28 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



January 



may be blacks, and they may be somethine 

 else. 



2. One reason may be that the super is too 

 high tor the number of bees there are to fill 

 it. especially if there be nothing to bait the 

 bees above. I have known a strong colony 

 to begin building up from the top-bars when 

 an empty hive-body was placed over it. 



3. Like enough because they were after- 

 swarms. When a colony throws off four or 

 more afterswarms, the last of them may be 

 no larger than your fist. 



4. It is a very rare thing that a prime 

 swarm goes off without alighting; indeed 

 some claim that they never do. An after- 

 swarm may go off without settling, possibly 

 because its queen is a virgin, and in lighter 

 trim for flying. 



5. Probably because she is a stranger to 

 them and they don't want any interlopers. 



6. Yes. 



7. Often a bungling beekeeper, and some- 

 times a virgin is lost on her wedding flight 

 with nothing in the hive from which to rear 

 another queen. 



8. Like enough, provided the new queen 

 be one iust reared. 



M. Not very likely, if the queen had stopped 

 laying. 



Pickled Brood 



During the month of July I noticed in my 

 apiary one colony of bees that was full of 

 dead brood; worker and drone brood alike 

 were affected with the same disease Combs 

 were full of brood, some dead in cells after 

 capping, but most of the brood had died be- 

 fore being capped, and quite a few dried 

 down and dark in color. 



I sent a sample in size of about 2x3 inches 

 to Washington. D. C. After two weeks I 

 received a letter from there stating that the 

 trouble was perhaps pickled brood, and no 

 treatment was necessary; 'but still a posi- 

 tive diagnosis of the case could not be made 

 from the sample I had sent. Later on I 

 found a couple of colonies that were also 

 slightly affected with the same disease. 



This fall I noticed that thebeeshadcleaned 

 out. or nearly all. the dead brood, excepting 

 about two to four capped cells to each side 

 of the brood-comb. The cappings are nor- 

 mal. , , 



This colony was boiling over with bees all 

 summer, but did not swarm. 



How could I prevent this malady from 

 spreading? 



Is there any known cure for it ? 



Would you advise destroying the brood- 

 comb and super comb of the sick colonies ? 



Would it be advisable to place this colony 

 some distance, say about 50 to a 100 feet 

 from the main apiary next spring, if they 

 live that long? Wisconsin. 



Answkr.— If it is pickled brood there is 

 no need to do anything beyond doing all 

 you can to keep colonies strong and in good 

 condition; it should disappear without 

 spreading, and it is not advisable to destroy 

 combs or to move colonies 100 feet away. 



Swarm Prevention 



1. Can you give me the best way to prevent 

 swarms ? I confess that I hardly understand 

 your methods of swarm prevention by divid- 

 ing as mentioned in " Fifty Years Among the 

 Bees." 



2. Do you lift your hive with H-inch blocks 

 where you use 2-inch entrances ? 



3. If I don't want to divide, I would like to 

 cage the queen and leave her in the brood- 

 chamber on the bottom-board for ten days; 

 if queen-cells appear I destroy all of them, 

 and again in five days I destroy them and 

 later free the queen. Is this a good way ? 



4. Some writersaid if a queen is left in the 

 cage ten days it would cause foulbrood or 

 some other disease. What do you think 

 about it ? Indiana. 



Answers.— I. I am very sorry that the 

 matter is not made entirely clear to you in 

 the book "Fifty Years Among the Bees.' I 

 do not believe I can give you anything bet- 

 ter here, but if you will tell me the part that 

 is not clear to you I shall be only too glad to 

 give any further explanation I can 



2. No; with a bottom-board and entrance 



two inches deep, and a bottom-rack to pre- 

 vent the bees building down. I do not raise 

 the hive on blocks. I think, however, that 

 the additional blocking-up would be a 

 further help against swarming, although a 

 good bit of trouble. 



3. This plan was given by G. M. Doolittle 

 many years ago. only he used it <;//<■/■ a col- 

 ony had swarmed instead of before. I used 

 it for some years with success, and always 

 felt thankful to Mr. Doolittle for the plan. 



4. I think it's nonsense. 



of chunk honey built without foundation 

 will yield almost exactly three pounds of 

 wax. It is generallyestimated that bees will 

 produce 50 percent more extracted honey 

 than comb. Some put it as high as double. 



4. My guess would be that outdoor winter- 

 ing should be the better, but I'd rather take 

 the experience of beekeepers on the spot. 



Location 



Beekeeping Near Seattle 



I. With honey retailing here at Tacoma 

 and Seattle at 15 cents per pound section, 

 and 25 cents per pint extracted, would it not 

 be more profitable to extract? 



2.'How much comb honey should I be pro- 

 ducing before it is profitable to purchase 



If you were to start beekeeping again 

 what State would you choose ? 



South Dakota. 



Answer.— The likelihood is that if I were 

 beginning over again I would begin in what- 

 ever State I happened to be living in. There 

 are other things beside3bee-pasturage. not 

 the least being the ties that bind one to 

 the old locality. I happen to be in a place 



PURE HONEY 1 I 







i 



f 



COYNE 



BROTHERS 



CHICAGO 



SPECIAL BRANDS HAVE HELPED INCREASE DEMANDS FOR HONEY 



an extractor (or how many colonies) ? 



3. What is the relative weight between 

 honey comb and its contents, and how much 

 more honey is it generally considered can 

 be produced by extracting ? 



4. Last winter was the worst in years for 

 this section, nearly a month of snow and be- 

 low freezing weather. Usually we only have 

 a week or ten days hard freeze with a few 

 scattering frosts with lots of rain. Would it 

 be best for me to winter in a cellar ? I have 

 single-walled hives and reduce the entrance 

 to one-third. Washington. 



Answers.— I. Yes, decidedly. 



2. If you intend to give up bees at the end 

 of next season, it might not be worthwhile 

 to get an extractor unless you have eight or 

 ten colonies. But if you intend to continue, 

 increasing your apiary. I should say it would 

 be better to get an extractor- if you have 

 only two or three colonies. 



3, According to Root's "ABC and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture," a section weighing a pound 

 will have a little more than one-half ounce 

 of wax, Arthur C. Miller says 100 pounds 



that is none of the best for bees, and I have 

 a good many times thought that if I were 

 beginning over again I'd choose a better 

 location, and yet as I grow older I don't feel 

 so sure about it. I have noticed a number 

 of cases in which men have moved hundreds 

 of miles to better their locations, yet in a 

 very few years many of them would be found 

 back in the old home. On the whole, it 

 would be rather a bad thing if some 

 one location should be decided the best in 

 the world, and all beekeepers should at 

 once decide that was the best place for 

 them. 



A Beginner 



1. I intend to run for comb honey; which 

 would you advise 8 or 10 frame hives ? 



2, If I buy a couple of spring swarms (next 

 spring) will they give a fair yield next sum- 

 mer or must I buy colonies that have been 

 wintered to get a good yield of honey ? 



Massachusetts. 



Answers.— I. The likelihood is that the 



