AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



765 



Topics of Interest. 



Gronailless Fonl-Brooil Scare. 



F. H. & E. H. DEWEY. 



S6 much has been said about the foul- 

 brood pest in Italy and America, that 

 many will be glad to know that much of 

 the talk is pure sensatioq. 



The American Bee Journal has been 

 the field of more or less discussion of the 

 matter ; one article in particular, an 

 extract, reporting prevalence of a very 

 malignant type at the present time in 

 Italy, occasioned an investigation. We 

 sent a few questions to the Italian 

 exporter in Bologna, Chas. Bianconcini, 

 with a view of learning the prevalence 

 of the disease in Italy, the truth of the 

 reports regarding its extent and virulenc 

 in Jesl, the. symptoms and evidences of 

 the disease, if they were unique, and the 

 remedies which the Italians use. 



He writes : " Happily, in the district 

 (Provincia) of Bologna, and in all this 

 part of Italy we never have had foul- 

 brood ; so that all I can say about it is 

 what I have read in apistic books 

 (meaning bee-books) and in the bee- 

 pariodicals. So I cannot speak from my 

 own experience, and I suppose in these 

 conditions it is useless to answer your 

 questions, because I could only translate 

 articles of bee-keepers' periodicals. They 

 write me from Jesi, that in that town, 

 and its vicinity, they never had foul- 

 brood, but in a country that is not very 

 far from Jesi, three years ago some 

 colonies had foul-brood. But, generally, 

 this disease is rare in Italy." 



So it took three years for the story to 

 reach America ! That last sentence, all 

 the recent agitation, especially to the 

 north of us, notwithstanding, describes 

 the condition there — "this disease is 

 rare." 



Of the tens of thousands who keep 

 bees, how many have never seen a case ! 

 How many also have been misled and 

 mistaken. We once heard of a case of 

 foul-brood which was not contagious. 

 The honey from the dead colony had 

 been fed out, and not the slightest 

 symptoms of the trouble resulted. 

 "Was it foul-brood?" "Certainly; 

 there was the stench, noticeable a rod 

 away ; the brood was decayed, and the 

 bees dead." This colony was not very 

 strong. 



Upon further inquiry it was ascer- 

 tained to have occurred during one of 



those wet, chilly Springs of recent years. 

 So the colony had dwindled, perhaps 

 starved in the dampness and cold in the 

 sight of honey, and the brood decom- 

 posed, producing an instance of putrified 

 brood, not foul-brood— foul though it 

 may have been. 



For the sake of a little sensation, how 

 much suspicion, groundless anxiety, 

 and, frequently, deep injury, a report or 

 an article that is simply popular and 

 stirring may cause. The same taste for 

 novelty and sensationalism has led into 

 undue conspicuousness many slurs and 

 suspicions against the honey industry, 

 injuring both producer and consumer. 



In view of the fact that disquisitions 

 have been as emphatic as if the pest 

 were now epidemic, and since a man 

 with an international reputation at 

 stake has opened to the center one of 

 these airy nothings, flimsy but harmful, 

 is it not time to give the right impression 

 to the public ? 



The recent discussions that have 

 brought out many valuable points, are 

 for possible prevention, and are not 

 present heroic measures. If statements 

 are made, improperly qualified, they 

 become dangerous misleaders. 



Who and how many have received 

 injury from foul-brood by the purchase 

 of bees or queens, in the past year ? 

 How many have met with hives or 

 apiaries infested with the pest ? If all 

 reports are sifted, we warrant that a 

 very small numeral can stand for the 

 answer to either of the questions. 



Westfield, Mass. 



Haliliiiianil Bee-Keepers' Conyentioii. 



E. C. CAMPBELL. 



The Haldimand Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion met at Nelles' Corners, Out., on 

 Saturday, May 16, 1891. President 

 Overholt in the chair. 



Minutes of the last meeting were read 

 and adopted. 



Twenty-two members reported on 

 wintering, as follows: Total number 

 colonies, Fall of 1890, 793 ; Spring, 

 1891,691; aggregate loss, 102 colo- 

 nies, or a little more than 12 per cent. 



NATURAL VS. ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



The President did not believe in 

 artificial swarming, and gave several 

 reasons for not followtng that practice, 

 the chief one being that the queens 

 reared .by such colonies were not as good 



