244 



July, 1915, 



American Vee Journal 



arvae . you generally have sealed, too. 



Italians or Caucasians? 



I have 20 colonies of bees that I want to 

 breed UD to Italians or Caucasians, Which 

 would you advise me to breed them up to ? 



Texas. 



ANSwer —Opinions differ; but Italians 

 are so generally preferred that von will be 

 •safe in adopiine: them. 



It is also a good plan to have strong colonies 

 of Italians, which will prevent the en- 

 croachments of the miscreants. 



May Disease — Moth 



I have one colony of Italian bees in my 

 yard that are dying from some cause. I he 

 adult bees are dying by the hundreds They 

 come dragging out of the hive, and some- 

 times crawl part way up the front; others 

 fall off the run board; they are trembling 

 or jerking and moving their wings; some- 

 times they just turn around in a very 

 small circle, and sometimes they lie on the 

 ground for two days kicking or moving 

 their legs until they finally die. Some have 

 greatly enlarged abdomens, and look almost 

 as large as a young uueen; while others 

 look shiny like they had just crawled out of 

 grease or syrup. They have considerable 

 honey and brood, but do not gain any. 



I Do you think this is what they call May 

 disease ? 



2. What is the cause ? 



3. Is it contagious? 



4. Do you think it would do any good to re- 



Queen ? , . , , , j. -, 



5. What can I do to get rid of this disease ? 

 I see in the American Bee Journal where 



a great many keekeepers ask how to get rid 

 of moths 1 had a hive infected with moths 

 last spring, and this was my remedy. Take 

 a medium sized fishhook, heat it red hot 

 and straighten out curve, leaving barb in- 

 tact. Raise a frame and gig Mr. Moth, an ; 

 you will bring him out webb and all. You 

 can catch a dozen or more before cleaning 

 off hook. - Missouri. 



Answers.— I. Your excellent description 

 marks the disease auite clearly as the dis- 

 ease called in Europe Mai de Mai or Mai- 

 kranheit (May disease), and generally called 

 in this country bee paralysis. 



2. It is believed to be due to a microbe 

 called Bacillus saytmii. and also Bacillus 

 depilis. 



3. It is not considered contagious; yet 

 sometimes affects a whole apiary. 



4. I don't know. Some have claimed that 

 as a cure; others say it does no good. 



5. I don't know. Many cures have been 

 reported successful, only to fail when tried 

 further, and as the disease has a way of dis- 

 appearing of its own accord the supposed 

 cures may have no effect. O. O. Poppleton 

 sprinkles sulphur on the bees and combs. 

 This destroys the sick bees, but it also de- 

 stroys the unsealed larvaj. unless this be 

 removed. 



Your treatment of wax-worms is effective. 



Swarms Between tlie Walls 



I have an old frame building and between 

 the walls honey-bees have made a home. 

 There are three or four colonies in this 

 building, and I would like lo know if it 

 would be possible to get them out from be- 

 tween the walls and put them in standard 

 hives? Montana. 



Answer.— Cut away the walls so you can 

 get at the combs, and put them in the hive; 

 leave the hive as near as possible to the old 

 place of entrance; close up the wall so no 

 bee can get into it. keeping the bees smoked 

 out until this is done, then gradually move 

 the hive each day to where you want it. 

 That's the general principle, which may be 

 varied according to circumstances. 



Controlling Swarming 



In the September issue. igi4. page 310. is 

 an article by C ¥ Greening on " Controlling 

 Swarming," which I find most valuable. I 

 wish to ask a few Questions concerning it. 



1. It being supposed the colony is a strong 

 one, and of course no queen-excluder being 

 used, will the queen always lay eggs in the 

 super added to the brood chamber " as soon 

 as it becomes warm " in the spring ? In case 

 she does not, this plan is doomed to fail at 

 the very start. 



2. In case she does not come up to lay in 

 the super, what shall I do ? 



3. Would this plan work with large brood- 

 chambers, such as the Dadant. the Quinby. 

 or the Massie hive which has a double 

 brood-chamber of a capacity equal to 14 

 Langslroth frames. With such large hives 

 how can I make sure the queen will lay eggs 

 in the first super added in the spring ? 



Montana. 



Answers.— I, I don't think you can always 

 be sure of the queen going above to lay. es- 

 pecially if the hive be very large; but the 

 plan is not necessarily doomed on that ac. 

 count. 



2. Take a frame of brood out of the brood- 

 chamber and put it up. 



3. You seem to think that an essential 

 part of the plan is for the queen to go up 

 and lay in the story above. If that be so. 

 then a very large hive would not do. But I 

 hardly think that is essential. If I under- 

 stand Mr Greening aright, he wants brood 

 always above, with plenty of room for the 

 bees to store between that and the brood- 

 chamber. The large size of the hive would 

 not interfere with that. Indeed, if I am not 

 mistaken, with the very large hives used 

 by the Dadants they have very little swarm- 

 ing, even without keeping brood above. 



KXA.MININU A HABV NUCI.KU^ :\V ''':'• CX WDAI.I, APIARY 



Preferable Height of Stands— Preventing Swarm- 

 ing—Undesirable Queen Moving Stands 



1. Which is better, a hive stand a couple 

 of feet high or one a few inches high, with 

 the entrance board slanting, so that in case 

 the clipped queen went out to swarm she 

 could crawl back in the hive again and thus 

 not be lost ? 



2. If a clipped Queen swarmed from a hive 

 upon a high stand and fell to the ground in 

 the absence of the apiarist and could not get 

 back, would the swarm return to the old 

 hive, and would they in finding their queen 

 absent proceed lo rear a new queen in her 

 place, or what would happen ? 



3. Would, what is called "swapping 

 combs,"/ c, taking a frame of brood from 

 the brood chamber and exchanging same 

 for an empty frame of comb or foundation 

 from the surplus box, tend to get the bees to 

 work in the super and also tend to prevent 

 swarming? 



4. What do you consider (briefly) the best 

 and simplest method of preventing swarm- 

 ing and at the same time get the largest 

 yield of honey in the supers ? 



5 Please state some of the indications of 

 a poor, failing, or old queen, 



6 I want to move three colonies about if. 

 feet directly back of present location Will 

 it be all right to do this in the evening and 

 put a slanting board at entrance for them to 

 locate the change? New York. 



Answers,— I. For you it is probably better 

 to have the hive quite low. Where certain 

 kinds of ants are bad (generally in the 

 South), it is well to have the hive on legs so 

 that by means of dishes of oil or water the 

 ants may be prevented from getting into the 

 hives several feet high, 



2, The swarm would return to the hive, in 

 which there are already a number of young 

 queens in their cells. The first of these 

 will emerge from its cell in a little more 

 than a week, generally, and a swarm is likely 

 to issue with her. 



3 It would tend to start the bees to work 

 in the super, but would not do much to pre- 

 vent swarming. 



4, That cannot be answered "briefly." I 

 have told pretty much all I know about it in 

 " Fifty Years Amone the Bees," occupying a 

 good many pages. But I'll try to give some- 

 thing of a summary that you may find on an- 

 other pate. I'll say this much here. If a 

 colony is made queenless for ten days, and 

 then a queen is given that has been laying 

 only a few days, there will be no swarming 

 that season. 



5. Some of the brood in worker-cells may 

 be drone-brood, as shown by the raised cap- 

 pings of the cells; the brood may be scat- 

 tering, or it may be scanty, 



h Yes; but some bees will return in spite 

 of that. It will help if you keep the bees 

 fastened in the hive until the middle of the 

 next day. and then pound on the hive until 

 the bees roar good and loud before you let 

 them out. 



Clipping Queens Swarms— Foundation in Sections 



1 When queens' wings are clipped, is she 

 held by the wings or clipped while moving 

 on the combs? Is one clipped wing suth- 

 cient ? . . . -t 



2 When several swarms issue at once. 11 

 the queens are clipped, will all the bees go 

 back to their own hive ? 



3 When a swarm issues we move the old 

 colony away and put the new swarm on the 

 old stand. Is it best to leave the old hive 

 near the old stand for a few days, and if so. 



4 Last summer I had six swarms come out 

 and go away together lunclipped qiieensj. 

 and some of the queens were balled and 

 killed. What can one do to senarate them ? 



5, Do you put foundation on both the top 

 and bottom of sections ',,,,,, 



6 When a super is nearly full of honey, is 

 it best to i)iit another super on top and let 

 the bees get well to working before under- 

 superiiigf" Michigan 



Answers— I. Some hold the wings of one 

 side between thumb and finger, and cut 

 them off with the small blade of a pocket 



