140 THE BEE-KEEPERS REVIEW 



I receive letters every day asking, "Why should I join the Asso- 

 ciation?" or, "As I only have a few bees, how will it benefit me to 

 join?" These are perfectly proper and legitimate questions, and I 

 will try to answer them. 



I will begin by asking some myself: Is it not a fact that well- 

 directed, associated, persistent effort is more efficient than the 

 same amount of divided, conflicting, individual effort? BA cry produc- 

 ing" bee-keeper has honey to sell and supplies to buy. Can we not 

 buy better if we can arrange to pool our purchases? Can we not sell 

 better if we combine in advertising our product to stimulate the 

 demand so as to raise the price a little? If this increased demand 

 gives us a single cent per pound advance, the little producer who only 

 sells 200 pounds has made 100% on his investment. Suppose there 

 was no organization, and every man put his honey on the market as 

 best he could, some markets would be overstocked and demoralized, 

 and prices would go to smash, while other markets would be bare 

 and suffer for lack of a supply. 



Drifting Bees and Foul Brood. 



By E. C. BIRD, Boulder. Colo. 



' ■■Jl WILL give you a little of my experience with drifting bees and 

 Tl foul brood. While working in Utah I made up 200 three-frame 

 nuclei, one of which was placed at the end of a row of hives and 

 quite close to the hive next in the line. This next hive was a regular 

 hive body and extracting super. While I was working in the yard 

 one day a swarm issued and after circling round returned to the hive 

 and settled — some on the other hives near and many upon the nucleus. 

 The nucleus was foul, being built up from foul brood combs having 

 queen cells. I knew it to be foul, and feared for the result as soon as 

 I saw them entering there. 



Well, the next time I worked that two-story hive I found it foul, 

 as I suspected, and I am certain it was clean before it swarmed. Now 

 T think it is a warrantable conclusion that bees which entered the 

 nucleus bo-x; afterward returned to the old stand and carried the in- 

 fection with them. 



So it mav occur that bees from a foul colony, on account of wind 

 or accident may drift into some other hive near or even at some dis- 

 tance and may inadvertently infect that hive, there being no attempt 

 to rob. If infected colonies are allowed to go untreated a few days, 

 they should be carefully segregated, for drifting bees, either from or 

 to. will likelv cause trouble. 



