March, 1913. 



American Hae Journal 



yond that— possibly I should say beyond two 

 miles— distance counts for a good deal, and 

 if your source of supply is beyond that there 

 would no doubt be a gain to move the bees 

 accordingly. 



Splints— Enropean Foul Brood 



1. Are those splints used by Dr. Miller for 

 foundation supports manufactured by some 

 concern; if so. where can I get them r' 



2. If caginii a queen for a certain length of 

 time, in case of fi^uropean foul brood, stops 

 the disease, should the disease not come to 

 an end in fall, as all brood-rearing stops en- 

 tirely for several months ? 



If an apiary has foul brood one season, 

 will it be free from it next year ? There are 

 no young diseased larva; from which the 

 nurse bees can suck the juice and feed it to 

 healthy ones the next spring. Indiana. 



Answers.— I. The A. I. Root Company 

 make them, and I think also the G. B. Lewis 

 Company— possibly others. 



2. The shortest answer to your question 

 would be to say I don't know. And that's 



expect tliat the disease would begin rather 

 slowly from these. And observation con- 

 firms that supposition. In a colony which 

 has not been badly diseased in the previous 

 year, the first examination in the following 

 spring shows very little disease— possibly 

 none. Subsequent examinations will show 

 it on the increase, although if I am not mis- 

 taken there are some cases in which a col- 

 ony will remain healthy which has been 

 slightly diseased the previous year. If a 

 colony has been very badly diseased this 

 year, next year you may look for it to start 

 in at the very start with plenty of diseased 

 larvae, probably because of the millions of 

 spores that are present. 



Now. if there is anything that still puzzles 

 you. if you will tell me what it is I'll help 

 with an explanation— if I can. 



building up of a colony, with the possibility 

 of interfering a great deal in case there is 

 some hitch in introducing. If your are re- 

 queening for the sake of having better stock 

 to breed from, it may pay to do so early, 

 even if it interferes greatly with the honey 

 crop. But in your case you hardly want to 

 interfere with the crop of this season. So. 

 perhaps you will do just as well to leave the 

 old queens until after swarming, at least, if 

 not until near the close of harvest. 



8-Frame vs. 10-Frame Hives — Special Locality 



I. In a locality where there is a very small 

 fall honey flow, but enough in the spring for 



A. L Beaudin. of St. Chrysostome. Canada, with photograph of bee-journals and bee-books; 

 his home and apiary, and a feeder of his own invention. 



the truth. I don't know why caging a queen 

 should stop the disease. If caging a queen 

 stops the disease, I don't know why the win- 

 ter's rest from brood-rearing does not stop 

 it. But here is the important fact that I do 

 know. I know that in a large number of 

 cases cessation of brood-rearing for a week 

 or so has stopped the disease. Note that I 

 don't say in all cases, but in the large ma- 

 jority of cases. I don't hum' that in the great 

 majority of cases the disease is conveyed 

 from one cell to another by the nurse-bees 

 sucking the juices of recently diseased 

 larvs. That's only a theory, but it is a 

 pretty satisfactory theory until a better 

 theory is advanced. 



I think, however, that no one has advanced 

 the theory that the disease is in all cases 

 conveyed by means of larva; that have been 

 dead only a short time. It may in some 

 cases be conveyed through spores in dried- 

 up scales of larva' that have been dead a 

 longtime. But I suppose these last cases 

 are exceiJtional. Now. although I don't 

 know all about it. if you will allow me to 

 theorize. I'll tell you what I think is possible 

 in the case you mention, in early spring or 

 winter, when brood-rearing begins, there 

 are no diseased larvce present. But there are 

 dried scales containing spores. Onewould 



them to begin storing a surplus by MarcH i. 

 which is kept up until the last of .Tune, do 

 you think the H or lo frame hive would be 

 better ? They are managed for comb honey. 



2. In such a case do you think 8-frame colo- 

 nies would store surplus sooner, and if so 

 do you think the lo-frame colonies would 

 catch up later on ? California. 



Answers.— I. I would chance the larger 

 hive. 



2. On the face of it. it might seem that the 

 8-frame hive would have its brood-chamber 

 filled sooner, and so surplus would sooner 

 be stored. In actual practice you will be 

 likely to find out that it doesn't pan out that 

 way. A good way will be for you to try both 

 kinds side by side; or if you have lo-frame 

 hives you could reduce some of them to 8- 

 frames by the use of dummies. 



Requeening Early in the Season 



I have lately bought i6 colonies of black 

 bees. They went into the cellar on Dec. 12 

 strong in bees and plenty of good, sealed 

 stores. They are in fine condition at this 

 date, but as the hives are of all sizes and 

 shapes, good for nothing but kindling wood, 

 I shall transfer to my dovetailed hives. 



Do you think it would pay me to requeen 

 them with good Italian stock early in the 

 season? Wisconsin. 



Answer.— Requeening early in the season 

 ■ s sure to interfere at least a little with the 



Bee-Bread in Honey 



1. Can you see bee-bread in extracted 

 honey ? 



2. How does it act when melted ? 



1. 'What makes honey form a yeast-like 

 top when heated? I have had some honey 

 do this. Is it bee-bread ? I am told it is. 



California. 

 Answers.— I. Ordinarily, no. That is. you 

 cannot see it with the naked eye. although 

 in all honey, comb or extracted, I suppose 

 some pollen can be seen, if a proper magni- 

 fying glass be used. 



2. I don't think you can melt bee-bread. 



3. I suppose it is effervescence, occurring 

 more readily the thinner the honey is. and 

 pollen may help in the process. 



Bees in Box-Hives— No Honey Nor Swarms 



1. I have a nice lot of bees, but they are all 

 in the old-fashioned box gums. During the 

 honey harvest I raise them '2 inch all 

 around. Then I let them down in the fall 

 and daub them up. only leaving room for a 

 few bees to pass at a time. I fear that they 

 do not get enough air. Do you think I could 

 make an openingon the opposite side and 

 give them plenty of air? 



2. One colony keeps carrying out dead 

 bees. What is the cause of this? Is it be- 

 cause they don't get air enough ? or do they 

 die of old age? I love my bees, and have 

 had good luck with them. I have not lost a 

 colony in seven years. I am afraid I will 

 lose two this winter. 



3. What is the reason my bees do not 

 swarm ? I have not had any swarms in four 

 years. They are always rich and very 

 strong in the early spring. I am going to 

 buy some up-to-date hives this winter for 

 next spring, so I can increase them. I will 

 make them swarm. West Virginia. 



Answers— I It is not easy to say whether 

 your bees have enough air or not. You say 

 you let down the hives in the fall and then 

 daub them up the entrances I suppose), 

 and " only leave room for a few bees to pass 

 at a time." The question is whether that 

 " few bees " means 3 bees. 20 bees, or more. 

 1 would rather suppose it to mean not more 

 than half a dozen bees, and that might mean 

 an entrance of not more than half a square 

 inch. I should say that was quite too small 

 an entrance. But you say you have not lost 

 a colony in seven years; and with such suc- 

 cess it can hardly be that the entrance is so 

 small. At any rate, so long as you winter 

 perfectly it would hardly seem the entrance 

 can be much at fault. But if the entrance 

 is less than the equivalent of about 2 square 

 inches, it will be easy toincrease theamount 

 of air by making a hole as you suggest at the 

 bottom of the hive at the opposite side, 

 although the usual way would be to make 

 the entrance at the front larger. 



2. It is not likely that lack of air makes 

 the bees carry out their dead. A good many 

 bees will be dying off all the time from old 

 age, especially will this appear more promi- 

 nent if breeding stopped early. 



3. I don't know why your bees don't 

 swarm. Most bee-keepers would be de- 



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