April 18, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



251 



I have one which I made this winter, but I did not know 

 whether it would pay me to buy the glass for it. 



IdWA. 



Answers. — 1, Yes, even if they were only an eighth of 

 a mile away. Even if you have nothing but hybrids it will 

 be profitable. 



2. Yes. 



3. Yes, if the wiring is close enough. Try it a little 

 carefully at first if you are not sure about it. 



4. You would be likely to find no diiference in the 

 amount of honey, but the Simplicity is hardly so simple as 

 the dovetailed. If you try the two side by side you will be 

 likely to prefer the dovetailed. 



5. For some the 8-frame may be best, and for some the 

 larger. The 8-frame requires closer attention, and even 

 with good attention you will be likely to have some colonies 

 starve in them every winter. 



6. There is no particular profit in an observatory hive, 

 but it is a pleasant thing to be able to see the bees at work 

 in one. 



Seems to be Paralysis. 



I mail you a box containing some dead bees. I have 

 three colonies that are dj-ing off very fast from some cause, 

 and I think j'ou can tell me what is the trouble. You will 

 see some are shiny and black. One colony is dying, and 

 is all shades and colors. They are mismated queens, 

 bees that seem the worst. The honey they wintered on 

 wasn't the best, but I have five or six other colonies that seem 

 all right. Would I better destroy the diseased colonies, or 

 will they be all right when warm weather sets in ? Do you 

 think it is paralysis f 



The bees of the colony from which I send you specimens 

 do something like this : They will catch or bite all around 

 certain ones of their number, and finally the one that 

 receives such treatment will roll off the entrance-board on 

 the ground, kick around and die; and at evening they 

 will crowd upon the end of the hive and expire, from 15 to 

 25 and sometimes more a day. It doesn't seem to make any 

 dift'erence whether the days are warm or cold, and they will 

 lift the wing and try to fly, but can't do it. On mashing 

 them there is a thick yellow substance that mashes out of 

 the bod}'. The ones that are well are carrying in pollen. 



Kansas. 



Answer. — It seems to be a case of paralysis. Altho 

 many cures have been offered, unfortunately nothing seems 

 reliable. Fortunately it is not contagious, and it is quite 

 possible that it will disappear of itself. The most you can 

 do is to take good care of your bees, seeing that they are 

 well furnisht with stores and not allowed to become weak 

 without uniting, and tlien hope for the best. 



Wants to Start Again With Bees. 



My bees all died with the cold last winter. I have a 

 patent hive and the frames of comb in it are all right. If 

 I had a queen would she live and hatch in it ? How many 

 bees would she need ? Oxt.ikio. 



Answer. — A queen alone would be of no value, as she 

 would hardly live 2+ hours. With bees enough to cover two 

 combs, she should make a pretty fair start. You will find 

 queens advertised in this journal. 



Moving and Feeding Bees. 



I bought an apiary, or a wreck of one, and wish to 

 move it one mile. In that yard I find other empty liives 

 not in use, and they are full of moths. Several colonies 

 flew lively this week, two of which were robbed and killed, 

 and at other hives the bees groupt in heaps around the 

 entrance. Others died of starvation and I think the bal- 

 ance are short in stores. They are packt, and I can not 

 examine them at the present place, nor can I get to them to 

 feed in the hives, neither can I use entrance-feeders. 



1. Will I have to build them up before I can move 

 them ? 



2. Is it safe to move them in their present condition ? 



3. Are they likely to consume what little honey they 

 have during the excitement caused by moving ? j.j 



4. How would you like this way of feeding? I would 

 feed them in or near the yard, by taking a large wooden 



tray and laying gunny sacks in them. Over this I would 

 pour enough feed so that they can sip all day. The next 

 day I would do the same, but add more water, the next day 

 still more water, and so on until it will all be water. 



Ii,i.inois. 



Answers. — 1. The only trouble is that moving will 

 excite them so as to make them consume more stores, in 

 which case 'the moving would be the worse for a colony on 

 the point of starvation ; but if a colony is alive at all it 

 will probably last long enough to be fed after moving. 



2. I don't see why it is not, if the weather is at_ all 

 favorable. In freezing weather a very weak colony might 

 be so demoralized by moving as to hasten its death. 



3. That has already been hinted at, but even if they do 

 take it all into their honey-sacs it will last them for a time 

 longer. 



4. The plan will work very well if the weather is warm 

 enough for bees to fly, and we ought to have that kind of 

 weather now. But don't bring them down to pure water 

 too rapidly. 



Overboiling Sugar Candy for Winter Feeding. 



On page 201 " Iowa " gives his experience with cakes of 

 candy made of granulated sugar as winter feed for bees. 

 My experience with candy as a winter feed is similar to his. 

 Only a short time ago I examined some colonies with candy 

 above the cluster Tone colony was so nearly destitute of 

 honey that none could be seen, and the bees had begun to 

 die, and yet there was a large cake of candy on the frames, 

 but the bees had not toucht it. I melted the candy and 

 gave it to the bees in liquid form. Had the weather been 

 too cold for the bees to take it.in this form I should have 

 poured some quite warm water all over the cake of candy. 

 Warm water will penetrate and soften the hardest candy 

 very readily, and so makes it available for the use of the 

 bees. Subscriber. 



Answer. — This suggests that such cases may not be so 

 rare as I had supposed. Here is something that may throw 

 a little light on the case. In the British Bee Journal I find 

 the following : " The sample of candy sent is quite useless 

 as bee-food, being hard as a stone. It has been overboiled, 

 and may be truly described as a "hard-cake." May not 

 overboiling be the solution of the problem ? 



Candied Honey in Brood=Combs-Spraying While in 

 Bloom. 



1. I have about 500 brood-frames full of combs and 

 honey, that are in good shape, smooth and square. There 

 is 1,000 orl,200poundsof honey in them. The trouble is they 

 are three and four years old, and the honey candied. Will 

 they do to use this season ? If not, what is the best way 

 to dispose of them ? They are all built on comb founda- 

 tion. 



2. Would you advise keeping bees in an orchard ? It is 

 about two-thirds grown. They do not get the sun much 

 until about nine o'clock in the morning. They have plenty 

 the rest of the time. I could give them the morning sun, 

 but it would bring them within about five rods of the road. 

 Would I be likely to have trouble ? » 



3. I am in an apple section, and some orchardists are 

 bound to spray when the trees are in full bloom. They did 

 so last year within ten rods of my apiary. I talkt with 

 them, and they said they could spray when they liked, and 

 that I could keep my bees at home. I brought the question of 

 spraying before the farmers' institute, and proved to them 

 that they injured their fruit, and that they laid themselves 

 liable ; but they have been told that before. I am a farmer 

 myself, but at present I am in the bee-business. 



New York. 



Answers. — 1. Sprinkle them with water and give them 

 to the bees. If necessary, repeat the sprinkling. 



2. It is not likely the shade will do any harm. 



3. Send a dollar to the editor of this paper or to 

 the general manager of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, so as to become a member of the Association, 

 and the manager will furtiish you literature with which you 

 can instruct your neighbor, and give you any assistance 

 needed. Of course you may get along without joining the 

 Association, but you'll get along better with it, and be 

 helping others as well as yourself. 



