion 



The 30th annual convention of the 

 Chicago - Northwestern Bee-Keepers' 

 Association was held at the Briggs 

 House in Chicago, Dec. 1st and 2d. 

 The attendance was about as large as 

 usual, and the interest taken in the dis- 

 cussions was splendid. Many imited 

 in saying that it was one of the best 

 conventions ever held in Chicago, and 

 that meant a good deal, for some great 

 meetings of bee-keepers have been held 



.c?^ -=■> 



liere. Dr. C. C. Miller. .\i. s\. [jaltl- 

 ridge, E. J. Baxter, Geo. W. Jones, 

 Franklin Wilcox, Dr. Bohrer, W. M. 

 Wliitney. R. F. Holtermann, F. B. Cav- 

 anagh, W. H. Horstmann, and others 

 of the leading convention men were 

 present. 



The proceedings were taken in short- 

 hand, and will be published in full in 

 the cloth-bound report of the Illinois 

 State Bee-Keepers' convention held in 

 Springfield last montli.and also the re- 

 port of the National at Sioux City last 

 September. By sending $1.00 to Sec- 

 retary Dadant, you will thus pay a 

 year's membership in the Chicago- 

 Northwestern, the National, and the 

 Illinois State Association — three or- 

 ganizations for the dollar. 



Those elected as officers of the Chi- 

 cago-Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation for the ensuing year are as fol- 

 lows : 



President— George W. York, of Chicago 

 Vice-President— Miss Emma M. Wilson. 



of Marengo. III. 

 Secretary-Treasurer— Louis C. Uadaiit. 



of HamiUoii. III. 



This convention is held annually in 

 Chicago on the first Wednesday and 

 Thursday of December, during the In- 

 ternational Live Stock Exposition. 



To Association Secretarie.s 



We would like to have all secretaries 

 of bee-keepers' associations send us in 

 advance notices of their meetings, so 

 that we can publish them. But be sure 

 to get them to our office in time. We 

 ought to have them at least 60 days 

 ahead of the dates of conventions. 

 Then if they are too late for one num- 

 ber of the American Bee Journal, they 

 will appear in the following number. 



We would also like to have the sec- 

 retaries send us brief reports of their 

 conventions, including the papers read. 

 Try to give the cream of the discus- 

 sions, also. We would like to co-oper- 

 ate with the officers of all the bee-keep- 

 ers' associations in America, and if 

 possible help them make their meetings 

 more successful. Why not let the old 

 American Bee Journal aid you, con- 

 vention officers? 



Our Trii»s to the Ea.st and West 



About 1 years ago we visited nearly 

 all the leading bee-supply manufactur- 

 ers of this country, and what we saw 

 then was indeed a revelation to us. So 

 a few weeks ago we started out to re- 

 visit the same enterprising people, first 

 going to the Northwest as described in 



