336 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



by a legally authorized inspector, and 

 the owner given a certiflcate pronounc- 

 ing the bees free from disease. A vio- 

 lation of this ordinance is considered a 

 misdemeanor, and is punishable ac- 

 cordingly. It strikes me that this is a 

 good ordinance. One of the great dif- 

 ficulties in keeping a county or a state 

 free from foul brood, is the bringing 

 in of diseased stock. 



*«i^u^^»»x»^ 



The discussion on National Com- 

 mercial Organization among bee-keep- 

 ers is now fully started. Let it go 

 on. Let all join in. Some one sug- 

 gestion may be the one factor needed 

 to make a success of the plan. This 

 issue of the Review is almost entirely 

 devoted to this subject of organiza- 

 tion, and it is quite likely that the De- 

 cember issue will be the same. I still 

 have several articles on hand, with the 

 promise of more. One very excellent 

 one from R. C Aikin, that I wished 

 very much to give in this issue, came 

 so late, after the matter was all in 

 type, that I was obliged to let it go 

 over for the December issue. I wish 

 all to help with advice and sugges- 

 tions. As I have said before, the first 

 step is discussion. We must consider 

 all of the points, and decided what 

 can be done, and the best way to do 

 it. If there can be perfected a Nation- 

 al organization that will do for bee- 

 keepers what organization has done 

 for some of the kindred industries, it 

 will be a grand step, and fully in keep- 

 ing with the spirit of the times. 



As mentioned elsewhere, I will pay 

 $5.00 for the best article on this sub- 

 ject (the one that I think is the best) 

 and for any other that I think well 

 enough of to publish I will send the 

 Review one year, and a queen of the 

 Superior Stock next spring. 



The Review has this discussion now 

 well started, and if the other journals 

 will only join hands with it, and we 

 a!: worl: trtT-ptlT^r. shoulder to should- 



er, bee-keepers can be roused all over 

 the land, and once they all see the ad- 

 vantages of organization, that it can 

 be accomplished, and they really de- 

 sire it, then it can be done. 



SUCCESS WITH BRUSHED SWARMS. 



As the discussion regarding brushed 

 swarms continues, more and more in- 

 stances of success are brought to 

 light. I recently had the pleasure of 

 meeting Mr. C. M. Nichols, of Addi- 

 son, Michigan, who is a jeweler and 

 an amateur bee-keeper. Two factors 

 combined, foul brood in his apiary and 

 vicinity, and inability to be present 

 in his apiary when swarms issued, led 

 him to adopt forced or "brushed 

 swarming." 



A day or two before a swarm is to 

 be brushed, it is given two frames 

 suplied with starters of comb founda- 

 tion, two combs being removed to 

 make room for the frames. The bees 

 at once begin building comb (usually 

 drone comb) in the empty frames. Be- 

 fore the bees are brushed off, these 

 two frames, with their just-begun- 

 combs, are removed and placed at the 

 outside, one on each side, of a hive, 

 the brood nest of which has been con- 

 tracted to six frames; the other frames 

 being furnished with starters. The 

 supers from the old hive are set over 

 on the new hive, which is placed upon 

 the old stand, and all of the bees are 

 brushed and shaken off in front of the 

 new hive. 



The principle advantage claimed by 

 Mr. Nichols for the pieces of comb in 

 the brood nest is that they catch the 

 pollen that would otherwise go into 

 the sections before the bees had built 

 any comb in the brood nest. He says 

 that although these bits of comb may 

 be of the drone variety, the bees will 

 at once change to the worker comb, 

 which I can readily believe. 



The combs of brood are given to 

 weak colonies, and this soon brings 



