1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



855 



\\ licrc you write a letter only as often as once a 

 week or once a montii. 



In the lettei' alhuleil to al)ove. I tiud the fol- 

 lowing: '"It has just eoiiie to my knowledf^e 

 that you 1ki\(> successfully exported (jueens to 

 Australia: and as I am anxious to obtain some 

 of your stock, would you let me know if the in- 

 formation T received is correct?" 



lam sorry to say that the infoiination is iiat 

 correct. Soiue li\'e or six years airo. a i)art\' liv- 

 ing in New Zealand wished me to send him 

 some queens. I wrote him that it was vei\v 

 doubtful about my getting them there alive: 

 but I said if hi' woiild stand half of the loss, if 

 the ([ueens failed to come alive. I would try the 

 matter by way of expei'iment. To this he agreed. 

 There is only one pi'oper time to try this experi- 

 ment from this State, and that is in October. 

 this being as late as we can risk shiijment here, 

 on account of cold, and as early in the spiing as 

 they can well be recei\ed in Australia. 



When the i)ro|)er time arrived. I prei)ared the 

 queen to be sent, to the best advantage as I 

 considered it, and started her. She was just 37 

 days oi route, and reached there alive, so that 

 she "kicked around a little," according to the 

 information I obtained fr'om my friend, but soon 

 died. As he wished to ti'y again, we did so: but 

 instead of the second going in 37 days, she was 

 72 days on the way. and. of course, died long 

 before she arrived. In thinking of these long 

 journeys in the mails, it must be taken into 

 consideration that the life of the worker-bee. 

 under the most favorable^ circumstances, is only 

 about 4.") days during the summer months; and 

 when we come to ])lace tliem under as unfavor- 

 able conditions as they are while contined to the 

 narrow limits of a queen-cage, it is not surpris- 

 ing that they should not live out their allotted 

 time. After the workers all die. the queen does 

 not survive a great while, so that I consider it 

 an impossibility to get a queen to New South 

 Wales alive, with only the set of workers that 

 are jjlaced with her to start with, especially as 

 the letter I am answering was 54 days on the 

 way. If, after the queen had been on the way 

 about 20 days, some i)ractical apiarist could re- 

 ceive it, open the cage, and put a fresh escort in 

 for the ([ueen, seeing at the same time that the 

 candy was fresh and in abundance, and after 

 the next 20 days the same thing be done over 

 again, I tiiink there would be no doubt but 

 sonn' qui'ens might be sent alive fi'om here to 

 Australia. During the last year I have I'eceived 

 queens from Italy for i)arties in California by' 

 mail. I placed them in fresh cages, and gave 

 them fi'esh bees, thereby getting them through 

 in fine oi'der, when only faihu'e had been the 

 result of foi'iuer tri;ils. I have also assisted 

 l)ai'ties fr()m the West in getting queens over to 

 Ireland in the same way. 



THE NAMELESS BEE DISEASE. 



After speaking some good words about an 

 article of mine in (Ileaxincjs, and telling how 

 one of their "great lights'" in Australia agnu^d 

 with me. the writer goes on to tell how. at a 

 meeting "in this colony," called for " the ad- 

 vancing of the intei-esls of bee culturi'. etc.." it 

 was •• asserted that tlie nameless, or shaking 

 bee disease, is nothing but a species of intoxica- 

 tion, arising fi'om tiie consumption of fermented 

 pollen and honey by the bees." and asks. " ^\'llat 

 do you think about it'.'" lie seems to think, 

 that, if tliere was an.\' truth in this assertion, 

 the di'ones would hav(> the disease as well as 

 the workei-s. This would be so if the tiouble 

 were in tlu! fermenting of honey; but if it was 

 fermented ijollen, then the drones would not 

 iuive it. for, as far as Tiiy experience goes. 

 mature drones never eat pollen nor luive any 

 thing to do with it. 1 should not like to express 

 a positive opinion in the matter: but this one 



thing I have noticed: That in all cases of the 

 nameless disease which I have seen in m.\- ow n 

 neighborbood and elsewhei'e, it always disa|i- 

 pears with cold weather, and does iu)t again 

 appeal' till w arm weather comes to stay, wheth- 

 er the (|ueen of a colony is ri'inoNcd or not.' 1 

 also had one case where the removal of the 

 (|ueen did no good, as the disease kept right on 

 till cold weather came, when it disappi'ari'd. 

 This showing, only in warm or fermenting 

 weather, would give a little coloring toward the 

 ferm(>ntatioii theory. U. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 15. 



Friend D.. I am very glad to know that you 

 have done so much in tliis line, I came to the; 

 conclusion, long ago, that the limit of time 

 that a queen might be out of the hive with a 

 single escort is just about where you put it. In 

 regard to the nameless bee disease, you may be 

 right; but we have almost always, if not al- 

 ways, cured it by giving a new queen. 



EIGHT VERSUS TEN FRAME HIVES. 



IX FAVOU OF I,AK(iE HIVES 



In Oct. 1 Gleanings you call upon the ( ali- 

 fornia bee-kings to give their experience with 

 eight and ten frame hivCs. While 1 am not a 

 bee-king (a drone) I have had much experience 

 with the two sizes of hives, my apiary of nearly 

 400 stocks being about equallv divided between 

 them, I produce only extracted honey, and all 

 my remarks relate to the production of that 

 article. 



Until the past two seasons lM<ept bees in a 

 very poor locality, where a good honey-flow was 

 unknown. There I thought the eight- frame 

 hive was plentv large: but after experiencing 

 a good honey-flow I concluded that th(> t<>n- 

 frame was too small, and twelve would be about 

 the right size. In California we do not stority 

 and extract at the end of every season, a la 

 Dadant, but extract every week or ten days. 

 While eight frames give brood space enough 

 for most queens, an eight-frame super will not 

 hold as much honey as a strong stock can g.ither 

 in a week during a good honey-flow: and. it ex- 

 tracted oftener than once a week, the honey is 

 unripe and infericu'. Two supers are too mucli 

 room, and a nuisance besides. Some ot my best 

 stocks would till everv cell full in less tluan a 

 week, and would of necessity be idle until ex- 

 tracted from. In thesecases the ten-frame liive, 

 having two combs more to iill. would have Irom 10 

 to 12 lbs. more honev. .V twelve-frame super 

 would have been about right for many ol my 

 hives. These large supers are objectionalile. 

 however, as, when Hrst put on in tlu' spring, and 

 before being occui)ied by the be(>s, they make 

 the hive aliHosi to cool: and too use dmnnues oi- 

 tillers with them is another nuisance. 



I believ<- the old (liscarde<l Long-Idea hive is 

 the proper thing for extracted honey in ( ali- 

 fornia. It is the best non-swarming hive ex- 

 tant The most prolitic (pieens can And a cell 

 for everv egg they can lay: and. when extract- 

 ing begins, as nuiiiv of the combs can lie used 

 for storing as are reqiiii-ed. Wlien i)uil(ling u|) 

 in the spring, bv the use of a division-board the 

 hive can be so contracted as to meet the require- 

 ments of any stock, and the remainder ot the 

 combs are where they will be i)rotected Ironi 

 moth, mice, and roblier-bees. and right to hand 

 when wanted. The hivi'. however, will re(|iiire 

 a little more lumber than a two-story hive with 

 tli(> same number of frames, and I Ixdieve the 

 heat in them will be greater. Wm.C>. Hkwes. 



Newhall. Cal.. Nov. ('). KS'.M). 



