CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1904-07-14
Distennper
In Bees
Efforts Being Made to
Stamp Out Disease.
Fremont County Apiarists Exper-
iencing Trouble From Foul
Brood In Honey Making.

DTOOO III money making.
]. d. Endicott of Lincoln Park, bee
inspector for Fremont county. informed
THE RECORD few days ago that the
apiarists of Canon City and vicinity
were not getting the best results from
their work on account of the prevalence
of foul BROOD. a sporadic, but highly
contagious disease, which has attacked
at least eighty per cent of the bee
colonies in this locality.
While the trouble is by no means g
new one it has become very much
worse the last year or two and will
ultimatly result in the destruction of
bee culture as profitable industry
unless radical means are adopted to
extirpate the cause which threatens it
The bacillus alvei, to which the trouble
is traceable. affects the larvae, or
young bees, which die in from three to
nine days when diseased in this man.
ner.
The drone larvae are also victims of
the bacillus alvei, although Mr. Edi-
colt says they are popularly supposed
to be immune from diseases of that
character. Under the provisions of the
laws of Colorado there is penalty at
tached to selling, moving or giving
away any stand of bees that is effected
with foul brood, but as general
thing bee raisers pay little attention to
the statutes in this respect, as the
business is conducted merely as an in
cident to something else which is re-
garded as more profitable and i'm
portant.
Although the bee industry in the vi
cinity Of Canon City has not assumed
very large proportions it is of more
consequence than many people imagine
and is capable of great development if
given proper encouragement. 1t is
estimated that their are in the suburbs
of the city about six hundred colonies
of bees. which produced on an average
last year something like thirty pounds
OF honey apiece. or II total of about
1900 pounds. Under healthy con-
ditions and with good attention these
six hundred stands of bees should have
yielded 5000 pounds of honey, or three
times as mnch as they did.
The principal apiarists here are E.
V Boldly, C. A. Miller, w J. Davis,
VIM. Kenley. L. L. Harding, A. T.
Richardson and C. W Chetwin. There
are, OF course. many Others engaged in
bee culture in small way. but they do
not devote very much time to it and
can hardly be said to have mastered
THE details of the business, which is
one requiring considerable degree of
experience for its success Honey is
extracted principally from alfalfa,
sweet clover and the Rocky Mountain
bee plant, although fruit blossoms of
all kinds and flowers Of every variety,
contribute of their sweetness.
In inspecting the bee business during
the last few weeks Mr.. Endicott was
surprised to find so many colonies of
them affected with foul brood, the
coutagion having spread to all parts of
the valley. The disease is "a very
stamp it out, but how well he succeeds
depends upon the CO. operation of those
engaged in the business. Under exist
ing conditions it is the duty of every
apiculturist in the county TO notify him
II they know, or suspect. that the
disease is affecting the usefulness of
their bees.
Mr.. Endicott, who is an suthority on
bee culture and few years ago wrote
= book on the subject which was trans
lated into the Spanish language, har-
vested a little over 5000 pounds of
honey last season from fifty-one hives.
He has now between seventy and
eighty colonies and expects a proper
tionate yield of honey from them this
year. He says there is no way of rid
which has been very long affected with
it, except by complete destruction. al
though the trouble may be removed
without injury to the bees il taken in
time.
Mr.. Endicott strongly advises apisr-
lists to use full sheets OF comb founda-
tion in transferring bees from one hive
to another otherwise the disease is more
likely to affiict the new hive, as the
bees will carry the contagion into the
new colony from the old home. IL may
be interesting to know that il requires
the consumption Of fifteen pounds OF
honey TO make one pound Of wax.
You may hnd what you are looking
for fn Tur Rwcoun vsnt ooluru