302 



GLEANINGS T N BEE U li T U R E 



Mav, 1918 



to the unexposed side of the adjacent frame, 

 which is the side that first comes in view 

 on removal of the next frame. If one 's 

 sight is not good and he has no helper, per- 

 haps the easier method would be to attach 

 a queen trap to the entrance, lift out all the 

 frames and place them in an empty hive, 

 carefully examine the old hive to be certain 

 she is not among the few adhering bees and 

 then after shaking each frame at the en- 

 trance replace it in the old hive. When the 

 bees have run in, the queen will be found at 

 the entrance. 



(2) It is difficult to state what per cent 

 would survive. Probably for an expert 50 

 per cent might be killed and for a beginner 

 as many as 95 per cent. Young laying queens 

 are much easier to introduce than virgins. 

 Three- and four-day-old virgin queens 

 maysometimes be introducedwithout even de- 

 queening, by the Miller smoke method as 

 given in the ABC and X Y Z of Bee Cul- 

 ture under ' ' Introducing. ' ' But we would 

 caution that one-day-old virgins are too 

 weak to be introduced without de-queening. 



Questions. — (1) Which are the better frames: 

 Laixg'stxoth or Danzenbaker ? Why? (2) How 

 many extra supers for each hive should one have 

 for safety? (3) Should all the hives be uniform, 

 that is, the same make and size ? 



Michigan. Wm. C. Leonard. 



Answers. — (1) Most of the loading beeke.ep- 

 crs greatly prefer the Langstroth frame. It 

 is much better for wintering, as it leaves the 

 cluster in a higher, warmer place, further 

 from entrance drafts. Moreover, the addi- 

 tional space in the Langstroth frame gives 

 a better chance for contracting the brood 

 chamber in winter and still leaving the bees 

 with plenty of stores. Our experience has 

 been that the Danzenbaker frame is a big 

 nuisance in handling, and the colonies with 

 these frames need more frequent attention, 

 as they are more inclined to swarm and also 

 are not as apt to provide themselves with 

 winter stores. (2) That depends upon 

 whether one leaves all of the extracting to 

 be done after the season. If so, five or six 

 shallow supers or three 'ieep ones would 

 probably be plenty for your locality. (3) 

 Yes, it will save much time, trouble, and ex- 

 p'-nse. 



Questions. — (1) I like the dimensions of the eight- 

 frame liive ; but for a divi.sil^le brood-chamber liive 

 which do you think is preferable — an eight- or ten- 

 frame hive' Why.' (2) Do you consider the divis- 

 ible brood-chamber hive as good as or better than 

 tlie ordinary style? . J N. Johnson. 



Minnesota. 



Answers.^ — (1) Many use the divisible 

 brood-chamber idea for only a short time be- 

 fore and after the opening of the honey 

 flow. In that case the deep ten-frame cham- 

 bers are generally used. Most of those 

 who use the plan thruout the year prefer 

 the shallow ten-frame or the deep eight- 

 frame brood-chambers. (2) For ourselves 

 we prefer the ordinary standard ten-frame 

 hive, giving the queen two stories when 

 necessary. 



ANSWERS BY C. C. MILIjER. 



Question. — I am having a terrible scourge of 

 Kiiroi>OiUi foul lirood. Pi-obnbly 200 out of my :iOO 



colonies are badly afflicted. I have been caging my 

 queens for about 20 days until the bees clean up. 

 A friend, who is visiting me, says I should disinfect 

 my hive tool, hands, etc., in going from an affected 

 colony to a healthy colony, also I must melt my 

 combs, boil my frames, and scald or burn my hives. 

 What do you say ? I have not taken the precautions 

 mentioned, as I believed European foul brood to be 

 a disease of the queens and brood only. 



California. A. E. 



Answer. — In a severe case of European 

 foul brood, I wouldn 't cage the queen, but 

 kill her. Even in a mild case it may pay to 

 kill the queen, if she is below par and you 

 can replace her with an Italian ' of good 

 stock. In a mild case, with a good queen, 

 I would cage. But I don 't believe it 's ad- 

 visable to cage more than ten days, nor in 

 any case to have the colony go longer than 

 ten days without egg-laying. You say they 

 clean up in about 20 days. Yes, there may 

 be dead brood present up to the end of 20 

 days, or even longer. But it's very dead 

 and so dried up that it is not likely to do 

 any harm. The kind that does harm is that 

 which has been dead only a short time, and 

 not yet too disagreeable to be still eatable. 

 And j^ou '11 find none of that kind left, if you 

 stop the queen 's laying for ten days. Be 

 sure to make your colonies strong. 



As to disinfection, uiion my first acquain 

 tance with European foul brood I melted 

 combs and boiled frames, but gave it up and 

 afterward got along just as well, if not bet- 

 ter. Altho combs that are affected with 

 American foul brood must be melted up, it 

 seems an unpardonable waste to destroy a 

 single comb on account of European foul 

 brood. Hives need no disinfection, and in- 

 deed some hold that no disinfection of hives 

 is needed with American foul brood. Yet 

 when all that is said, it remains very impor- 

 tant to guard against carrying the disease 

 from an infected colony to a heaitny one. 

 If a hive tool should be thrust into a dis- 

 eased larva at the right stage, it would be 

 easy to infect the next colony. So I am 

 careful about my tool and hands. The quick- 

 est way to disinfect the tool is to thrust it 

 into the ground a few times. If the hands 

 do not become daubed, merely handling the 

 dry frames needs no disinfection. Whether 

 the disease can be carried by the honey or 

 not, I take no chances, and if the hands are 

 the least daubed, I always clean them. 



Question. — I have read about swarm prevention 

 in your book " Mfty Years Among thei Bees." Do 

 you think that following your plans closely will actu- 

 ally prevent any from swarming when they are in 

 good stores and strong in spring? 



Answer. — Yes, any of the plans there 

 given involving the cessation of egg-laying 

 for ten days have proved effective with me, 

 no matter how strong or well provisioned the 

 colony. 



Question. — I have read about clipijini;-; do you 

 think that M'ould be best for one witli t") or 20 

 colonies ? 



Answer. — If I had only one colony, I 

 should want the queen clipped, and I should 

 clip if I had 500 colonies or more. 



C. C. Miller. 



