774 



full of bees or that it wei'e spring instead of 

 Nov. 19. D. E. Best. 



Best's, Pa. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE June 1 



AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. 



HAS WORKED THE PLURALITY-QUEEN SYS- 

 TEM FOR YEARS. 



I notice the article in May 1st Gleanings 

 about a plurality of queens in a hive, etc. 

 This system is not new to me. I have been 

 using this wonderful system for the past five 

 years with success and satisfaction for build- 

 ing up colonies in the spring rapidly and 

 rearing and mating the very finest queens. 

 The system is a model one. You have seen 

 for years that we have been advertising queens 

 for early orders. 



Now, it is a very easy matter to winter a 

 lot of small colonies, but quite another thing 



A Characteristic Sample of the Disease. 



BY L. SCHAFER. 



When I was preparing my bees for winter I 

 noticed something wrong with the brood. 

 The photograph shows the condition of the 

 combs. I think it is foul brood. The larva3 

 are brown in color, of a ropy consistency, 

 and all run together. The smell is like that 

 of a glue-pot. I fixed them up the best I 

 could, and if I have any left in the spring I 

 shall have to treat them. Notice the outline 

 of a cross or anchor cross in the center. I 

 should like to know what and where the dis- 

 ease comes from. All my old stock has it. 

 There are lots of bee-keepers around here. 



AMERICAN FOUL BROOD IN AN ADVANCED STAGE. 



This sample shovps the irregular appearance of the brood, the perforated cappings, and in some parts a 

 faint view of the diseased larva3 in the cells. 



to care for them after taking them fi'om the 

 cellar on account of swarming out, spring 

 dwindling, robbers, etc. With the new sys- 

 tem these troubles do not bother us; with a 

 queen-excluding zinc over a strong colony 

 and the small colonies in a hive above with 

 division-boards between each little colony, 

 all will be well; and when we need a queen 

 for a customer, all we do is to remove one of 

 the queens, withdraw the division-board, and 

 shove the frames up next to the other small 

 colony, and all goes well, after removing all 

 the queens but one. That is left to build up 

 to a strong colony, etc. Very likely I could 

 tell a few things about this system that would 

 surprise some of our old "vets." 

 Lake George, N. Y. F. A. Lockhart. 



[We are glad to know you have made a 

 success of this. We are all eager for you 

 (or Mr. Holtermann, see page 704). to 

 tell us more about both schemes. If you 

 make them work, and no doubt you do, you 

 surely can enlighten some of the " old vets. " 

 —Ed.] 



but I never heard of foul brood being pres- 

 ent. 

 Marion, S. D. 



[The described symptoms and the photo- 

 graph indicate a typical case of American 

 foul brood in an advanced stage; in fact, the 

 view hei'e shown is about as good a sample 

 of a comb affected by the disease as we have 

 ever seen. 



In this connection it is proper to state that 

 the user of this frame should have inverted 

 it for a few days during the comb-building 

 season. In order to get the bees to build 

 the comb clear up against the bottom-bar, 

 which, for the time being, is on top, the 

 Danzenbaker or any other reversible frame 

 should always be so treated. This will make 

 a comb much stronger in the frame, and at 

 the same time shut out all hiding-places for 

 the queen. A non-reversible frame will be 

 quite liable to have a space of | inch between 

 the combs and bottom- bar. This can be rec- 

 tified only by the use of perpendicular sup- 

 ports and full sheets of foundation. — Ed.] 



