ilarch, 1910. 



lAmorican ^gc Joarnal 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or to 



DR. C. C. MILLER. Mareneo. III. 



Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



e; 



National Bee-Keepers' Association 



What is the use and advantage of belong- 

 ing to the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion? West Virginia. 



Answer.— The thing that first started bee- 

 keepers to uniting together was the fact that 

 a Wisconsin bee-l<eeper. Mr. Freeborn, was 

 prosecuted by a troublesome neighbor who 

 kept sheep, and who charged that Mr. Free- 

 born's bees drove the sheep and injured the 

 pasture. The expenses of the lawsuit were 



retty heavy for one man to stand, and all 

 ^ee-keepers were more or less interested. 

 for if the suit went against Mr. Freeborn, 

 and he had to pay damages, bee-keepers all 

 over might be mulcted in the same way. So 

 a number of us chipped in to help Mr. Free- 

 born, and from that grewapermanentorgani- 

 zation. which with some changes of name. 

 has continued ever since. 



Prior to that time, in a good many instances 

 bee-keepers had been obliged to give up bee- 

 keeping or else to move their bees at the 

 whim of some troublesome neighbor, but 

 after this banding together they began to 

 stand up for their rights, and the Associa- 

 tion always stands ready to aid its members 

 if trouble starts. In this way it stands as a 

 sort of insurance company, for none of us 

 knows what day he may get into trouble and 

 need help. . 



It has also influenced public opinion by its 

 deliverances, and by some effective adver- 

 tising. If bee-keepers were all as wise as 

 they should be. and all of them unite with 

 the .Association, there is no telling how much 

 good might be done. Some think prices 

 could be influenced to such an extent that 

 the annual cost of membership would come 

 back to the pockets of each member many 

 times over. 



The annual report that each member gets 

 free of charge is valuable. 



If vou are awake to your best interests 

 you will send a dollar to the General Mana- 

 ger. N. E. France. PlatteviUe, Wis., and he 

 wili at once enroll you as a member; or send 

 it to the office of the .'\merican Bee Journal 

 if more convenient. 



Moths in Hives — Bees Eating Holes in 

 Combs 



1. How can I best prevent moths from get- 

 ting into my hives. Last summer they de- 

 stroyed 4 for me— literally destroyed them. 

 I laid it mostly to moths being more numer- 

 ous than usual, there being much wet 

 weather, and it seems there are many more 

 in wet weather than in dry weather. In two 

 days and nights last summer they destroyed 

 one colony. I examined each of the hives 

 every 2 or 3 days while so wet, after I saw 

 that it was necessary to do it. 



2. What makes one of my colonies eat 

 holes in its comb? It is not that the bees 

 have nothing to eat. for they have plenty. 

 there being about half of the comb full of 

 honey. They seem thrifty, that is. they 

 seem healthy, and are strong. They have 

 eaten holes through portions of the combs. 

 and eaten the edges and corners off of other 

 portions. I first thought that mice had 

 made a nest with them, but on examination 

 I do not find it so. Kansas. 



Answers.— I. The moths are not so bad as 

 you think they are. Wherever they are bad 

 its a pretty safe guess that the bee keeper 

 himself has first been pretty bad in allowing 

 more or less weak colonies in his yard. You 

 went into each hive every 2 or 3 days, and 

 doubtless you destroyed all the bee-moth 

 larvs. or wax worms, that were large enough 

 to be readily seen. You did well, and that's 

 about all you can do directly to get rid of 

 them. The indirect means are the most im- 



portant. Don't allow pieces of comb or 

 liives containing them to be standing about 

 as breeding-places for the pests. Most im- 

 portant of all is to keep all colonies slroittf. 

 Italians are almost moth-proof, ever so much 

 better than blacks. Even a rather weak 

 colony of Italians will keep the moth at bay. 

 If you want to encourage the moths, leave 

 a \'ery weak colony of olack bees in your 

 yard. Then when their combs are riddled 

 with the work of the moth, give them to a 

 strong Italian colony, and see how soon they 

 will be c't aned out. 



2. I don't know without seeing. It may be 

 that the bees have been digging out worms. 

 It may be that the bees have been digging 

 down the comb at a part where it is not in 

 use. to be added to some part that they are 

 using. Sometimes, indeed very often, it 

 looks as if bees dug down theircomb through 

 sheer mischief. Especially if foundation is 

 given at a time when no honey is coming in. 

 you may count on their gnawing it more or 

 less. 



Best Clover for Bees — Kind of Brood 

 Foundation — Best Bees 



1. What kind of clover is the best for bees? 



2. What kind of brood foundation should I 

 use? 



3. I am sending a few bees. What kind are 

 they? 



4. What kind of bees are the best? 



Iowa. 



Answers.— I. In Iowa, probably, all things 

 considered, no clover is more valuable than 

 the common white clover. Very likely you 

 have that without any sowing. If you want 

 to sow any besides, try sweet clover, both 

 the white and yellow variety. It blooms 

 later than white clover. 



2. Perhaps "medium brood" will be as 

 good as any for you; although " light brood " 

 might do if well supported by wires or 

 splints. 



3. As nearly as I can make out from their 

 mashed condition. I should think them hy- 

 brids, or blacks with some admixture of Ital- 

 ian blood. 



4. You can probably do no better than to 

 have Italians. 



Moth Troubles — Italianizing 



1. I have 6 hives of bees, the common black. 

 The bee-moth destroyed 2 colonies. 1 did 

 not know anything about the moth till one 

 day I saw some dirt on the alighting-board, 

 and looked in to see what was going on. and 

 I discovered the moth. Everything was solid 

 webbed in moths of all sizes. There is a 

 woman about a mile away who keeps bees, 

 so I went to her to see what to do. She said. 

 "Burn sulphur, and set the. hive over it: 

 melt up the comb, and clean out the hive. " I 

 think I ought to have done it. as the moths, I 

 believe, have gone into the other hives. The 

 frames are all fastened together. They have 

 never been handled like a regular bee-man 

 would handle them. What can I do if the 

 bees should be alive in the spring, to save 

 what I have of the 4 colonies? Is there any 

 way to keep the moth away by traps or any 

 other device' My bees did not store any 

 honey last year; possibly they have no 

 queen, or a poor one. 



2. If I bought an Italian nucleus with a 

 queen, would they Italianize the blacks, or 

 would the blacks "black " them? I have 

 " Forty Years Among the Bees." but I have 

 not found, as yet, what to do with the moth. 



New Jersey. 



Answers.— I. See reply to Kansas. 

 2. If you get a nucleus with an Italian 

 Queen, andset it in a yard of black bees. 



,111.1 1(1 nothing more than that, the nucleus. 

 01 th.- colony that grows from it. will con- 

 tinue to be Italian so long as that queen 

 lives. When a young cjueen takes her place, 

 the young queen will most likely meet a 

 black drone, and her worker-progeny will be 

 what are called "hybrids." At the same 

 time some of the young queens in the black 

 colonies may be fertilized by Italian drones, 

 but the black blood will predominate largely. 

 If you rear young queens from the Itafian, 

 introducing them into other colonies, you 

 may soon have Italian blood predominating. 



Moths in Bee- House — Trap for Swarming 



I have 2 colonies of bees now. I lost 2 with 

 moths. 



1. 1 am going to place them in a building 

 when taken from the cellar. Will moths 

 bother them there? 



2. As I have not time to be around at 

 swarming time. 1 am going to put on the 

 queen and drone trap. Will that be right? 



Minnesota. 



Answers— I. The moths will trouble as 

 much in a building as out of it. Read care- 

 fully the answer to " Kansas." 



2. It will be all right if you give the proper 

 attention afterward. But merely putting on 

 a trap will not answer. The queen will be 

 caught in it, and if you leave her there there 

 will be a young queen in the hive in a week 

 or so, and when she tries to fly out to be 

 fertilized she will be caught in the trap, and 

 then you will have a qiieenless colony. You 

 will have to keep watch, and when the queen 

 is caught in the trap make an artificial 

 swarm, or dispose matters some other way. 



Non-Swarming — Getting Increase 



1. In the American Bee Journal for May, 

 page iq8, it gives an easy way to stop swarm- 

 ing, by putting the new swarm on the old 

 stand, and the old swarm beside it; later 

 move the old swarm about 10 feet away. Will 

 they store just as much honey, or more, if 

 this is done? or would they do better if left 

 to swarm about 2 or 3 times? 



2. In the July issue.page220.it shows an 

 easy way to increase. Do you think this is 

 just as good as natural swarming? Would 

 you increase that way? Iowa. 



Answers.— I. In your locality I think you 

 would always get more honey by the plan 

 mentioned than by allowing the bees to 

 swarm at their own will. In a season not 

 above the average, if a colony should swarm 

 2 or 3 times you would be likely to get no 

 honey. By following the plan mentioned 

 you might get a fair crop from the swarm. 



2. The plan is given, not as a very good one. 

 but as a very easy one. It is not as good as 

 natural swarming, for you would not have 

 as good queens, if there were no other ob- 

 jection. But if one could not be on hand to 

 hive natural swarms, and one wanted to in- 

 crease the easiest way. it might be used. No. 

 I wouldn't use it myself. I would rather take 

 a little more trouble and have a better way. 



In "Forty Years Among the Bees" you 

 will find some of the ways I use that are not 

 so easy, but a good deal better. 



Supers Partly Filled VJixh Honey 



1. I have about 20 supers about half filled 

 with honey from last year. What can I do 

 with them? I thoughtwhen I put them away 

 thev were all right to put on in the spring, 

 but from studying bee-papers, that does not 

 seem the thing to do. 



2. What if 1 should put them on early, say 

 as soon as bees are taken out of the cellar? 



Iowa. 

 Answers— I. I am in the dark as to 

 whether section supers or extracting supers 

 are meant. It makes a difference. In either 

 case, the probability is that the honey in the 

 supers is candied, and candied honey cannot 

 be suffered in sections, although it might not 

 be objected to in extracted honey. The 

 honey should have been emptied out last 

 fall by the bees, but it does no good to tell 

 you that now. I'm only telling you for the 

 future. Likely there are sections in the 

 supers. Set 4 or 5 supers in a pile (not over 

 any colony), and allow an entrance only large 

 enough for a single bee at a time. Or, you 

 may put 8 or 10 in a pile, with a small en- 

 trance at the top and another at the bottom. 

 If vou allow a large entrance, the bees will 

 tear the combs to pieces. Leave them till 

 the bees have cleaned them out and have 

 practically stopped working on them. If you 

 allow a large entrance, the bees will tear the 



