Mav, inl2. 



American Bee Jonrnal| 



liealtliy until March is. The hive was dry 

 all winter, and tlie colony went into winter 

 quarters with 40 pounds of fall honey. What 

 is the cause of this disease develoDing ? Can 

 it be spread to other colonies : What is the 

 best method of curing the disease ? 



Pennsylvania. 



Answkr.— I don't know why paralysis 

 should develop so suddenly and so violently. 

 It is somethine very unusual. Just what is 

 the cause of bee-paralysis, the best authori- 

 ties do not claim to know. Many cures have 

 been claimed, but perhaps you can do noth- 

 ing better than to let the bees alone. As far 

 north as you are. it generally disappears of 

 itself without doing any great harm. It does 

 not spread from one colony to another, and 

 if it is nothing more than bee-paralysis you 

 need not feel alarmed. But are you certain 

 it is paralysis ? Is there no disease in the 

 brood ? If you are at all uncertain about it. 

 communicate with Dr. E. F. Phillips, Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. Washington. D. C, 

 sending him a sample of brood if it is dis 

 eased, and you will get an expert decision 

 from him. It will cost you nothing. 



Rearing Queens- 



-Prevenling Swarming- 

 Mapie Sap 



Feeding 



1. What is the best method of rearing 

 queens to introduce into the colonies in Au- 

 gust ? 



2. What is the best way to prevent swarm- 

 ing? Is the cutting out of queen-cells a 

 good way ? 



3. How would it do to draw sap from ma- 

 ple-trees in buckets and feed to the bees in 

 early spring to start brood-rearing? Would 

 this not be better than sugar syrup ? 



Wisconsin. 

 Answers.— I. I don't know that there is 

 any particular difference between rearing 

 queens for introduction in August and rear- 

 ing them for introduction at any other time. 

 There may, however, be a difference in this 

 respect, that you can get cells from colonies 

 that have swarmed, and these may mature 

 into laving queens in good time for introduc- 

 tion in August. Swarming-cells. if taken 

 from the right kind of stock, are likely to be 

 as good as any you can get. 



2. I would give a good deal for the best an- 

 swer to that question. Cutting out queen- 

 cells every week or 10 days will sometimes 

 prevent swarming, and sometimes not. 

 Sometimes the bees seem only the more de- 

 termined, and after you have cut out the 

 cells, will swarm with nothing beyond eggs 

 in the queen-cells. Many prevent swarm- 

 ing by shake-swarming, or taking away all 

 brood but one. Some prevent it by the use 

 of J. E. Hand's non-swarming arrangement. 



3. I don't know that maple-sugar syrup is 

 any better than cane-sugar syrup. Likely. 

 however, it is just as good. Care should be 

 taken about feeding either when it is not 

 warm enough for bees to fly. 



Increasing from 8 Colonies to 55 



I put ^5 colonies of bees in the cellar last 

 fall. There are H of them alive. I have 300 

 brood-frames with good comb. 100 of them 

 are half full of honey. Honey-dew killed 

 the bees. 



I want to know the best way to till these 

 frames with bees again. I intend to buy my 

 queens. Can I. in .lune. take one frame of 

 brood and 2 frames of honey and a queen 

 and some bees; in ,luly. 2 frames of brood. 2 

 frames of honey, and some bees anda queen? 

 How much increase do you think I can make 

 of these 8 colonies in a good year if I buy all 

 of my queens ? 



How many queens do I want at a time ? If 

 I could not use them right away, can I keep 

 them in the bee house for a day or two ? 



Iowa. 



.\NswER.— If you will pardon the irregu- 

 larity, I will answer without taking your 

 questions in order. The number of queens 

 you will get at a time depends upon what 

 plan you take, and how many are needed. 

 Better not get them any faster than needed. 

 But you can keep a queen in her cage a week 

 or so without trouble if you keep her in the 

 house where she will not be chilled. 



'rhe number of colonies to which you can 

 increase depends upon the strength of the ft 

 live colonies and on the season. If they are 

 strong, and the season is excellent, you may- 

 have no trouble in getting back to yourorigi- 

 nal number, since you buy the queens and 

 have so many drawn combs. 



Your plan may work all right by starting 

 in June with a frame of brood and adding 2 

 more in July. But starting with so weak a 

 nucleus is not always the most satisfactory 



way. Possibly >ou may like another plan 

 that contemplates never having anything 

 less than .1 frames of brood in a hive. 



First thing, you must look out for your 

 combs lest the wax-worms make havoc with 

 them. You can put some of them under or 

 over the colonies, where they will be well 

 taken care of. Others you may treat with 

 bisulphide of carbon, killing all eggs and 

 worms. 



Before any step is taken toward increase, 

 the 8 colonies must be strong, each having 6 

 frames or more of brood. Some of them 

 may be weak, and they must be helped by 

 the stron;; ones. You may be able to have 

 them all strong by the first of tune, and may 

 be not until some time later. But suppose 

 it is June i. From each colony you will take 

 2 frames of brood with adhering bees, of 

 course looking out not to take the queen. 

 That will give you ij frames of brood. You 

 will start 4 colonies with these, giving 4 

 frames of brood to each. The frames of 

 brood you take from the strong colonies will 

 be the ripest you can get. and you will, of 

 course, replace them with drawn combs, 

 putting these combs in the middle of the 

 brood-nest. You will also lill out your new 

 colonies with combs, thus using some of 

 your honey. By the middle of June you will 

 likely be able to repeat the operation, mak- 

 ing 4 more new colonies, or 16 in all. Again, 

 by July I. you may be able to make 4 more, 

 or 20 in all. Then, again. July 15 you may 

 make 4 more. In the meantime, however, 

 the first 4 you made may be strong enough to 

 yield 2 frames of brood apiece, thus making 

 21) in all. By Aug. i. 2 more of the little fel- 

 lows may be able to help, making 34 in all. 

 August 15 may bring you up to 4t>. and if the 

 season continues goodyou may increase still 

 later. Now. it may not pan out at all as 

 pictured. But at any rate, your policy is to 

 keep every colony fairly strong all the time, 

 never drawing so much from any one as to 

 leave it less than 4 or 5 frames of brood. 

 Then you will not be caught at the tail end 

 of the season with a lot of weaklings to be 

 lost the next winter. 



Caring for Weak Colonies 



Out of 10 colonies of bees I have 4 that 

 have come out very weak. I don't believe 

 there is a quart of bees to the colony, al- 

 though they have a little brood started. 

 Please tell me what is best to do in such 

 cases. Missouri. 



Answer.— You may be thankful if only 4 

 out of 10 are weak. Let them alone until 

 some of the other colonies are strong enough 

 to have h frames of brood. Then take a 

 frame of brood from a weak colony and ex- 

 change it with astrongone for a frame tilled 

 as nearly as possible with sealed brood 

 ready to hatch out. When this has mostly 

 hatched out. you can make another neap. 

 each time taking from the weak colony one 

 of its poorest frames, and swapping for the 

 best vou can get But don't give more brood 

 than the bees can cover, or it will be chilled 

 and lost. After a weakling has been thus 

 strengthened until it has bees enough to 

 cover 2 or 3 full frames, then you can give it 

 from a strong colony a frame of ripe brood 

 with the adhering bees, putting it close up 

 to the brood, but not between two frames of 

 brood. Of course, you will be careful not to 

 take a queen with the brood. 



Here is another way: Into an empty hive 

 on some new stand put 6 or 8 combs of sealed 

 brood with adhering bees, these to be taken 

 from the strong colonies. It will be just as 

 well to fasten them in the hive, only look out 

 that you don't smother them, .^fter they 

 have stood 24 to 4« hours, you may then give 

 them wherever they will do the most good 

 to your weak colonies. If you give too many 

 strange bees to a weak colony, there is dan- 

 ger that they may kill the queen, if they are 

 taken directly from a lay ingqueen; but after 

 standing 24 to 4R hours they feel their queen- 

 lessness and will not harm any queen where 

 they are given. 



Bleaching Comb Honey 



How can I bleach comb honey '^ I got about 

 2400 sections last year, and it was hard to 

 sell it on account of its darkness. I see a 

 process for bleaching it in'ABCof Bee 

 Culture." but do you know of any better way :• 

 .•\11 the honey that is coming into the market 

 is whiter than mine, and I can not account 

 for it. If you know of a way to whiten honey, 

 please let me know. Illinois. 



Answer.— No; lean give no better way 

 It's one of the cases where prevention is 

 better than cure, and I try to manage so 



there shall be as few darkened sections as 

 possible. There are two reasons for sec- 

 tions being darkened outside: Being top 

 long on the hive, and being too near old. 

 dark combs. If a super of sections be left 

 on the hive until every section is completely 

 sealed, the central sections are very likely 

 to be darkened. So I don't wait for the seal- 

 ing of all the sections, but take off the super 

 when all but a few of the outside ones are 

 sealed. Perhaps the 4 corner sections will 

 not be finished, perhaps 4 on each side. 

 Then these unfinished sections are massed 

 together and given back to the bees to be 

 finished, .-^t one time, when I used wide 

 frames to hold sections, my practice was to 

 raise a brood-comb from the brood-chamber 

 and put it between 2 frames of sections in 

 the uiiper story, so as to induce the bees to 

 begin work promptly. It was very success- 

 ful in that direction, but it was equally siic- 

 cessful in getting the bees to darken the 

 capping of the sections, for they would carry 

 bits of the dark old brood-comb across to 

 use on the sections, making them dark be- 

 fore ever the capping was finished. You will 

 probably find that a thin top-bar will help to 

 darken sections, because it allows them to 

 be nearer the combs. On that account a 

 top-bar ''8-inch thick is desirable You may 

 also find more trouble with shallow brood- 

 combs than with deeper ones. 



(The above refers to the color of the cap- 

 pings. The honey itself may have been 

 dark, perhaps honey-dew. There is no 

 known process to change its color.— Editor.] 



Different Breeds of Bees Mating Queens 



I am a lad of onlv 14 years, and I am very 

 much interested in bee-keeping. To my no- 

 tion, it is one of the most fascinating and 

 pleasant kinds of work to be found. 



I keep the hybrid bees (the only kind kept 

 around here). I have had nothing to do with 

 any other race, but am seriously thinking of 

 introducing pure stock into my apiary, and 

 I hardly know what race to choose. The 

 main honey-How here is from the first of 

 Mav to the last of June. The principal 

 honey-plants here are white clover, vetch, 

 raspberry and fruit-bloom, 



1 Which strain of Italians are superior as 

 to honey-gathering qualities? ,, ,. , 



2 Is the Caucasian bee as good as the Ital- 

 ian in regards to industry, gentleness and 

 wintering? ... t , 



3 Kindly give names and addresses of a 

 few recommended breeders of pure Italian 



queens, . . r j ^ * 



4. Will a queen lay that is forced to mate 



with her brother ? .it 



;. Which parent does a bee partake of 



most in color, generally ? 



6 Do bees always build up queen-cells 

 that are inserted in the hive with larva; in 



7 'what kind of a bee is the Cyprian ? also 

 the Banat ? Oregon. 



Answers, -I. Probably as good as any is 

 the leather-colored, or darker. 3-banded. 



2 There is probably no great difference in 

 any respect as to geiitleness. Caucasians 

 have been claimed to be the gentlest of all 

 bees. Yet some have reported differently. 



3 At this time of the year there should be 

 no trouble in finding these in the advertis- 

 ing columns. , „ .„ 



4 Yes But if you can force a queen to 

 mate with a particular drone you have a 

 great secret. , , ... ™, 



s. I don't know very much about it. They 

 say that the progeny follows the parent with 

 the most fixed character; but what appears 

 in one generation may be different in the 

 next. 



6. N'ot by any means. 



7 Cyprians are something like Italians in 

 appearance, but have the reputation of be- 

 ing the crossest of all bees. Banats are 

 much like Caucasians. 



Great Losses— Plan for Increase 



I had 21 colonies of bees last fall; this 

 spring I have only 8 colonies left, the other 

 13 died during the winter, and 2 starved I 

 thought a great deal of my bees, but this 

 winter was too cold for them 1 have had 

 bees 25 years, but never had any freeze to 

 death except a few bees in among the col- 

 onies, but not a whole colony as long as they 

 had honey. Some of those colonies that froze 

 had hives half filled with honey, but still 

 they froze to death. . 



I would like to build up my bees agam to 

 25 or w colonies this summer. I have about 

 that many hives and some old honey lett 



