August, igii. 



Amcfican Bee Jonrnal j 



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-keepinsr Questions by mail. 



"In Everything Give Thanks." 



Yesterday our preacher spoke from the 

 text "In Everything Give Thanks." As 

 my bees have not stored any surplus 

 honey this season, and it has been very 

 dry, so that even the farm crops are go- 

 ing to be short, I was wondering while 

 listening to the sermon, just how bee- 

 keepers in my condition could "give 

 thanks." It no doubt would help some if 

 you could give some explicit directions 

 in this matter. Xow. please don't say 

 "I don't know," for I am sure you do 

 know, and will give an answer that will 

 help many bee-keepers who are in the 

 same predicament as I am this year. 



Ohio. 

 Answer. — As I am in the same boat 

 with yourself. I can at least tell some- 

 thing about how it is "in this locality." 

 Here it is in the last end of July with 

 everything dried up and the stock in the 

 pasture needing to be fed hay. Not only 

 has there been no surplus honey to take 

 off. but in some brood-chambers there's 

 hardly a pound of honey. 



Well. I'm thankful that I don't have 

 to work as I would in a prosperous year. 

 I can lie abed in the morning if I feel 

 like it, and I can sit here on the porch 

 answering your question in the pleasant 

 part of the day, whereas in a busy year 

 I might have to get up at 4 o'clock to get 

 enough time to answer you. 



I'm thankful that I don't have to bother 

 about getting a crop ready for market ; 

 that it will be no loss to me if the price 

 is low, and that I can rejoice with the 

 other fellow if the price is high. 



I'm thankful that my preparation for 

 this year's crop stands good for next 

 year. Within sight is a field which was 

 sown and the crop a failure. Next year 

 all the plow-ing and sowing will have to 

 be done over again, and fresh seed 

 bought. It's not as bad with me as that, 

 for I'll not have to buy fresh sections ; 

 the same sections and foundation that 

 were stacked up in the shop all ready for 

 this year's crop will be all right for an- 

 other year. 



But what is there to grumble about, 

 anyhow? When a man goes into bee- 

 keeping as a business, it is the under- 

 standing — the contract, if you please — 

 that he will have good years and bad 

 years. The bad years are part of the 

 contract; why grumble? 



I'm thankful that good years have been 

 so good that they overbalance the bad. 



Even if I can not understand all about 

 it. I am thankful that I have a Friend 

 who does understand, in whose control 

 are all things, and that He has such love 

 for me that he sends just what is best 

 for me ; and not the least of the bless- 

 ings he sends is a thankful heart that al- 

 lows me in everything to give thanks, 

 crop or jio crop. 



Five-Band or Golden Queens — Cedar 

 and Redwood for Hives 



1. Are the ;-b.-ind or golden queens any 

 better than, or as good as. the 3-band 

 leather-colored Italian queens? I don't 

 know anything about 5-band or golden 

 queens. 



2. Is there any factory that makes -bee- 



hives of red cedar? Will the California 

 redwood make as good hives as the red 

 cedar? I want hives made of the best 

 material that can be had. Color.^do. 



Answers. — i. There are goldens and 

 goldens. Some are good, and some are 

 poor, according to all accounts ; while the 

 3-banders. as imported from Italy, are 

 more uniform and of a more fixed type. 



2. I do not know of any factory using 

 cedar, although there may be such. 

 Neither do I know just how redwood and 

 cedar compare, although I have an im- 

 pression that cedar is the better; but that 

 impression may be wrong. Is any other 

 wood better than white pine ? 



Fastening Comb Foundation to 

 Frame End-Bars 



Should comb foundation come close to 

 the end-bar of the frame and be fastened 

 there with wax ? I wire my frames. 



MlNNES0T.\. 



Answer. — Either will do, but it is well 

 to have the foundation come close to the 

 end-bar. But it is not necessary to wax 

 it there. 



Moving Bees on the Railroad 



What is the best and safest way to 

 ship bees in full colonies, say 200 miles? 

 Would it be all right to cover the top and 

 bottom of the hives with screen-wire, and 

 place one inch strip under the hives on 

 the car floor? or would they smother in 

 hot weather in that way ? 



West Virginia. 



Answer. — They ought to do pretty well 

 in the way you mention Still better if a 

 frame be fastened on top of such depth 

 that there will be a space of 2 inches be- 

 tween the top-ba'rs and the wire-cloth. Of 

 course you will have the frames run paral- 

 lel with the track, and will have the hives 

 fastened so they can not move. If the 

 weather is hot it will be a good thing 

 to keep the bees sprayed with water. 



Transferring — Requeening — Increas- 

 ing 

 I have a few colonies of bees in box- 

 hives which I would like to transfer, re- 

 queen and increase. I thought some of 

 using this plan : Get them good and 

 strong, drum out most of the bees, and 

 put them on full sheets of comb founda- 

 tion. Would it be best to introduce a 

 queen immediately, or wait until the hive 

 is full of brood ? When all of the brood 

 is hatched out in the box-hive, drum out 

 the rest of the bees and put them into 

 another hive, thius making 2 colonies out 

 of one. I have never had any experience 

 with requeening. If you know of a bet- 

 ter plan. I wish you would describe it. 

 I had thought of doing this in August. 

 and feeding sugar syrup if the fall crop 

 failed, so as to have them ready to gather 

 a crop of honey next spring. Would you 

 advise this? West Virginia. 



Answer. — There is danger that if you 

 try to requeen at the time of transferring, 

 the bees will feel themselves queenless, 

 and having no brood in the hive will de- 

 sert. You will be safer against that if 



you introduce the new queen after there 

 is brood in the hive. Of course you will 

 put the drummed-out swarm on the old 

 stand and the old colony on a new stand. 

 A day or two later you can fasten be- 

 tween the combs of the old colony a ripe 

 queen-cell of choice stock, and this being 

 older than the other cells will furnish the 

 queen. This will be at least a little gain 

 over introducing a laying queen when all 

 the old brood has hatched out at the time 

 of the second drumming. 



If you have a good fall flow you are 

 likely to come out all right. If you have 

 to depend on feeding, it may be better tc^ 

 postpone till next May, for feeding does 

 not come up to the natural flow. 



A Queen Experience 



I had an unusual experience with one 

 queen this season. I released her on 

 combs of hatching brood and left the 

 hive unmolested for a few days, till quite 

 a lot of bees had emerged ; then I put 

 the combs in the hive on another stand. 

 A little later I added another comb of 

 hatching brood without any bees, and on 

 examination later. I found that there was 

 no laying queen in the hive, and that the 

 bees had started queen-cells. At this 

 time (July 15) the colony seems to be 

 queenless. Has Dr. Miller ever had a 

 like experience? I would like to know 

 what became of that queen. Iowa. 



Answer. — If there was also unsealed 

 brood in the "combs of hatching brood." 

 and if you gave bees with the first combs,, 

 there is nothing unusual in the case. I 

 suppose, however, that there were neither 

 bees nor unsealed brood ; and the ques- 

 tion is. Why should bees that have never 

 known another mother turn against their 

 own queen ? One solution of the prob- 

 lem is to consider it a case of superse- 

 dure. I have never had a case alike in 

 all particulars, but more than once have 

 had a queen superseded when if it had 

 been left to my judgment I should have 

 said there was no occasion for superse- 

 durc. There are also cases in which bees 

 ball and kill their own queen when the 

 hive is disturbed, and it is possible that 

 this occurred when you gave that last 

 frame of brood. 



Pickled Brood 



Is there a cure for pickled brood? I 

 know that during a good honey-flow the 

 bees generally get over it. The inspector 

 told me it was pickled brood. My bees 

 did not get in shape for a crop of honey 

 until about the time it stopped. 



California. 



Answer. — Pickled brood seems hardly 

 a disease, but is believed by some to be 

 only brood dead through chilling or some 

 other cause, so there is no cure for it, 

 and it needs no cure, disappearing of it- 

 self. If you are not sure as to what ails 

 your bees, you would better send a sam- 

 ple of the brood to Dr. E. F. Phillips, 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, 

 n. C. and after analysis you will be told' 

 just what is the trouble. It will cost you 

 nothing, and if you write in advance to 

 Dr. Phillips he will send you a box in 

 which to mail the smple, together with a 

 frank to pay postage. 



Bees Hanging Out — 8-Frame 

 Extractor 

 I. I hived an extra large swarm July 

 2. The hive was nothing but a trap, so 

 I transferred the bees into a hive with 

 full sheets of comb foundation. July .3rd, 

 but they would not go into it. but would? 

 bunch out on the front. I thought the- 



