1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



47 



A sample of how the eggs and cocoons of the bee-moth are deposited on wood. Sometimes the wood is 

 grooved or eaten out. The illustration fails to convey the real filthiness of the mass. 



place. Perhaps this never can be done; but 

 at any rate we shall aim to make it a bibli- 

 ography which will serve our purpose in the 

 work of the Bureau, and it may be of use to 

 those outside who are in a position to con- 

 sult it from time to time. 

 Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. 



MOTHS DESTROY ENTIRE COLONIES. 



BY C. E. MILLARD. 



I have 40 colonies of the common Ameri- 

 can brown bees. Since July 1 the worms 

 have destroyed seven hives, and by next 

 swarming time they will no doubt destroy 

 the entire lot unless I can find a remedy. 



If you think that another breed of bees 

 will be any advantage I will change stock. 

 To be sure, I do not see how this would help; 

 but I refer the matter to you. What I have 

 are doing well except for the worms. But 

 they are something fearful. I send you a 

 sample of the worms and also a piece of a 

 section, that you may see the form of the 

 pest and the nature of their ravages. It 

 hardly seems possible that, in so short a 

 time, there could have been so many worms, 

 and that they could actually cut away the 

 solid wood as they have done. Parties who 

 have seen the condition of things are amazed. 



Ravenel, S. C. 



[The whole trouble is due to lack of care, 

 especially among queenless colonies. Since 

 the Italian bees have replaced the old-fash- 

 ioned black bees, most of the trouble with 

 moth-worms has disappeared. Your easiest 

 remedy will be to destroy your old black 

 queens and get full-blood Italians. As soon 

 as they hatch out they will go to work clean- 

 ing out the worms. Meanwhile overhaul all 

 your hives and cut out all of the worms and 

 cocoons, and do a regular cleaning-up; then 

 follow it up until the young Italians get out 

 and take the job off your hands. Probably 



the moth-worm has been allowed to develop 

 to an unusual extent in your locality. Get 

 other bee-keepers around you to turn in and 

 help get rid of them. A very little earnest 

 work every few days will get them them en- 

 tirely out of your hives and out of your api- 

 ary. We had lots of experience along this 

 line, years ago, before we had Italian bees. 

 See editorials. — Ed.] 



PERFECT COMBS WITHOUT FOUNDA- 

 TION SPLINTS. 



Foundation in Brood-chambers Should be 

 Drawn Out Only by Weak Colonies; 

 the Super the Proper Place for Comb- 

 building in Strong Colonies. 



BY G. C. GREINER. 



Whenever the subject of foundation- 

 splints has been discussed in our bee-peri- 

 odicals I have been wondering why it was 

 necessary that these splints had to be used 

 at all. Mr. Green's article on page 562, with 

 its various theories and suggestions, gives 

 this matter a new impetus, at least with me. 

 It induces me to offer a few remarks on this 

 subject. I do this, not for argument's sake 

 nor to invite any controversy. I have no 

 time to waste for that purpose, but I wish to 

 present a few facts along this line. 



After reading Mr. G.'s article I examined 

 a dozen or more drawn-out combs from the 

 brood-nests of as many different colonies 

 and the same number of drawn-out combs 

 from my extracting supers, but failed to find 

 any stretched combs with elongated cells, as 

 Mr. G. describes. I knew the result quite 

 well before, but I did it to make doubly sure 

 I did not misrt present or make false state- 

 ments. It does not seem possible to me that 

 ditferent localities and climates could pro- 

 duce such contradictory results; but I am 

 convinced that the difference is all in the 

 management. 



