January, 1016. 



American IBae Journal 



2fl 



-T^^^^^^E" 



and that it was not diseased. In that case 

 I should hardly expect the disease to re- 

 appear next siirini;. although there is always 

 the possibility tliat it may reappear by the 

 same door tlirough which it first entered, 

 which was probably from some neighborinL' 

 apiary 



2. If any particular kind of bees will guar- 

 antee you against disease, it will surely be 

 advisable to use that kind, even though it 

 should cut down the harvest considerably. 

 I hardly think, however, it would have that 

 efTect. for a colony of bees vigorous enough 

 to combat successfully foulbrood of eitlicr 

 sort is likely to be vigorous enough to do 

 good work at storing honey. 



But it is assuming altogether too much to 

 assume that " golden Italians are a sure pro- 

 tection against European foulbrood and per- 

 haps American also." 1 think immunity 

 against either variety of foulbrood has never 

 been claimed for Itailians. and the most 

 that has been claimed is that they are a help 

 in combating the disease, and of the two 

 kinds, the 3-banders are generally counted 

 more efficient than the goldens. To be sure, 

 there is your own testimony as to a bad 

 case being cleaned up when the goldens be- 

 gan to hatch, and on the face of it that looks 

 as if a colony had cleaned up a pretty bad 

 case of American foulbrood without any 

 help. There have been cases reported in 

 which the bees cleaned up cases of Euro- 

 pean without any help, but I do not remem- 

 ber ever before to have heard of a case of 

 American being so cured; so that the ques- 

 tion naturally arises whether by any possi- 

 bility there may not be some mistake. At 

 any rate, if you are dreaming that you have 

 bees that are proof against foulbrood of 

 either kind while the disease exists in your 

 neighborhood, you are likely to have a rude 

 awakening from your dream. 



Uniting Weak Colonies 



I have bought 12 colonies in Danzenbaker 

 hives; two were a little light. I set them on 

 top of two strong ones, united them by Dr. 

 Miller's newspaper plan. How do you think 

 it would do to double them up that way in the 

 spring and make one large colony out of 

 two. Do you think it would make them 

 swarm less and make them gather more 

 honey? Indiana. 



Answer,— If a colony is so weak that there 

 is little hope of its building up in time for 

 the harvest, uniting as you mention may be 

 advisable. Otherwise it would hardly be 

 best, as the united colony might not store as 

 much as the two left separate. If there 

 should be any difference as to swarming, it 

 would be that the uniting would increase 

 the tendency in that direction. 



Paralysis — Queenlessness 



I have five colonies in movable frame hives. 

 About the first of July they were badly 

 affected with.bee paralysis. Large numbers 

 ofthemdiedin bad weather, but the disea e 

 would check in fair weather. In October 

 they were left with plenty of honey and 

 pollen to winter on. and today. Dec. 13. ex- 

 amined one hive that was very weak in bees. 

 I found no eggs, brood nor queen, but I 

 found two capped qu ^en-cells, also three 

 cells torn open. Will they rear queens dur- 

 ing winter months? If so. can they be de- 

 pended upon as good queens ? What do you 

 do with colonies that are found to be queen- 

 less during the winter ? Missouri. 



Answer —Answering your last question 

 first. I never tind any colonies queenless in 

 winter, for I don't open a hive from the time 

 it is put in cellar until it is taken out again. 

 But if I should by any means find a colony 

 queenless in winter, I would let it alone un- 

 til bees were flying in spring, when I would 

 unite it with another colony. 



It appears certain that bees will rear a 



queen in winter, since your bees are doing 

 that very thing. But it is hardly likely that 

 drones are present and Hying to fertilize a 

 young queen, although it is possible that a 

 queen reared now might be fertilized in 

 spring. On the whole it is doubtful if such 

 a tiucen reared would be very valuable, and 

 it might be well for you to unite the colony 

 with another. Where you are it is likely 

 warm enough, at least on some days, for 

 you to unite the colony without w;aiting till 

 spring. 



Wax Rendering 



I have some old combs that I wish to ren- 

 der into wax. I have no wax press. Will 

 you kindly tell me how I can do it. 



Maine. 



Answer. —The dripping-pan extractor 



may suit you. Take an old dripping-pan (of 

 course a new one would do), split open one 

 corner, lay in the pan the pieces of comb 

 put the pan in the oven of your cook stove, 

 the split end projecting out and a pebble or 

 something of the kind under the other end 

 so as to raise it perhaps an inch. As the 

 heat melts the comb the melted wax will run 

 outof the split corner, and be caught in a 

 vessel that you will set for it. Do not have 

 one layer of comb upon another, for in that 

 case the wax will be held in the little cups, 

 made by the old cocoons. You will not get 

 the wax out clean, but if you reserve the 

 slumgum you may be able to utilize it in the 

 future by sending off what you have accu- 

 mulated to have it worked up by foundation 

 makers. 



Reports And ^ Experiences 



A Bountiful Lot of Flowers But Too 

 Much Rain 



I received a letter from my brother at 

 home. Gimlet. Ky.. stating that there were 

 inquiries concerning the condition of the 

 bees and forage, especially the steel weed. 

 Owing to the enormous rainfall the surplus 

 crop was cut short about one-half this sea- 

 son, while there were a bountiful lotof flow- 

 ers all through the summer, from April to 

 about Nov. 30. The weather did not permit 

 the bees from gatheringasthey normally do. 

 Our greatest source of surplus was from 

 persimmons and chestnut, beginning June 5 

 and lasting two weeks, in which time there 

 was very little rainfall. The fall flow was 

 under normal, still there was so much more 

 honey than the bees will need to carry them 

 through the winter. The weather so far 

 has been quite warm, and bees flying nearly 

 every day. as we winterthem outdoors. The 

 bees will consume about twice as much of 

 their winter stores as they usually do. 

 which I am afraid will result in a shortage 

 of food for brood-rearing in the spring. We 

 will most likely have to feed almost all the 

 colonies to get them ready for the honey 

 flow. C. H. Whitt. 



Clarkston. Mich.. Nov. 16. 



A Good Season 



From 63 colonies, spring count. I increased 

 to 82. My crop was 5(150 pounds of extracted 

 and 750 pounds of comb honey. I fed sou 

 pounds of white extracted honey back for 

 winter stores in addition to louo pounds of 

 fall honey shifted from extracting frames by 

 the bees. No sugar was used. One colony 

 treated <? /</ Demaree. drew out 13 frames of 

 foundation, filled 16 frames for extracting 

 very full; swarmed, kept queenless nine 

 days, and wound up the season by tilling 116 

 sections of comb honey. 



Another worked for comb honey ,7 hi Dr. 

 Miller, produced 21b sections, and finished 

 by being fed not less than 15 cases more. 

 Colonies i; !a Doolittle not a success. I gave 

 it three years' trial. That method I will 

 never use again. I think in a liglit and iiirt-r- 

 mittent flow it might be a success. Five other 

 colonies furnished from 30 to 30 Langstroth 

 frames for extracting. Wes. L. Roberts 



Lavalle. Wis 



Reminiscences 



I was born and raised near Sycamore. III., 

 about 20 miles from Dr. Miller's, and I made 

 him a short visit last year. I never saw so 

 many dandelion ; in one place as I saw there, 

 lam quite well acquainted with Mr. N. E. 

 France. My friend Mr. Ernest Root is on 

 the move, and impressed me as a man that 

 would not be in one spot very long. 



I helped the late W. Z. Hutchinson to don 

 his overcoat when he started from St. Louis, 

 little thinking he would drop out of the bee 

 ranks so soon. 



I had a long talk with Mr. O. O. Poppleton 

 some years ago, about a fixed type of Albino 

 bees and a certain breed of chickens, to 



show how periistent the original blood 

 would continue to crop out even if crossed 

 with other breeds for several crosses. He 

 thought it ought to be written up. 



I have been working with bees 40 years 

 next spring except a few months in tlie sum- 

 mer of igi2, having sold to Mr. F.W.Hall 

 seven yards. He has now nearly 500 colo- 

 nies in fine shape for winter. 



Next spring I will likely start with five 

 yards. My dear wife passed from this life 

 Oct 20. after severe suffering. My daufhter 

 Beulah is a great comfort to me now. 



Colo. Iowa. D. E. Lhommedieu. 



To Introduce a Queen to a Colony With 

 Laying Workers 



Shake all the bees off their combs in front 

 of their hive. Put these combs on some 

 strong colony to take care of and clean up 

 until needed. Give to the colony with lay- 

 ing workers one frame full of unsealed 

 brood and one or two full sheets of founda- 

 tion. Introduce a queen by the cage method 

 after she begins to lay. give them their 

 combs back, if they are not too full of pol- 

 len; if they are, give them other combs, so 

 the queen can get busy. I have used this 

 , plan several years. J. F. Diemer. 



Liberty, Mo.. Nov. 22. 



Bees Packed for Winter 



I have just finished packing my nine colo- 

 nies of bees for winter in the best shape I 

 ever had them, hives full of bees, and about 

 40 or 50 pounds of honey. I have them out- 

 side, all facing the south, about 6 inches 

 apart, with tight board wind break on north, 

 east and west, lined with tar paper, then 

 packed light with dry hay all around and 

 between. The hives are covered with rub- 

 beroid roofing to keep all dry. with absorb- 

 ents 4 inches deep over the frames to take 

 the moisture, and a tight board door to use 

 in front in case of heavy winds or storms. 



I wish the American Bee Journal and all 

 of its readers a glorious Thanksgiving. 



H. C. Springer. 



McCallsburg. Iowa. Nov. 20. 



A Bit of History 



Twenty years ago Mr. Thos. Chantry (now 

 of Price. Utah) and the writer were discuss- 

 ing the possibilities of introducing sweet 

 clover into the Western States. At that 

 time it was not grown in the United States 

 in any quantity, and I believe the value of it 

 as a honey-plant was not at that time appre- 

 ciated. I may be mistaken a little in regard 

 to other facts. 



Mr. Chantry took the task of scattering 

 the seed in waste places in western Iowa 

 and southeastern South Dakota, and I was 

 to boom it in the newspapers and bee-jour- 

 nals. The scattering of the seed had to be 

 done at night, as at that time it was consid- 

 ered a noxious weed by most people. 



The United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture. Farmers' Bulletin No. 485. will explain 



