August, 1912. 



American Hee Journal 



think a week is long enough, but perhaps lo 

 days is better. You notice that I also say. 

 " in most cases." Because in more cases 

 than I like the disease has reappeared. But 

 so it did in some cases when 1 brushed the 

 bees upon foundation and melted the 

 combs. 



Queens Laying Drone-Eggs — Are they Old Queens? 



JAVhatkindof a ciueen-bee is it that lays part 

 drone and part worker eggs in worker-cells; 

 is she an old iiiieen. young, or not fertilized? 

 I bought 50 queens, this spring, from one of 

 the most popular ^lueen-breeders in the 

 South, and i of them lay part drone and part 

 worker eggs in worker-cells, antl one more 

 laid all drone-eggs in worker-cells. I know 

 what "ABC of Bee Culture*' says, and I 

 am sure it is right, but wish to see this an 

 swered in the American Bee Journal. 



California. 



Answer.— .An old. played-out ciueen may 

 begin laying occasionally a drone-egg in a 

 worker-cell, and gradually increase until 

 she lays nothing but drone-eggs. But this is 

 by no means always the case with old 

 queens. Occasionally a young queen begins 

 laying without being fertilized, and. of 

 course, will layonly drone-eggs. Sometimes 

 a yonng queen lays part drone-eggs in work- 

 er-cells, either because imperfectly ferti- 

 lized or on account of some functional dis- 

 ability. Sometimes a young queen lays 

 drone-eggs fora while, and then lays worker- 

 eggs all riglit. 



You do not say what kind of queens yon 

 bought, but buying as many as 50 at a time 

 it is practically certain that you bought 

 them as untested queens. That would rule 

 out the chance of their being old queens, 

 always supposing you bought from an honest 

 man. .-An untested queen is generallyshipped 



as soon as convenient after she begins to 

 lay. and all that the breeder is supposed to 

 know about her is that she is reared from a 

 good mother, that she is physically perfect 

 so far as appearances go. and that slie has 

 begun to lay. The purchaser takes his 

 chances on whether she is purely mated or 

 whether tlie eggs she lays in wprker-cells 

 will all produce worker-bees, unless, in- 

 ileed. they are sold as warranted queens. 

 Yet it is probably not often that so many as 

 4 out of 50 turn out bad. 



Queen at the Entrance^What Was the Matter? 



luly II. early in the morning. I went to my 

 bee-yard. It was cloudy, and a few bees 

 were tlying out from hive No. 5. On the 

 alighting-board I found a nice queen with 

 one solitary bee beside her. She appeared 

 weak, so I took her up and put her in at the 

 entrance The bees gathered around, but 

 did not ball her. I saw them feeding her; 

 they seemed glad to have her. I'retty soon 

 she moved around, and in five minutes she 

 went into the hive. She was a young queen. 

 Bees are doing well; plenty of bees and 

 honey. What was the matter f' In all my 

 readings. I never read of a case like this. 



Indiana. 



Answer.— I don't know what the trouble 

 was It is among the possibilities that the 

 colony swarmed the day before, and the 

 queen, for some reason, was not able to go 

 with the swarm, but remained over night 

 outside. But in that case there ought to 

 have been a number of bees with her. It is 

 barely possible that the queen may have 

 been from some other hive, and although re- 

 ceived kindly at first was badly used after 

 she got into the hive. Both those guesses 

 are poor ones, but they're the best I have in 

 stock. 



Prospects Good for Next Year 



There was considerable loss here from 

 the severe cold winter, as some colonies 

 perished from lack of food, while others 

 could not reach the stores on account of 

 a continuous cold spell. 



There is not much white clover, as it was 

 nearly all killed by last summer's drouth. 

 but it is coming up nicely, and promises 

 well for next year. Basswood bloomed 

 more plentifully than it has for many years. 

 so the bees stored considerable honey from 



that source. When basswood was in bloom 

 there was considerable swarming. 

 I The fall pasture may be good, as there is 

 plenty of all kinds of weeds growing. 



Ma,\ Zahner. Sr. 

 Lenexa. Kans., July 10. 



Prospects in Western Illinois 



On account of winter-killing of white 

 clover, and a liuht rainfall in some locali- 

 ties, there is a scant flow of nectar. Many 



colonies arc short of stores, and must be 

 fed to carry them over to later bloom. The 

 early, later bloom will be light unless we 

 should have heavy rains. Bees must be 

 looked after during this critical period. 

 Basco. Ill, June 20. Wm. Kinuley. 



Black Bees the Hardier Race 



Some 20 years ago I lived here and had 

 some 20U movable-frame hives, mostly with 

 Italian bees, selling about 4010 pounds of 

 honey one year. I left the bees here, and 

 they became scattered throughout the com- 

 munity. .Since then I have had a few bees 

 in I'olk. Atascosa and Duval counties. Tex. 



This spring I am back here again, and 

 have gathered up about 20 of my old hives, 

 which are now filled with black bees. I 

 bred and sold a good many Italian queens 

 and some bees. A few pure-blood swarms 

 absconded and took trees as ilomiciles. A 

 few of mj- neighbors kept Italians then, but 

 now I am unable to find even a cross-bred 

 colony in all this, my old territory. Does 

 this not almost prove that the blacks are 

 the hardier race ? 



Almost exactly two-thirds of this season s 

 new swarms have absconded I got a swarm 

 from a tree that was cut this week, and 

 have heard of 1 more being found and cut; 

 all blacks. Where are the Italians ? 



Spurger, Tex., June 27. Geo. MoTT. 



Good Season in Ohio 



This is the best season that this locality 

 has seen for years; honey has been coming 

 in like a flood. Clover has yielded an im- 

 mense amount of nectar, and the basswood 

 flow is very heavy. There is also a good 

 prospect for a flow from sweet clover. 



The honey-flow has been so heavy that we 

 have to extract from the brood-chambers to 

 let the queens have some place for their 

 eggs. 1 never saw the brood-nests so honey- 

 clogged before. 



Bees are doingthe best this summer that 

 I ever saw, and I think that in spite of last 

 winter's heavy loss, the majority of bee- 

 keepers will have more bees this fall than 

 they did last. J. C. MosGROVE, 



Medina, Ohio. July 8. 



California Prospect Not Encouraging 



The honey crop in this county is almost a 

 complete failure this season. Everything 

 looked promising in March for a good flow 

 of honey, but owing to lack of sufticient ram 

 to soak the ground to a lasting depth, we 

 have had only enough to call it a surface 

 moisture, and a few warm days dry this. 

 The sage, on which we depend, withers very 

 fast under such conditions. We have had 

 about 20 days in which the bees gathered 

 honey this season, while other seasons we 

 would have at least 00 days. 



W. K. Hackmann. 



Salinas City. Calif.. June 18. 



Honey Crop Short in Switzerland 



The season in Switzerland is very poor. 

 Up to June we had nothing but deficiencies. 

 Many swarms, owing to the enormous popu- 

 lations in the hives, but uo honey. With 

 the large Dadant hives. I have always suc- 

 ceeded in preventing swarming, but this 

 year there is no way of succeeding in this. 

 Ulrkh GlBI.ER, 

 /^,/i/or ot liiillelhi D' Apkiillurc. 



Belmont. Switzerland, June 10. 



A Little Surplus Honey in Kansas 



.American foul brood has been ram- 

 pant hereabouts. The farmer bee-keepers 

 have lost aboutall; beemothskilled them (?). 

 The honey-crop is light here this year, white 

 clover was killed out last year by dry, hot 

 weather, but we will get some surplus. 



J. K. Vigor. M. D. 



I'omona. Kan., June 20. 



Mr. J. W. Stink. 01 Sierrv, Iowa, and a 1'art of His .Apiahv 



Good Reports from Ohio 'Valley 



This section of the country is enjoying a 

 very heavy honey-flow from white and 

 sweet clover, both of which are abundant. 

 Many colonies have already gathered more 

 than luo pounds. Reports from Kentucky 

 and Tennessee are equally flattering. We 

 look for a honey harvest equal to iiajii. 



The Kreu W. Muth Co. 



Cincinnati. Ohio, June !•/, 



