1905- 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



spccted without the owner ever know- 

 ing a thing about it except — for the 

 damage done. As every competent 

 'beenian knows there are times, dry 

 seasons, sudden cessation of nectar 

 flow, requiring operations, when to 

 open a hive means damage. But our 

 inspectors pay no attention to any 

 such little things as that. Mr. Brown, 

 of West Riverside told me one day 

 last summer that he had three colonies 

 robbed out just after the inspector 

 had been at them. I myself lost tw'o 

 and if I had not happened along just 

 in time — the bees crazy and hunting 

 for a half a mile around for something 

 to sting — I probably would have lost 

 twenty. But the inspector had made 

 his point, i. e. "put in" two or three 

 days of his otherwise probabh- idle 

 time, and gained a claim against the 

 ciiunty — what doe.- he care whether 

 the simpleton of a bee-keeper likes 

 this vandalism or not? 



But here is a worse feature. As 

 Preuss discovered and Cheshire prov- 

 ed, foulbrood is caused by an almost 

 infinitely small vegetable, or plam.. 

 which, while in tb*^ seed, or spore 

 state floats about in the air, readily 

 attaching itself to anything with 

 which it may happen to come in con- 

 tact. Hence the opening of a hive 

 of diseased bees, taking out the 

 frames, setting the hive atmosphere in 

 rapid motion through the instrumen- 

 tality of a vigorously applied smoker, 

 cannot but cause the neighborhood of 

 that hive instantaneously to become 

 thickly spore-infected in an ever 

 widening circle. There is a chance 

 that no harm may come from that to 

 the rest of the hives but it's more like- 

 ly that every one around will become 

 spore invaded. 



Should, however- -^11 danger from 

 that source pass happily by the fur- 

 ther activity of the inspector is well 

 calculated to give one the cold shivers. 

 For, having shut up the first hive he 

 goes, spore infested millionfold in 

 clothes, skin, hair, breath, smokei, 

 tools, to the second hive and indus- 

 triously, though ignorantly sows and 

 smears and glues bacillus alvei all 

 through that, and then the next one. 

 and so forth. And tomorrow he goe:, 

 into a clean apiary, mayhaps, but if it 

 remains clean thereafter the credit 



will have to be given to the bees, or 

 their keeper — certainly not to the in- 

 spector for disinfect he his clothes, 

 and person ever so thoroughly, 

 bacillus alvei can stand several hours 

 boiling in water, and our inspector 

 cannot. Besides, how many are tak- 

 ing the pains, or are competent, to dis- 

 infect themselves properly. 



Of course, though our foulbrood 

 law would thus seem to bring about 

 conditions diametrically opposite to 

 those expected it may therefore not 

 be without some virtue. The now for 

 years rigorously conducted campaign 

 of bee papers and supply houses to 

 start everybody beekeeping, and to 

 make everybody now keeping bees to 

 "keep more bees" having logically 

 brought on "the crisis" of a dull 

 market for honey and low prices, the 

 energetic sewing of foulbrood seed on 

 the part of inspectors, and the con- 

 sequent destruction of the thus infest- 

 ed colonies may reduce the number 

 of them again to a normal level, and 

 thus, also the supply of honey. — Orch- 

 ard and Farm. 



STARTLING, IF TRUE. 



"It is a fact that ceresin foundation 

 is sold in Europe," sayt; the Editor of 

 Gleanings. "The reason why paraf- 

 fin and ceresin foundation can be sold 

 across the water and not in America 

 is due to the difference in climate." 

 Hold hard, Mr. Root! You have been 

 over-hasty in trusting to Mr. Hasty, 

 who is here not a "reliable" guide. 

 Your deduction is wrong, because 

 your "foundation" is wrong. Like 

 the' ceresin foundation in any hive, 

 it falls, owing to its not being genuine. 

 Here in Great Britain our manufac- 

 turers are above suspicion, and would 

 not adulterate, I believe, for all the 

 trifling gain. But there would be no 

 gain, only loss, because with the 

 splendid foundation w^e can get, bee- 

 keepers would never give a repeat or- 

 der to any house selling such vile stuff. 

 I have said adulterated foundation 

 would break down in any hive, and I 

 might add in any clime. The tem- 

 perature of the hive interior is such 

 during our warm summers that noth- 

 ing but the genuine article will bear 

 the strain imposed on it. — British Bee- 

 Keeper's Record. 



