1904 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



43 



I 



A Dread Enemy of the Florida Bee. 



In this number of The Bee-Keeper 

 C. S. Harris tells something of the 

 large red ant which terrorizes the bees 

 and annoys the bee-keeper of Florida. 

 Though we have had considerable to 

 say in regard to this destroyer in the 

 past, onr^-eaders may find interest in 

 the picture also presented in this num- 

 ber, as it shows a worker bee and fight- 

 ing ant engaged in mortal combat, tak- 

 en from life by the editor of The Bee- 

 Keeper. This nocturnal marauder is 

 known locally a.s the "bulldog ant," 

 and the appellation appears to have 

 been suitably chosen, as it attacks its 

 victims with true bulldog visciousness, 

 savagely biting off wings and legs of 

 the terrified workers, or crushing be- 

 tween its powerful jaws any other ex- 

 tremity with which they come in con- 

 tact. In the illustration is shown a 

 conflict in which a portion of the head 

 and the compound eye of the bee were 

 mashed and partly torn away. 



It is no extraordinary event in the 

 South Florida apiary to 'find with the 

 coming of the day a writhing mass of 

 dismembered bodies of bees, drabbled 

 in honey, where stood the previous 

 evening a prosperous nucleus or prom- 

 ising colony of valuable stock. 



^-♦-^ ■ 



WTiat are "Legitimate Lines of 

 Work?" 

 Alfred Atherton, in the American 

 Bee Journal, says: "When I was pre- 

 paring my honey for market this fall, 

 if I could have had some sort of stamp 

 bearing the letters. 'N. B.-K. A.,' per- 

 haps it might give the commission 

 man a little more respect for the rights 

 of the shipper." Editor York com- 

 ments upon the suggestion as follows: 

 "We should very strongly oppose the 

 use of such a stamp until some sort 

 of provision is made to prevent frauds 

 getting into the membership of the 

 association. I'nless such a stamp 

 were rigidly safe-guarded, it would be 

 of no value to any one. The fact is, 

 the association is not organized for the 

 purpose of doing all kinds of business. 

 We think it has enough to do when it 

 I simply keeps within its legitimate lines 

 of work." 



The indiscriminate issuing of such 

 stamps to the membership of the Na- 

 tional Association would, of course, 

 be imprudent, as suggested by Mr. 



York. However, when it comes to de- 

 fining the "legitimate lines of work" 

 of the National Association a broader 

 proposition is involved. According to 

 its constitution the primary object of 

 the Association "shall be to promote 

 the interests of boe-keepers." It would 

 therefore appear that the scope of work 

 heretofore undertaken by the associa- 

 tion might be materially expanded and 

 yet adhere strictly to constitutional lim- 

 its. 



If the interests of the members 

 would be "promoted" by the use of a 

 mark authorized by the Association, is 

 it not possible that these interests 

 might be served without jeopardizing 

 the honor or prestige of the Associa- 

 tion? Specific requirements could be 

 formulated by the association, and the 

 filing of an adequate bond therewith, 

 would, it would seem, provide the nec- 

 essarv safeguard. 



Such an extension of the associa- 

 tion's work could be made at slight 

 expense and, perhaps, greatly to the 

 advantage of its membership. 



Treatment of Fonl Brood. 



Some time ago The Bee-Keeper an- 

 nounced the receipt of an article from 

 C. H. W. Weber treating very thor- 

 oughly upon the subject of curing foul 

 brood^ with formalin gas. Later we 

 were requested to defer publication of 

 the article until further instructions. 

 The following, recently received from 

 Mr. Weber, will explain the reasons 

 for delay; while the latest develop- 

 ments in this line will be found fully 

 discussed elsewhere in this number: 



"When stating last spring that I had 

 been successful in killing the foul 

 brood bacillus and spores by fumiga- 

 tion of formaldehyde, I ft^lt quite sure 

 of what I claimed, and will bring for- 

 ward one fact: Mr. H. Shafeer. Presi- 

 dent of the Hamilton County Bee- 

 Keepers Association had been troubled 

 with the disease, had declared himself 

 willing to furnish me with foul broody 

 combs to experiment with. He brought 

 in all the combs of an effected colony. 

 These I fumigated in a box about 20 

 feet square, and then took two of the 

 frames on which the disease was most- 

 ly developed to the University of Cin- 

 cinnati, for Dr. Guyer to see whether 

 he could make the bacillus and spores 

 grow again. Dr. Guyer made several 

 tests and pronounced the germ killed. 



