378 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



in which they could be left during 

 the night, then taken out and al- 

 lowed to drain and dry. Considering 

 that built combs are far from being 

 cheap in value, this trouble is justi- 

 fied in preference to the wasteful 

 destruction of the combs. Such a 

 thorough treatment should remove 

 every risk in re-utilizing those pre- 

 viously infected combs. On the other 

 hand, for the purpose of internal 

 antisepsis, it is difficult to make a 

 happy selection. Thymol, which is a 

 more powerful germicide than phe- 

 nol, might be suggested, but unfor- 

 tunately it is difficult of solution in 

 cold water (1 in 1500), though it is 

 fully soluble, at least comparatively 

 speaking, in glycerine (1 in 190) ; still 

 a saturated watery solution of thy- 

 mol might deserve experimenting 

 with. Reputable chemical firms 



which have interested themselves in 

 progressive research on antiseptics, 

 have naturally kept to themselves 

 the secrets of their success, with the 

 result that I am unable to better 

 serve the interests of the beekeeper 

 by recommending a non-proprietary 

 article of recent discovery that 

 would suit his requirement. I have 

 already advised in the British bee 

 press the trial of "Yadil" (chem- 

 ically known as "trimethenol allylic 

 Carbide Compound") in connection 

 with the prevention and treatment 

 of the Isle of Wight disease, and if 

 I suggest here its trial for the pre- 

 vention of foulbrood as indicated 

 above, I should like to emphasize in 

 this connection, as I have repeatedly 

 emphasized elsewhere in connection 

 with the prevention and treatment 

 of malignant dysentery, that there 

 are other factors to consider besides 

 the use of antiseptics, and that dis- 

 appointment will invariably follow 

 from ignoring them, irrespective of 

 whether the beekeeper is a simple 



novice or a great authority of half 

 a century's experience. 



To sum up — 1. as both types of 

 foulbrood are infective, Government 

 control and legislation are justified, 

 and on such supervision, the first 

 hope of the apiarists in any country 

 in preventing the spread of this pest 

 should be directed. 



2. The breeding of comparatively 

 immune strains of bees (apart from 

 the general advice regarding the 

 maintenance of none but healthy and 

 strong colonies) is to be encouraged 

 as well as- enlarged in scope. The 

 increase of the natural healthy re- 

 sistance of the bee is an excellent 

 germicide. 



3. The use of antiseptics in an in- 

 telligent manner in combating bee 

 infections deserves better recogni- 

 tion and further study. 



4. These three important factors 

 are supplementary to one another ; a 

 successful prevention or a great di- 

 minution of the incidence of foul- 

 brood is not likely to result without 

 their combination. 



London, England. 



Editorial Note: This article is in- 

 teresting, since it gives the English 

 viewpoint in contrast with the 

 American. In England the apiaries 

 are small and it is possible to work 

 with a few colonies in a way that 

 would be out of the question in our 

 large American apiaries. There are 

 numerous beekeepers in America 

 who number their colonies by thou- 

 sands, and the man with less than 

 two or three hundred hives is called 

 a small beekeeper. Even though it 

 had been proved that treatment with 

 drugs was practical as far as results 

 are concerned, it would not pay us 

 to deal with disease in that way. The 

 English bee journals devote a large 

 portion of their space to a discussion 

 of drugs in the treatment of bee dis- 

 eases. In America there is no promi- 

 nent beekeeper who now recom- 

 mends an attempt to cure any bee 

 disease by means of drugs. Many 

 experiments have been made with 

 various disinfectants for the purpose 

 of curing American foulbrood, but, 

 so far, not one successful case has 

 been published in this country. We 

 agree Kvith our correspondent that 

 the prospect is sufficiently promising 

 to justify further study and experi- 

 ment, but would warn beginning bee- 

 keepers not to risk any but well- 

 tried methods of dealing with foul- 

 brood.— F. C. P. 



M. C. Tano,uary, who leaves the Kansas Ann 

 cultural College to become State Entomolo- 

 gist of Texas. 



Some Important Changes 



THE resignation of F. B. Paddock 

 as State Entomologist of Tex. is 

 to succeed F. E. Millen as Sta'e 

 Apiarist of Iowa, has already been 

 announced. Mr. Paddock began work 

 in his new position at Ames, Iowa, in 

 September. Mr. Paddock is well 

 known to the beekeeping fraternity, 

 and the best wishes of a host of 

 friends go with him to the new home. 

 We have just received word of the 

 appointment of M. C. Tanquary, of 

 the Kansas Agricultural College, to 



the post vacated by Mr. Paddock. 

 Mr. Tanquary is widely known 

 through his connection with the Mac- 

 Millan Arctic expedition. He spent 

 four years in the Arctic regions and 

 knows all *he hardships as well as 

 the attractions of ice-bound lands of 

 the far North. When the relief ship 

 failed to reach the party at the ex- 

 pected time, it fell to the lot of Tan- 

 quary to make the long journey of 

 a thousand miles with a dog sledse 

 over the ice to a little seaport in 

 Greenland. From there he took pas- 

 sage on a boat for Copenhagen, 

 where he engaged a relief ship to f?o 

 north to rescue the little party. 



Paddock has found special inter- 

 est in bees for some time past and 

 could not resist the opportunity lo 

 leave the field of general entomology 

 for the special field of apiculture. 

 We look for the work in Iowa to 

 prosper under his direction. 



We also feel that the Texas bee- 

 keepers are to be congratulated in 

 the fact that the position of State 

 Entomologist is again filled by a man 

 who is keenly interested in beekeep- 

 ing. Mr. Tanquary is at present a 

 partner in a large line of apiaries in 

 Western Kansas, hence knows some- 

 thing of the importance of commer- 

 cial beekeeping. We believe that both 

 positions are ably filled and that the 

 interests of the beekeepers in both 

 Iowa and Texas will be well cared 

 for. 



Honeycomb Production 



The Scientific American supple- 

 ment reprints at length Dr. E. F. 

 Bigelow's article on "How Honey- 

 bees Produce Honeycomb," whi;h 

 first appeared in Guide to Nature. 

 This article, which was noted in this 

 journal at the time it appeared, has 

 attracted more than the usual 

 amount of attention. Two pages of 

 the August 16 number of the supple- 

 ment were devoted to it, and more 

 than two pages in the August .10 

 number. 



.. Paddock, who resigned as State Ento 

 logist of Texas to become State Apiarist 



of Iowa 



