March 21, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



185 



Some of the last reared will be very poor. Better g-ive 

 each nucleus two, three, or four cells, and there will be a 

 better chance that there will be at least one good one in the 

 lot. You can also judge something by the looks of the 

 cells, the large, well-pitted ones being preferred, altho 

 sometimes an inconspicuous cell may contain a tine queen. 



2. It will do very well. In spring, when bees are flying 

 daily, it is safe to feed almost anything that bees will take. 

 Possibly sweetened vinegar would do no harm. 



3. Mr. Doolittle is a man of excellent judgment and a 

 safe adviser. If your conditions are the same as his, you 

 will do well to follow his example. If he lived where I do, 

 I doubt that he would advise all to follow his example. 



The Honey-Extractor and Foul Brood. 



1. Does the extractor cause foul brood ? 



2. If so, in what way ? 



All the bee-keepers in this county (Davis), and a great 

 number in Salt Lake County, will not use the extractor, 

 claiming it does cause foul brood. Utah. 



Answer. — If there are no thistles growing on your 

 place, there are two ways in which they may be introduced 

 there — the seeds may be taken there, or the plants may. 

 Without either plants or seeds there is no possibilitj' of 

 having the thistles. Foul brood in a colony is much like 

 thistles on a farm. If there is no foul brood in a colony, it 

 can only be introduced there by the introduction of a cer- 

 tain plant or its seed. The little plant is called bacillus 

 alvei, and a spore is its seed. Please get that clearly in 

 mind — there must be the bacillus or the spore, or there can 

 be no foul brood. The bacilli or the spores may be found 

 in the larva?, in the cells, or in the honey. Their presence 

 in the honey is the thing most to be guarded against, for it 

 is probable that in the great majority of cases it is thru the 

 honey that the disease is carried. 



Now for your question as to whether the extractor 

 causes foul brood. If there is no foul brood in your apiary, 

 how can an extractor cause it ? The extractor can produce 

 neither spore nor bacillus. If, however, there is foul brood 

 in one of your colonies the case is a little different. You 

 use the extractor to extract the honey of that colony, and 

 that honey may be infected. You put a comb from the 

 infected hive into a sound colony, and you have another case 

 of foul brood. You put out the combs of the infected col- 

 ony for the bees to clear up after they have been extracted, 

 and there is a chance for every colony in the apiary to get 

 the disease. If you feed some of the extracted honey for 

 any purpose (and the chances are that you are more likely 

 to feed extracted honey than comb), there is a fair chance 

 that any colony thus fed will become diseased. 



You will probably see now that the answer should be : 

 There is no possibility that the extractor can produce foul 

 brood where there is none ; but if there is a diseased colony 

 in the apiary it is quite possible that bad management in 

 connection with the use of an extractor may greatly accel- 

 erate the spread of the disease. 



Dead Bees Outside the Hive Colony Destroyed by Moth. 



1. Why is it that after a warm spell followed by cold, 

 that a great number of bees are found dead outside of the 

 hive ? 



2. Is it safe to use a hive after all the bees in it have 

 been killed by the bee-moth ? I caught three swarms 

 myself, one of which was afterward destroyed by the moth. 



New York. 



Answers. — I. I should expect it to be the other way : 

 after a cold spell when many bees have died, the advent of 

 a warm spell allows the bees to carry out their dead. 



2. The hive will not be injured in any way, and it will 

 be perfectly safe to use it again. If you mean to ask 

 whether it is safe to use the combs, the reply is that it will 

 be all right to use them unless they are so badly destroyed 

 that most of the septum or middle wall is gone. 



I don"t know whether you mean literally that the bee- 

 moth killed your bees, but as it is a rather common belief 

 among beginners that bee-moths may attack a good colony 

 of bees and overcome it, it may be well to say a few words 

 about it. No bee-moth ever came off first best in a hand-to- 

 hand struggle with a worker-bee. If you watch closely, 

 you may see a moth toward evening trying to enter a hive 

 and if a bee gets after it there is no attempt at fight. The 



moth runs, and if the bees get hold of it it has no means to 

 defend itself, let alone trying to kill the bee. The moth 

 tries to get into the hive to lay eggs, and laying eggs is all 

 the harm it does, altho that is harm enough. If bee-moths 

 are plenty, you will probably find their eggs in or about the 

 hives of your strongest colonies. When these eggs hatch 

 out into larvie, the larva? or wax-worms make a business of 

 eating the combs, and that's where the mischief comes in. 



When these wa.x-worms are allowed full play, it will 

 not be so very long a time in hot weather until the whole 

 contents of the hive will be a mass of webs and cocoons, 

 hardlj' anything in the semblance of a comb being left. 

 But in the majority of cases it is no more right to say that 

 the moths or the worms destroyed the colonj' than it is to 

 say that maggots destroyed a horse that one finds filled 

 with maggots, the horse having been shot some time before. 

 The colony has in some way come to naught, and then the 

 worms come in to make a finish of the combs, just as the 

 maggots come in to make a finish of the horse. 



Altho there may be eggs of the moth in the best colony 

 you have, yet they do no more damage than the weed seeds 

 that are found in your best cultivated ground. You keep 

 the young weeds killed down before they get big enough to 

 do any harm, and in the same way the bees keep the young 

 worms rooted out before they get big enough to amount to 

 anything. A strong colony will have no trouble in keep- 

 ing the worms cleaned out, and even a weak colony will be 

 all right if the bees are Italians. 



Combs that have been out all winter so as to be frozen 

 are safe until the weather becomes warm enough for fresh 

 eggs to be laid in them. But if a colony dies in a hive, the 

 combs will be ruined as soon as warm weather approaches. 

 Put such combs under a strong colony of bees, and the 

 bees will take care of them safely. 



Sowing Cleome and Buckwheat. 



When is the proper time to sow cleome seed ? 

 When would be the time to sow buckwheat to have it 

 bloom the first of July ? WEST Virgini.\. 



Answer. — I don't know the answer to either of your 

 questions, but I'll make a guess at them, and if I'm wrong 

 some good friend will correct. Sow cleome as soon as frost 

 is out and the ground fairly settled. To haVe buckwheat 

 bloom the first of July, sow the first of May. 



When to Put Bees Qut of the Cellar. 



When ought I to take my bees out of the cellar, in 

 this section of the country ? And should they be put in the 

 same position and place as last year ? Illinois. 



Answer. — You will not be far wrong to go by the 

 blooming of the red or soft maple. When they come out in 

 bloom, it is time for the bees to be out. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, the weather will be so cold and wet that it is better 

 to delay a little if the bees are in good condition. On the 

 other hand, if the bees are very uneasy, and are spot- 

 ting their hives, it may be better to get them out the first 

 favorable day. It is important to have a fine day for bring- 

 ing out. After their long confinement thej* are anxious to 

 get out of the hive, and if brought out on a bad day thou- 

 sands of them will fly out, become chilled, and perish. 

 After lying idle for months they can not be expected to fly 

 with the greatest vigor, and a strong wind will beat them 

 to the ground never to rise again. Bring them out on a 

 still day, with the sun shining, and the thermometer at 50 

 degrees or more. 



Having some years put my bees on the stands they 

 occupied the preceding year, and other years having set 

 them around promiscuously, I do not see that it makes any 

 difference. Possibly in places where they are kept in the 

 cellar a month or so, it might make a difference. 



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