December, 1913. 



American Hee Journal 



Comb or Extracted? 



Which would be the most profitable for 

 me.' comb or extracted honey ? I was offered 

 bii Jcents per pound for mixed extracted 

 honey delivered at'Indianapolis. The home 

 demand about looo pounds) is I5 cents per 

 poiind for comb honey. As I expect to make 

 beekeepint; mv occupation, could I afford to 

 sell extracted honey for bH cents per 

 poiind? Indiana. 



Answer.— It is not an easy thing to say 

 what would be best; so many things must be 

 taken into consideration, the peculiarities 

 of pasturage, market, etc.. but it would 

 seem that you ought to do considerably bet- 

 ter with comb at 15 than with extracted at 

 b'i. There are places where extracted can 

 be profitably produced at 5J4 cents: but 

 hardly in your locality. 



Introducing Queens — Stores— Foul Brood 



1. Should I introduce a tested queen into 

 my colonies that have not shown much 

 strength this season, and have not swarmed? 



2. Is this the right time to do it. and how 

 do you go about removing the old Queen ? 



3. How much honey should I leave in each 

 hive, as a winter supply for the bees ? 



4. Is it too late to remove any surplus 

 honey at this time of the year ? 



5. How can I tell foul brood ? 



New Jersey. 



Answers.— I. Hard to say without know- 

 ing more about it. The likelihood is that 

 there is not a good queen in a colony which 

 has not become strong; yet something de- 

 pends upon how much excuse it has for re- 

 maining weak. If it was very, very weak in 

 spring, it is still possible the queen may be 

 all right. But if it was reasonably strong 

 early, has good combs, with not much drone 

 brood, and if there was enough pasturage 

 so that other colonies built up strong and 

 did well, then it would be we well to replace 

 the queen with a better one. 



2. It is getting pretty late, as brood-rearing 

 is pretty much over, and it might be as well 

 to wait until next season. There's no spe- 

 cial trick about removing the old queen, 

 just look over the brood-combs until you 

 find her. and then mash her with thumb and 

 finger. But don't kill the old queen in ad 

 vance of having the new one, for sometimes 

 there is delay in getting a queen. 



3. A store of 30 or 40 pounds is none too 

 much for wintering out doors, a stronger 

 colony needing more than a weaker one. and 

 for cellaring 10 pounds less will do. Better 

 5 pounds too much than 5 ounces too little 

 The overplus will not be wasted. 



4. No; if supers are still on, take them off; 

 only in so doing look out that you do not take 

 away stores needed for winter. 



5. You probably cannot tell it at all now. for 

 it is a disease of the brood, and unless in a 

 very bad case you can detect it only when 

 brood is present. The chief symptom in 

 American foul brood is the ropy character 

 of the dead larva; stick a toothpick into it, 

 and when you draw it out it will string an 

 inch or two in a string. If European foul 

 brood, look for larvae that instead of being 

 pearly white are quite yellowish. If you 

 write to Dr. E. F. Phillips. Department of 

 Agriculture. Washington. D. C, he will send 

 you gratis valuable printed matter about 

 foul brood. 



A Cure for Foul Brood 1 



In the Western Honey Bee for October, 

 page 26. and also in the advertising columns 

 occurs the following by C.W.Dayton: "I 



will pay $25 for any case of foul brood (Eu- 

 ropean or American) that cannot be cured 

 with 5 cents worth of autibiitn (honey and 

 water." In the article he makes wonderful 

 statements on his discovery of antibum and 

 aQuasun. 



Let us know if this man is a fake, for it his 

 claims were true. New York State would be 

 soon cleared of foul brood, and Mr. Dayton 

 would be kept busy making his cure. 



New YO'RK. 



Answer. — I have much doubt as to the 

 eihcacy of the remedies named. 



Introducing a Queen by Smoke Method 



.\s I am just a beginner. I wish you would 

 explain as clearly as possible how to intro- 

 duce a queen by the smoke method. 



Wisconsin. 



Answer.— In Gleanings in Bee Culture for 

 June I, iiage 370. what you call the smoke 

 plan of introduction is thus given by Arthur 

 C. Miller, the inventor: "A colony to re- 

 ceive a queen has the entrance reduced to 

 about a square inch with whatever is con- 

 venient, as grass, weeds, rags, or wood, and 

 then about three puffs of thick white smoke 

 —because such smoke is safe — is blown in 

 and the entrance closed. It should be ex- 

 plained that there is a %-inch space below 

 the frames, so that the smoke blown in at 

 the entrance readily spreads and penetrates 

 to all parts of the hive, in from 15 to 20 sec- 

 onds that colony will be roaring. The small 

 space at the entrance is now opened; the 

 queen is run in. followed by a gentle puff of 

 smoke, and the space again closed and left 

 closed for about 10 minutes, when it is re- 

 opened and the bees are allowed to venti- 

 late and to quiet down. The full entrance 

 is not given for an hour or more, or even 

 until the next day." 



Editor Root is very enthusiastic about the 

 plan, since having tried it very fully with 

 great success. In Gleanings for Oct. i. he 

 directs to start the smoker going, giving a 

 dozen or tw'O strong puffs out in the air. 

 When the smoke rolls out of the smoker 

 into the air dense and heavy, blow 3 strong 

 puffs in at the entrance, and then close the 

 hive. After an interval of perhaps 10 or 15 



seconds, push the queen in at the entrance, 

 follow her up with one more strong puff of 

 smoke, and close the entrance. In all four 

 puffs are given, all that a large smoker will 

 give when the bellows is closed clear down 

 at each puff. In five or six minutes remove 

 the plug. He says the plan will not work 

 with a small nucleus in a large hive, even if 

 the rest of the space be filled with empty 

 combs. 



Carniplans or Italians ?— Divisions 



1. Which is the more fitted to Japanese 

 conditions, the Italian or the C:arniolan ? 

 This is a rainy and moist section. 



2. Colonies often show intentions of 

 swarming at the close of the honey-flow, 

 when they haveproduced combor extracted 

 honey in abundance. Is it better or not to 

 separate colonies before they show inclina- 

 tions to swarm ? If it is better to separate, 

 how is the best way to do it ? Japan. 



Answers—:. To get an answer to this 

 question the two kinds should be tried side 

 by side. Even after knowing climatic con- 

 ditions one can only make a guess, and my 

 guess would be that the Italians are better. 



2. Again I am on uncertain ground, but 

 should think it better not to separate, so as 

 to have strong colonies for winter. 



Precautions in Uniting 



If vou were to buy bees by the pound to 

 strengthen weak colonies, what precautions 

 would you take to insure a safe uniting ? 



Iowa. 



Answer.— Shake both lots on the ground 

 all mixed up, and let them run into the hive 

 together. As an additional safeguard, be- 

 fore mixing, dust both lots with flour. 



Dimensions of the Dadant Hive 



I have been looking through the .American 

 Bee Journal for dimensions of the Dadant 

 hive and frame about which I wrote Mr. 

 Dadant some months ago. but cannot find 

 them. Will you kindly give them in the re- 

 plies to queries. The expense of getting a 

 sample hive here is too great. 



C. N. White. England. 



Answer.— The dimensions of the Dadant 

 hive are not given in any previous number 



Cross Sectional 'View of the Dadant Hive. 



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