1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



877 



" But I still think it will not work all the 

 time," he said. 



"But," I replied, "it has been working 

 successfully for us this whole blessed sum- 

 mer — before the honey-flow, during^ it, and 

 after it." 



TRUSTING NEW OR UNTRIED COMMISSION 

 MEN WITHOUT CASH IN ADVANCE. 



One H. G. Holloway, advertising himself 

 as doing business at No. 1 Vine St., Phila- 

 delphia, is apparently soliciting consign- 

 ments of hone}' from bee- keepers in various 

 parts of the country. He asks for small 

 shipments as samples, by express, stating 

 that he will remit for the same on arrival. 

 If the goods are satisfactorj', there is an 

 intimation that he will place a large order. 

 The letters are neatly written in typewrit- 

 er, on elaborately printed stationery, hav- 

 ing ever}' appearance of an old established 

 house doing a commission business. The 

 manager of our Philadelphia branch, at 10 

 Vine St., only a few steps away, called, at 

 our request, at No. 1, and informs us that 

 Mr. H. has onl}' a little room at No. 1 Vine 

 St., with nothing in it. 



We advise no shipments of honey, either 

 large or small, without cash in advance, to 

 any new man, without good references. 

 The part}' above named is not mentioned at 

 all in one of the commercial directories, and 



he is rated as ■ in the other. But, 



as we have said before, no new commission 

 merchant should be entrusted with your 

 propert}' unless j'ou get your mouej' in ad- 

 vance. We have reiterated this so many 

 times that it seems almost like cant for us 

 to keep on repeating it. If you desire to 

 know about the responsibility of an}' com- 

 mission house, write us and we will tell you 

 whether it is safe to trust such party or 

 not. But don't— fl't'/zV — put your hard earn- 

 ings into the hands of a stranger, no mat- 

 ter how " highfalutin " his letters may 

 look or sound. 



Later. — We learn that this Mr. Holloway, 

 in soliciting a consignment of honey, wrote 

 to one of our bee-keeping friends, saying 

 that iL'c had referred him (Holloway) to 

 this bee-keeper for honey. This was abso- 

 lutely false; but our unsuspecting friend, 

 supposing this to be true, sent on his hon- 

 ey, but now wishes he had written us first. 

 A word to the wise will be sufficient. 



FORMALDEHYDE AS TESTED BY MR. C. H. W. 

 WEBKK FOR THE DISINFECTION OF COMBS. 



After receiving some unfavorable re- 

 ports regarding the new drug treatment, I 

 wrote Mr. Weber, asking him if he had had 

 any experience going to show that the treat- 

 ment failed to cure in some instances. He 

 wrote that he had, and said he would send 

 me a report for publication. This he has 

 done, and I take pleasure in presenting it 

 to our readers: 



In treating foul brood colonies with formaline gas 

 it has transpired that, after a seemingly sufficient fu- 

 migation, in some instances the disease had made its 

 reappearance. Regarding this I beg leave to ofifer the 

 following explanation and reasons : 



When taking a foul-broody frame out of an affected- 

 colony, we notice upon examination that the dead 

 larva lies on the lower side of the cell. In order to 

 learn how the same progressed, return the frame to 

 the colony. After eight or ten days, taking the same 

 out again, we notice that the dead larva has been 

 changed into a ropy, gluey matter, and still resting 

 on the lower side of the cell. After some length of 

 time we notice that this ropj' or slimy matter has- 

 nearly all dried up; in fact, after a first examination 

 it appears that every thing has disappeared; the comly 

 seems to be in good condition; but, after closely exam- 

 ining the same by holding the comb so the light pene-- 

 trates the cell, you will observe that the lower part of 

 the cell appears as if coated with a brown tinge, whichi 

 is nothing bu.t the aforesaid slimy matter. When 

 dried up, if any thing else should extend from the 

 coating the bees will clean it away. As this slimy 

 matter has dried up and become as hard as the wax 

 from which the cells are constructed, the question 

 arises, "What has become of the foul-brood germs 

 which were in this gluey matter?" To this I offer 

 the following solution : 



After this matter has dried up, the germs on the .sur- 

 face, being readily exposed to the fumes of formalde- 

 hyde, have been easily killed; while those beneath 

 the surface, or protected by this hard matter, have 

 not been killed, and, with the advent of hot weather, 

 soon make their reappearance. This proves that for- 

 maline gas will kill the germs it comes in contact 

 with. It has also been proven that honey-combs in 

 infected hives never used for brood-rearing, when 

 well extracted of honey, and then strongly fumigated, 

 and given to new healthy swarms, did not show any 

 signs of the disease during the fall, spring, or summer. 

 To hatch bees it takes a temperature of about 98 or 100 

 degrees. It seetns that this heat does not affect the 

 driedup matter, as the tria's that I made last year 

 from the end of August, during September and Octo- 

 ber, did not show up any signs of foul brood in the 

 early part of spring, until the extremely hot weather 

 set 111, which seemed to melt this dried-up matter, 

 exposing the germs, and, consequently, bringing on a 

 reaction of the disease. This has been experienced 

 by nearly every one who has experimented with for- 

 maldehyde; and I therefore recommend the destruc- 

 tion of brood combs wherein any larva died and kept 

 lying as described before, and saving only such combs 

 as showed no disease whatever; also the honeycombs 

 by fumigating the same strongly with formaldehyde. 



Foul-brood matter, whether dried up or 

 whether in a semi-liquid gelatinous condi- 

 tion, is always dangerous. While we may 

 assume that the fumes of this drug, if they 

 can reach the actual microbes, will kill 

 them, yet it is apparent that, if they are 

 covered with wax or honey, or any envelop- 

 ing material, they will be protected; and 

 as soon as the protection or covering is re- 

 moved, the active principle will develop, 

 bringing out the disease as before. I 

 should somewhat question whether it would 

 be safe to rely on fumigation for disinfect- 

 ing combs filled with honey. If the combs 

 were extracted, and then fumigated after 

 being cleaned by the bees, I should pre- 

 sume the treatment would disinfect them. I 

 should suppose, also, that a good fumiga- 

 tion of actually diseased combs would check 

 the disease. But my impression is that, 

 till we know more about it, it would be saf- 

 er to burn or melt all diseased combs, fu- 

 migating all empty ones — empty of brood 

 and honey. If the formaldehyde will do no 

 more it will then save a large loss, and at 

 the same time be putting up an additional 

 safeguard against the reappearance of the 

 disease. 



DUAL HIVE STANDS. 



Ever since Mr. J. S. Callbreath, of Rock 

 Rift, N. Y., showed his double hive-stand 

 in Gleanings I have been wondering if it 



