May, 1913 



American ^ae Jonrnal 



Dr. Miller*s 



Answers^ 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo. III. 



He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. 



Abolishing the Careless Bee-Keeper 



There is no doubt we owe to tlie careless 

 and ignorant bee-keepers in all countries 

 much of the evils the rest of us have to con- 

 tend against in bee-culture, especially in 

 the propagation and spreading of disease. 

 We. in Xew Zealand, know this only too well, 

 and as one who has taken a leading part in 

 getting rid of most of them in this country, 

 and know the good results, I was more than 

 astonished at the reasoning of Dr. C. C. 

 Miller, page 311. October issue, when he 

 says: "The foul brood disc-use. left to itself, 

 issuieto drive the careless bee-keeper out 

 of the business; the foul brood law is the 

 only thing to keep him in business." 



When I saw this I concluded the printer 

 must have gotten things mixed, and reversed 

 what the Doctor had said, but seeing no 

 correction since. I now conclude it was no 

 fault of the printer. Twenty-five years' ex 

 perience with the careless bee-keeper, who 

 never got beyond the box-hive and sulphur 

 pit. has about convinced me that it is ex- 

 actly the other way with us. the careless 

 bee-keeper nearly drove all our commercial 

 bee-keepers out of the business by spread- 

 ing disease faster than it could be dealt 

 with. The result of our legislation has been 

 to drive the former out. and the latter is 

 now flourishing, while disease is under con- 

 trol, and fast being eliminated. 



New Zealand. 



Answer.— I don't believe there is a parti- 

 cle of difference in our views. Bro. Hop- 

 kins. A good foul-brood law. according to 

 your view, will drive the careless bee- 

 keeper out of business. To be sure it will. 

 It will do one of two things: it will help him 

 to clean out the disease and become a care- 

 ful bee-keeper, in which case there is no 

 longer a careless bee-keeper in business; or 

 else it will destroy his diseased colonies, 

 and thus put him out of business. I think 

 your view is all right. 



Now see if you don't agree entirely with 

 my view. I believe that foul brood. :f h-ft to 

 itself, as I said, will drive the careless bee- 

 keeper out of business. 'Vou say that the 

 rapid spread of the disease nearly drove 

 commercial bee-keepers out of business. If 

 that be true with men intelligently fighting 

 the disease, would it not be emphatically 

 true of those doing nothing against it? In 

 other words, is it not merely a question of 

 time when the disease, if left to itself, would 

 kill out all the bees of the careless bee- 

 keeper ? 



I think this is what we both agree upon: a 

 good law will make the careless bee-keeper 

 careful I'r it w'ill put him out of business; 

 left to itself the disease will put him out of 

 business without any " or " in the case. 



Carniolan or Italian? 



Which are the better. Carniolan or Italian 

 bees, and which kind of Italians ? If all that 

 is said about the Carniolan bees is true, 

 then they should have the preference with 

 everybody. I am a beginner. Quebec. 



Answer.— Bee-keepers are by no means a 

 unit in their preferences. It is quite possi- 

 ble that what is best for one may not al tvays 

 be best for another. The great majority 



however, prefer Italians; so the safe thing 

 for a beginner is to adopt that kind, prefer- 

 ably the leather-colored kind. 



What Determines the Sex? 



Some years ago it was generally recognized 

 that eggs of a mated queen would hatch 

 either drones, queens or workers, depend- 

 ing upon the food given to the larva, that an 

 egg from a drone-cell could be removed and 

 placed in a worker-cell would hatch a work- 

 er or a queen, depending upon the food; 

 that fertile worker eggs would only hatch 

 drones. 



Now. according to latest authority an un- 

 mated queen's eggs hatch drones, and when 

 mated some eggs produce males and others 

 females. Are we to consider the earlier de- 

 duction correct, or are we to infer that the 

 laws of Nature that change the sex in fowls 

 should rule? Ontario. 



Answer.— Something less than a century 

 ago. Dzierzon gave out the theory that a 

 fecundated queen lays two kinds of eggs, 

 fertilized and unfertilized. From an unfer- 

 tilized egg can come nothing but a drone, no 

 matter in what cell the egg is placed, nor 

 what kind of food the larva receives. A 

 fertilized egg may produce either a worker 

 or a queen. If it is to be a worker, it will 

 be fed with a certain rich food for three 

 days and then weaned; that is, it will be fed 

 a coaser food during the rest of its larval 

 existence. If not weaned, but the rich food 

 continued, and a larger cell allowed, then it 

 will be a queen. The Dzierzon theory was 

 at first combated, but afterward accepted 

 as the true theory. 



A few years ago E. Dickel advanced the 

 theory that all eggs were fertilized, and that 

 the workers had the power to determine the 

 sex. But the Dzierzon theory is the one 

 generally accepted by intelligent bee-keep- 

 ers of the present time. So yousee fowlsand 

 bees are different, for the unfertilized egg 

 of a fowl never hatches, while the unferti 

 lized egg of a bee hatches, and always into a 

 male. 



Increase 



What is the best way to double any num- 

 ber of colonies ? Nebraska. 



Answer —Something depends upon cir- 

 cumstances what is the best way. If you 

 have had very little experience it is possi- 

 ble that it may be best for you to depend 

 upon natural swarming, but allowing no 

 after-swarms. When a colony swarms, set 

 the swarm on the old stand and set the old 

 hive close beside the new one. Then a 

 week later move the old one to a new place 

 10 feet or more distant. That will prevent 

 after-swarms, and the swarms will give you 

 surplus if there is any surplus. 



If you prefer not to have natural swarm- 

 ing the Alexander plan of increase may suit 

 you. A little before it is time for bees to 

 swarm in your neighborhood, lift out of the 

 hive all but one frame and put them in an 



empty hive-body. Leave the queen with the 

 one frame of brood, and destroy any queen- 

 cells that may be on that frame. Fill out 

 both hives with frames filled with founda- 

 tion, or with starters or drawn comb. Put 

 a queen-excluder over the hive containing 

 the queen and one brood-frame, and set the 

 other hive on top of this. P'ive days later 

 look for queen-cells in the upper stories. If 

 you find queen-cells in an upper story, let it 

 stand another fivedavs, and then set it on its 

 new stand, giving it a queen-cell from one of 

 the others. It will hurry up matters if you 

 can give a laying queen to each. 



Spring Dwindling Robbing Dead Colonies 



1. Why do some colonies having plenty of 

 stores and a fairly good number of bees 

 start brood-rearing in the later part of win- 

 ter and get a good deal of capped brood and 

 brood in all stages, and when cold weather 

 comes the whole outfit dies ? This has hap- 

 pened with me two seasons. 



2. How can 1 avoid this thing? 



3. How early in the season is it advisable 

 to put out artificial pollen ? 



4. How would it do to leave the hives with 

 honey andall they contain where they stand, 

 where the colonies have died, and let the 

 bees rob them out ? Nebraska. 



Answers— I. This seems to be a case of 

 what is called spring dwindling. The cause 

 is somewhat in doubt. It looks a little as if 

 the bees were old. had more brood started 

 than ihev could take care of, then died off 

 with the strain of trying to provide digested 

 food for the brood, sometimes swarming out 

 with plenty of food and brood in the hive. 



2. I don't know, unless it be to have colo- 

 nies strong with bees not too old the preced- 

 ing fall, and I don't know how much good 

 that will do. 



3. As early as the bees will work on it. or 

 as early as the bees fly freely. There is not 

 the same danger from giving it early as there 

 is from giving sweets early. 



4. It will be all right if there are no weak 

 colonies that might be robbed when the 

 bees get stirred up. It may be as well to 

 set any such hives some rods away. But 

 after the bees have begun robbing out such 

 an undefended hive, be sure not to take it 

 away until there is no longer anything in it 

 for the robbers to get. If you do. it will be 

 pretty certain to make the robbers start on 

 some adjacent hive. You may. however, 

 take away nearly all the contents of the 

 hive if you still leave the hive in its place 

 for the robbers to fool with. 



Now to Double and Still Get a Crop 



1. I have 30 colonies and wish to double 

 them this summer, and also wish to get a 

 honey crop. In the past I have had trouble 

 in wintering, because I did not have my bees 

 strong enough on account of having made 

 increase after the clover and basswood 

 flows. I would like your opinion on the fol- 

 lowing plan: Run 20 colonies for honey, and 

 about June 15 break up the other 10 into 

 about 40. leaving one frame of brood and the 

 queen on the old stand, and giving ripe cells 

 to the w divisions. By the time the flow is 

 over these queens ought to be laying. After 

 the flow, and the honey is off. raise the 



-brood-body over an excluder with the queen 

 and one frame of brood below with empty 

 combs. At this time take all the sealed 

 brood and give it to the divisions. As fast 

 as the brood over the excluders is sealed. 

 give it to the divisions. 



2. What do you think of using the straight 

 Alexander plan after the clover and bass- 

 wood flows? Ohio. 



Answers— I. It may work well; it may be 

 a failure. Vou see you cannot count on any 



LEWIS BEEWARE MEANS 



GOOD QUALITY. SCIEN- 

 TIFIC WORKMANSHIP 

 CAREFUL PACKING 

 EFFICIENT SERVICE 



.*%ond for Annuiil Catnloic -n-hieli w\\\ tell 

 you ^vlio is joiir nearest Distributer. 

 <i. B. Lewis Coinpnny, AVatertown, Wis. 



