1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



163 



distance is fifty miles, the other dis- 

 tricts lie between these two points. 

 As far as I can trace, the disease has 

 been in Vancouver City for over a 

 dozen years, anyhow it was badly 

 scattered over an area six miles by 

 ten, small apiaries being common. In 

 October, 1915, I had a hurry-up call 

 from Nanaimo and found five af- 

 fected apiaries spread over about ten 

 miles in a straight line. 



Each season I followed the situa- 

 tion closely, using what one editor 

 described as heroic methods. I am 

 now able, using Parliamentary lan- 

 guage, to report progress. In 1917 I 

 failed to find the disease in any of 

 the districts mentioned, excepting 

 South Vancouver. The heroic treat- 

 ment by fire apparently will face 

 without flinching the measuring rod 

 of Foster and Brookes. 



as a flash he snapped out 'the use of 

 statistics. I statistize everything; 

 knowledge is power, and the throttle 

 valve of every business.' " 



Since the above was written I find 

 in Gleanings of January 1918, on 

 page 27, the following paragraph 

 written by J. F. Crane: 



"E. G. Baldwin informs us that 

 they at last have American foulbrood 

 on the east coast of Florida, and con- 

 siders F. Dundas Todd's article in 

 the American Bee Journal as both 

 timely and refreshing. I consider 

 his method of combatting this par- 

 ticular disease quite out of date in 

 this part of the world. I am not de- 

 nying that his scheme of cremation 

 is a sure remedy for every colony 

 treated. So is burning a barn to rid 

 it of rats a sure cure. The editor of 

 the American Bee Journal advocates 



The Red Bud is one of the earliest of bio 



Were it possible, I would like to 

 make a statistical comparison of the 

 results attained by the two systems 

 of handling foulbrood; but alas, I 

 cannot lay my hands upon any defi- 

 nite figures published by other in- 

 spectors. It seems to me there is a 

 crying want for a uniform system of 

 statistics for bee inspectors, so that 

 the beekeeping world can ultimately 

 develop a system of maximum effi- 

 ciency, and decide definitely whether 

 shaking or complete extinction is the 

 most efficient and economical in the 

 long run. The following quotation 

 from an article in the Saturday Eve- 

 ning Post of January 12 is illuminat- 

 ing. Speaking of the famous Sir 

 Eric Geddes, the writer says: "I 

 once asked him what single rule had 

 been of most service to him. Quick 



saving the hives, but why not save 

 the combs and . render them into 

 wax?" 



My answer is, the purpose of the 

 bee inspectors' work, as I see it, is to 

 eradicate foulbrood, that above all 

 things. If at the same time he can 

 save wax, hives and bees, so much 

 the better, but these are emphatically 

 of secondary consideration. I have a 

 suspicion that in the mind of the av- 

 erage bee inspector the by-product 

 is becoming more important that the 

 regular output. Will Mr. Crane kindly 

 oblige by applying a Foster-Brookes 

 measuring rod to some of the dis- 

 tricts in his territory and tell us the 

 results? Let him put the emphasis 

 on his real job, which is the eradica- 

 tion of foulbrood, and talk about 

 the saving of by-products afterwards. 



I don't care how much wax he has 

 saved, I want to know if he has 

 cleaned up a district, and how long 

 it took him to do the job. 



Mr. Editor, I place my cards face 

 up on the table and call for a show- 

 down. I am tired of the generalities 

 that have been printed in the bee 

 journals for years; I want statistics. 

 I want to find out if for twenty or 

 more years the bee world has been 

 chasing a great delusion, or can give 

 solid reasons for the great faith it 

 has shown. 



Victoria, B. C. 



A Plea for Uniformity 



By F. Greiner 



A RESOLUTION was passed at 

 the recently held New York 

 State Grange meeting in Syra- 

 cuse to the effect that manufacturers 

 of agricultural implements be com- 

 pelled to use standard bolts in the 

 construction of all farm machinery. 

 The beekeepers are not using any 

 bolts in the construction of their 

 honey boxes or other paraphernalia, 

 nevertheless uniformity in and stand- 

 ardizing of the many things apiarists 

 use is of great importance and should 

 receive our most earnest attention. 

 Mr. Dadant says in his recently is- 

 sued catalog and price list of hives 

 and apicultural implements: "We es- 

 pecially warn beekeepers against try- 

 ing to invent a new style of hive, as 

 thousands of hives have been invent- 

 ed which are not worth the paper on 

 which the design was printed." I 

 would add to this "and hives are now 

 being invented which are no better." 



But let us start with the honey- 

 boxes, the sections. How much bet- 

 ter it would be if all comb honey pro- 

 duced was stored in sections of the 

 same size. We could not estimate 

 such an advantage in dollars and 

 cents. We may talk of settling on a 

 certain length of the L-frame top- 

 bar, or on the depth of the frame, its 

 spacing, the uniformity of hives, etc. 

 We may settle these points to our 

 satisfaction and when we have done 

 so the general public will not be af- 

 fected. But when we unite on the 

 section we will have accomplished 

 something far-reaching as touching 

 thousands and thousands, benefiting 

 hundreds and hundreds of dealers 

 and manufacturers besides benefiting 

 every comb-honey producer in ever 

 so many ways. 



It is an idle question if I should ask 

 "What has been gained by contriving 

 the 35/^x5, the 4 l / 2 x4y 2 , or any other 

 odd-sized section?" The answer 

 would be, "Nothing; only confusion 

 has been produced thereby." The 

 only point gained, it may be said, is 

 the advantage of the no-beeway 

 feature. That the 4 l /i section should 

 be better than any other is not my 

 contention, but, since the most popu- 

 lar frame now in use is the L-frame, 

 and as this frame has as its measur- 

 ing unit the 4J4 square section, being 

 2 high and 4 wide, and further, since 

 this 4J4 square section is the one 

 most in use, I hold that it is the one 

 we should adopt. 



It is very true if we did not try out 



