138 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 4, 



of course, the soil and season be favora- 

 ble for the secretion of bone; in any 

 other kind of clover. It should be 

 borne in mind that white clover, as well 

 as many other plants, fail to secrete 

 honey occasionally. It should, there- 

 fore, surprise no one to find Alsike no 

 exception to the rule. But I have yet 

 to see the season in my neighborhood 

 when Alsike fails to produce honey of 

 the finest quality and an abundance of it. 

 St. Charles, 111. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Extracted Honey. 



O. CLUTE. 



Those veteran and successful bee- 

 keepers, Charles and C. P. Dadant, of 

 Hamilton, 111., have done the bee-keep- 

 ing fraternity a good service in publish- 

 ing their experience with extracted 

 honey. They have put it in a neat, 

 well-printed pamphlet, entitled "Ex- 

 tracted Honey: Harvesting, Handling, 

 Marketing." ' In the first part they give 

 a brief history of the use and the infe- 

 riority of strained honey, then of the in- 

 vention of the honey extractor, and a 

 statement of the genuine excellencies of 

 extracted honey, and of the advantages 

 to the bee-keeper in producing it. 



Under the head of " Harvesting " 

 they give us an inside view of their 

 methods. Anyone intending to extract 

 on a large scale will lind much of value 

 in this record of practical experience. 

 Their cappiny can, so made that the 

 frame of noiiey to be uncapped rests 

 over the can and the cappings drop on 

 a large sieve which allows the honey to 

 drain into a receptacle below, is a most 

 convenient aid in saving time. A little 

 device, for freeing the room in which 

 the extracting is done from bees, is 

 very ingenious. Anyone who has been 

 annoyed in extracting by the bees, or 

 who have been made sad by seeing so 

 many of the little fellows beat them- 

 selves to death against the windows or 

 the wire netting, will be glad to read 

 this plan, and to adopt it. Though 

 they prefer not to extract from brood 

 combs they say it can be done without 

 injury to the brood. This coincides 

 with my own experience. By extract- 

 ing with care the brood is not injured, 

 and the cells being emptied of honey 

 the queen lays in them, and you get 

 solid frames of brood. 



They store their extracted honey in 

 barrels, using oak barrels that have 

 contained alcohol or whisky. A most 

 valuable part of this pamphlet is de- j 

 voted to marketing. They tell us their 

 experience for several years, which 

 finally led them to adopt tin pails as the 

 best package for retailing extracted 

 honey. They use pails of different 

 sizes, containing Hi, 5, 2 1 *, and Uj lbs. 

 each. The smallest sells the best, which 

 is only a further illustration of the fact 

 that large numbers will buy an article 

 that sells for a small sum. even if the 

 sum thus paid is large in proportion to 

 the quantity of the article obtained. In 

 using tin pails for the extracted honey 

 several advantages are gained. They 

 are easily handled, they do not break, 

 there is no leakage, when nicely la- 

 beled they look well, and they are 

 cheap. Undoubtedly tin pails are the 

 best package for retailing this product, 

 which is destined in the future to oc- 

 cupy an important place in the con- 

 sumption of nearly every family. 



It seems to me that comb honey has 

 intrinsic merits which will always keep 

 it in large demand. The wise and en- 

 terprising producer of comb honey will 

 always have a fair market. But there 

 is no doubt but extracted honey has 

 great merits— merits which now are un- 

 known or unappreciated by very large 

 numbers. When these merits become 

 widely known the sale of extracted 

 honey will be very large. 



Tin' Dadants have faith in extracted 

 honey. They show their faith by pro- 

 ducing it in large quantities, and sell- 

 ing it to advantage. They close then- 

 valuable pamphlet with some remarks 

 which I will quote : " To sum up : 

 Comb honey is a fancy article, for which 

 only fancy prices can be obtained, and 

 these prices will always be changeable, 

 whilst extracted honey must become a 

 staple article sooner or later. Comb 



honey is difficult to transport, and to 

 export. Extracted honey is therefore 

 thecoming honey. California will soon 

 see before her an inter-oceanic canal 

 which will give her full scope on the 

 European Continent. As for us bee- 

 keepers of the Eastern and Middle 

 States, let us improve our home market, 

 and let us learn to produce good, cheap 

 honey. In the meantime let us hope 

 that Congress will put an end to all 

 food adulterations by enforced legisla- 

 tion. Let us hope, also, that Congress 

 will understand the propriety of plac- 

 ing the public services in the hands of 

 the people, and will organize the rail- 

 roads with the regularity, the honesty, 

 and the careful, cheap, and prompt 

 management which are so prominent in 

 the Post Office Department. Then the 

 honey resources of America will aston- 

 ish the Old Word, and will invade it." 

 Iowa City. Iowa. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Foul Brood. 



DR. I. P. WILSON. 



The Journal for April 20, page 124, 

 contains an editorial on " Foul Brood, " 

 and especial reference is there made to 

 my indorsement of Mr. Jeffrey's views 

 on that subject. 



You are right, Mr. Editor, when you 

 say that " facts and experiences "are 

 what we want," but it is quite evident 

 that two men may have precisely the 

 same experience, and yet draw very 

 different conclusions. One may be a 

 close observer — an independent thinker, 

 and from him we may expect inroads 

 made upon popular theories and beliefs, 

 and although he may be laughed at, at 

 first, in time he will be honored as a 

 progressive man. Another man will 

 " swallow " the opinions of others — fol- 

 low in their wake, and go through life 

 perfectly satisfied in believing anything 

 that is generally believed by others. 



I felt like patting Mr. Jeffrey on the 

 shoulder, because I believed him to be 

 thinking for himself, and thinking, too, 

 in the right direction on this subject of 

 " Foul Brood." 



I acknowledge, Mr. Editor, that the 

 few lines I wrote for the Journal sim- 

 ply agreeing, fully, with Mr. Jeffrey's 

 article, without giving my own experi- 

 ence, was rather an easy way of ex- 

 pressing my views on that subject. In 

 fact, my professional duties require all 

 my time during the day, except an hour 

 or two spent in my apiary in the early 

 morning, and with a considerable 

 amount of work to do with my pen at 

 odd moments, I find it next to impossi- 

 ble to devote much time in writing for 

 the Journal. 



Bui now for my experience with foul 

 brood. But perhaps what I have hith- 

 erto called foul brood is not the devas- 

 tating disease described by some wri- 

 ters. What I have witnessed has not 

 appeared to me as the result of disease, 

 but as the death of the brood from in- 

 sufficient animal heat. I have had noth- 

 ing of the kind in my apiary for a num- 

 ber of years, but have a very vivid rec- 

 ollection of an experience of 7 or 8 years 

 ago. Several of my colonies left their 

 hives in disgust, and on examination I 

 found the brood dead and putrid, the 

 stench being so great that it was no- 

 ticeable at some distance from the hive. 

 The comb seemed to be completely in- 

 filtrated with the stench, and the hive 

 throughout tainted from the noxious 

 odor. At that time I had read nothing 

 on the subject of foul brooct, and in 

 seeking for a cause I became convinced 

 that the brood had perished from be- 

 coming chilled, and putrefaction natur- 

 ally followed. Having satisfied myself 

 of the cause, I have ever since kept a 

 lookout for dead brood, and when I 

 have found any, have either destroyed 

 the comb. or. with a pair of little pliers, 

 removed one by one of the dead brood 

 until the comb was free from them. 

 This, of course, must be done before 

 the comb becomes contaminated from 

 the putrefaction of the brood. 



I cannot help thinking that a difficult 

 solution of this question is sought by 

 those who attribute all to fungoid 

 growths — that spores so small the mi- 

 croscopist can scarcely detect them are 

 the agents of death, and that the fungi 



must be killed or the whole apiary will 

 be lost. If one colony in an apiary has 

 foul brood, the cause that produces it is 

 common to all, but more especially to 

 the weaker colonies, so the disease (V) 

 being general throughout the apiary 

 does not argue in favor of the commonly 

 accepted theory. 



Should there come a cold spell during 

 the next week or two I shall expect foul 

 brood to make its appearance in our 

 apiaries in this section of the country, 

 and for this reason : Warm weather set 

 in quite suddenly here about April 15. 

 My bees have been as busy as they could 

 be the past week carrying in pollen and 

 honey. The honey is stolen from the 

 colonies that died during the winter, 

 and still l emain on their summer stands. 

 The bees are spread out over the combs 

 and the queens are actively engaged in 

 laying. A cold snap would drive them 

 closer together, and the unduly en- 

 larged brood nest will not be sufficiently 

 covered with bees to be kept warm, and 

 dead brood will be the result. But it is 

 to be hoped that this sudden change in 

 the weather will not come. There are 

 bee-keepers that will take a frame 

 partly filled with dead brood, and put it 

 in the centre of a strong colony for them 

 to " clean up," which is an unreason- 

 able task to impose upon your little 

 pets. To do this is simply creating a 

 nuisance in the hive, and spreading foul 

 brood more extensively through your 

 apiary. Better spend a little time in 

 picking out the dead brood, and if the 

 comb has not been vitiated, it may be 

 utilized to advantage. 



Foul brood may be produced in an- 

 other way. Separate the brood nest, 

 when it is already as large as the bees 

 can cover, by carrying the outside 

 frames to the centre of the hive, thereby 

 inviting the queen to enlarge her brood 

 beyond the capacity of the bees to keep 

 warm. 



After writing the above it is not nec- 

 essary for me to say that I do not be- 

 lieve it to be a disease any more than 

 freezing or drowning is a disease. 



There are other phases of this subject 

 that I should like to refer to but my 

 time nor your space will admit of my 

 doing so. 



Burlington, Iowa, April 27, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Cause of Dysentery, Etc. 



WM. R. HOWARD. 



I have just visited some of the prin- 

 cipal bee-keepers in this vicinity ; their 

 losses have not been heavy compared 

 with our northern friends. Though we 

 had a rough winter our bees were not 

 confined long enough to cause dysen- 

 tery. Bees are wintered on the summer 

 stands without packing ; some had a 

 few boards leaned against the north 

 side of the hive as wind-breaks. At 

 one time my bees showed signs of dys- 

 entery, but a cleansing flight saved 

 them. 



I cannot agree with Dr. E. B. South- 

 wick regarding the cause of dysentery, 

 viz : starvation. In the Doctor's first 

 cases the confinement was the cause, as 

 you suggest. I have moved bees a few 

 miles 2 or 3 times within 2 or 3 years, 

 during rainy weather, and if they could 

 have a good cleansing flight they suf- 

 fered no'inconvenience, but if not, they 

 suffer more or less from dysentery. In 

 one case, 2 years ago, I moved 2 colo- 

 nies ; a rain came on before I got home 

 with them, a "norther" came up. and 

 it was 3 days before they were able to 

 get out, and when they came out they 

 were diseased and I lost them ; they 

 had plenty of honey and brood. I 

 bought a colony from a neighbor and 

 moved it home; the weather was fine 

 but there was not much honey to gather, 

 and not being well provided with a 

 suitable room in which to transfer them, 



1 transferred them in the shop one 

 morning while it was raining, to avoid 

 being troubled with robbers. The rain 

 continued 3 days, so that they were 

 housed all this time; they had plenty 

 of honey ; I lost nearly }i with dysen- 

 tery. This was last spring. I also lost 



2 colonies at the same time that had not 

 been disturbed in the least, and they 

 were in good condition, with plenty of 

 honey and brood. Those that showed 



the most signs of dysentery this past 

 winter were the strongest colonies I 

 had. The reason assigned was, that be- 

 ing strong, they kept up a sufficient 

 heat to make them lively, and they 

 stood by the walk where they were 

 frequently disturbed by the constant 

 passing. There are certain conditions 

 in which bees will become diseased in a 

 very short time if confined to the hive. 



As will be seen from the above, when 

 confined by wet weather, during the 

 height of brood rearing in the spring, 

 bees are apt to become diseased. Those 

 "stupid bees," are never able to crawl 

 much, to discharge their feces over the 

 frames. Bees that die of starvation, 

 from being away from the stores are 

 generally found full length in the cells; 

 if they were able to crawl much they 

 would certainly be able to reach the 

 cluster and stores. I have not noticed 

 that all bees that die of starvation have 

 the " abdomen always full of dvsentery 

 feces." 



Bees that die of dysentery have their 

 abdomen distended with a watery fecal 

 matter, while, on the other hand, bees 

 that die of starvation, the abdomen 

 seems to be about the normal size. 

 Again, bees that die of dysentery are- 

 not usually found in the cluster, and 

 stuck fast in the cells, a condition which 

 is nearly always noticed when they have 

 died of starvation. 



Mr. L. W. Wren, on page 117 of the- 

 American Bee Journal, asks if his 

 bees will go 1 V, miles to a grove Of lin- 

 den, and as that question was not an- 

 swered, I would say, that grove is within 

 easy range of his bees. 



Our bees have been set back by the 

 late freezes we have had— 3 killing 

 freezes in this month. Our fruit is 

 nearly all killed ; in some localities the 

 trees will die Our forest' trees hauV 

 leaves nearly grown when the last and 

 coldest snap came ; the oaks, hickorys 

 and pecans look like the fall of the year. 

 The timber looks dark inside. Corn 

 was, in many places, frozen root and 

 branch, and has been planted over. 

 Gardens suffered severely, graperies 

 will not blossom much this season r 

 and our ratan vine is dead ; it was 

 nearly ready to bloom, and is one of our 

 best honey plants. Haw and honey lo- 

 cust are in bloom now and bees" are 

 commencing to work again. 



Kingston, Tex., April 25, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Double-Boarded Hives. 



HENRY ALLEY. 



I have used double- walled hives more 

 or less since I began bee-keeping, and 

 know from experience that be( s will 

 winter better in them than they will in 

 single-boarded ones. As I formerly 

 made these hives, 1 found them expen- 

 sive, heavy, and requiring too much 

 work to build. During the past winter 

 I made considerable improvement in 

 their construction, reducing the quan- 

 tity of lumber and labor. As now made 

 they are a very plain and simple Lang- 

 stroth hive. They require the least 

 work to put them up, and are the most 

 convenient hive in use. There is no 

 useless clap-trap work about them. All 

 the lumber is 7 8 thick butt pieces. The 

 brood chamber, bottom board and outer 

 cases are all independent of each other. 

 They will be found a cool hive in sum- 

 mer, as there is an air-space of nearly 

 an inch between the brood-box and 

 outer case. In winter this can be filled 

 with chaff, or left vacant, just as one 

 desires. The bottom section of the 

 outer case is 1J£ inches above the top of 

 the brood-box. This is left so that the 

 chaff cushion will tuck down in the air 

 space, and out of the way of the cap, 

 and prevent upward ventilation. I use 

 a rack holding 21 two-pound sections on 

 these hives, and wooden separators in- 

 stead of tin. By making the top section 

 of the outer case 12 inches deeper, dou- 

 ble the number of boxes can be used at 

 one time, or what perhaps would be bet- 

 ter, make an extra section to use incase 

 two sets of caps are needed. 



I will describe in as few words as pos- 

 sible the way these hives are made : The 

 bottom board is V7% inches wide by 24 

 long ; the grain of the wood running 

 the shortest way. I do not match them , 

 as the joints are always tight, they come 



