266 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 23. 1903. 



■brood? and how long will it. take others to become infected, sitting 

 side by side of them. What shall I do with them if they have iti 

 Please explain as plainly as possible, as I am beginner. 



Missouri. 



Answer. — This letter illustrates what was said in this journal 

 editorially not very long ago, when it was urged that every one should 

 study up carefully in advance the subject of foul brood. You will 

 find in your text-book answers to most of your questions more full 

 than it is possible to give in this department. 



Look on page 47.5 in Cook's " Bee-Keeper's Guide," and after 

 reading the instruction there about the holes in the cappings and the 

 springing back of the rotten larva' you can make a pretty safe guess 

 as to whether you have foul brood or not; whereas I can't tell a thing 

 about it from the information you have given. 



A colony may live a few months or several years after it has foul 

 brood, and it will take the other colonies as long to contract the dis- 

 ease as it will take them to get the least drop of honey from the dis- 

 eased colony. You will do well to send 25 cents to the oflice of the 

 American Bee Journal to get a special pamphlet on foul brood. 



Varieties of Bees— Feeding. 



1. It would be of interest to see in the American Bee Journal what 

 an Italian bee is, where the Carniolians, Goldens, Moore's and Holy 

 Lands Brst originated, and what the different natures of each strain of 

 bees are. 



3. To stimulate early brood-rearing, is it necessary to feed every 

 day, or would one good feeding a week be sufficient, where feeding on 

 the bottom-board inside of the hive? Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, a few of the readers of these pages would be 

 interested to read all about the different races of bees, but thousands 

 of them would say, " We don't want space taken up with that, for we 

 all have it in our text-books." This department is only supplemen- 

 tary to the text-books, and not intended to take their place. 



2. If flowers ace not yielding and weather is warm, the natural 

 harvest will be more nearly imitated by a little every day, or every 

 other day, than by one feed a week. 



Feeding Sugar Tainted witli Kerosine. 



I put 3.5 colonies in ray cellar last fall, which came out all right. I 

 have 100 pounds of sugar that I would like to feed them, but it has 

 had kerosine-oil spilled on it. What can I do with it? 



Massachusetts. 



Answer. — A very little oil will likely do no harm. If much, mix 

 some sugar with water, half and half, let settle and skim off the oil; if 

 still too strong for the bees to take, I don't know of any remedy. 



aueenless Bees— Wiring Foundation. 



1. I have 2 colonies of bees that are queenless. If I should give 

 them a frame of brood and eggs from another colony would they rear 

 themselves a queen ! 



2. Last year I used full sheetes of foundation in brood-frames, and 

 had a good deal of trouble with the foundation breaking down when 

 the bees got on it. I had it wired crosswise of the frames, too. It 

 seems to buckle above the wires. What would be the objection to 

 wiring the frames up and down, then the foundation would not buckle, 

 would itf Kansas. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, but it is not likely that the queen would be 

 the very best, and probably you will do better to unite with one of 

 your weaker colonies that has a good queen. 



3. I wonder if you had the foundation fastened to the top-bar. 

 Yes, I have had hundreds of frames wired vertically, and no buckling, 

 although nowadays horizontal wiring is generally preferred. For my 

 own use I prefer vertical splints. 



transfer In fruit-bloom ; or perhaps it will be better to wait till the col- 

 ony swarms, hive the swarm in a new hive, and 21 days later break up 

 the old hive. 



3. When there is nothing for them to work on they may lie idle ; 

 if pasturage is plenty they will work, queen or no queen, but a queen- 

 less colony seems little inclined to hustle like the others. 



4. Now you're a man alter my own heart to ask a question like 

 that. Between you and me, I feel badly many a time when some be- 

 ginner asks me a question and I'd like to tell him all about it, but it 

 something that's explained more fully in the text-books than it can 

 possibly be done in this limited department, and if I should answer it 

 here some new subscriber would want the same question answered in- 

 side of three months, and I'd have to keep answering over and over 

 questions that none of the other readers would care anything about. 

 So I'm glad you're after a text-book. There are several of them, and 

 you can get one from any publisher of a bee-paper or from any supply 

 dealer. Perhaps it would be just as convenient for you to get one 

 from tJeorge W. York & Co., 144 E. Erie St., Chicago, 111., publishers 

 of this journal. I'll ask the editor to tell more particularly either here 

 or elsewhere, about the text-books and their prices. But let me cau- 

 tion you about one thing: He publishes the book " Forty Years Among 

 the Bees," and you may think from what he says that you ought to 

 buy that. Don't you do it. At least not for your first book. One of 

 the others will be better, and then it will be all right for you to get 

 "Forty Years" as a second book. [See the book list on page 239. — 

 Editor. 



5. Strong colonies will clean them out, and Italians are much bet- 

 ter than blacks. 



Transferring— Beginner's Questions. 



1. I bought 7 colonies of ijces late last summer, and they were in 

 bad condition. The hives are old and rotten, and the comb is old and 

 black. The first warm days this spring they came out and all seemed 

 to be at work, but later all but one colony seemed to be sluggish and 

 lazy. Woud it be best to put two colonies in one hive? 



2. Would I better transfer them to new hives? If so, when is the 

 best time? and when shall I proceed? 



3. Will they always work when they have a queen? and will they 

 ever work when they have none? Some of my colonies are not at 

 work yet; when I open the hive there seems to be lots of bees. , 



4. I notice in the Journal reference is made to a text-book. Where 

 can I gel one? I know I am green, but I will learn. 



5. My bees are alive with ants, and they also have moths. What 

 would you advise? Tennessee. 



Answers. — 1. As you say later on that there are plenty of bees in 

 the hives, It is hardly advisable to unite. Possibly there Is nothing for 

 them to do — no flowers to be bad. 



2. It would be better to have new hives than rotten ones, but old, 

 black combs are as good as new ones. If the hives are frame hives, 

 and the frames are of the vi^hli kind, merely lift the frames into the 

 new hive. Otherwise transfer as directed in your text-book. You can 



Painting Hives witti Bees in Tliem. 



Would the odor of fresh paint affect or anger the bees if I painted 

 the hives while the bees are in them? Iowa. 



Answer. — No, unless you jar the hives. A few bees might stick 

 to the paint. 



Questions on Queen-Rearing. 



As I wish to rear one hundred or more queens this season for my- 

 self, and as I see there is a difference in thoughts presented by such 

 men as G. M. Doolittle, E. (iallup, Henry Alley and others, I feel that 

 a few question will be appreciated by those who are interested in the 

 subject of rearing queens for themselves— queens that will be the best 

 that it is possible to rear, not having any " missing link " whatever in 

 any line. 



1. If the only way to rear extra-good queens is by natural swarm- 

 ing, and by natural superseding, then has not man reached a limit be- 

 yond which no further progress is p.ossible? 



2. Almost all seem to agree that there are three things necessary 

 in order to rear long-lived, prolific queens whose workers are 

 sturdy and long-lived. These three things seem to be, plenty of ani- 

 mal heat or magnetism : plenty of royal jelly ; and to be started out 

 and kept laying continuously and to the full capacity during the first 

 season. It is a well known fact that swarms usually issue on the seal- 

 ing of the first queen-cell, thus taking away one-half or more of the 

 bees in the hive, and would not the queen hatched out, in case the 

 weather became cool, be lacking the proper amount of heat required 

 to produce a good queen? And especially so it the cells were on the 

 end of the frame, or at the bottom, as they usually are? 



3. Does any one know that the royal jelly is any different when 

 supplied at natural swarming time, and that supplied at other times? 



4. Does the iiueen lay a different egg at natural-swarming time 

 than she does at any other time ? 



n. Does any one kuoio that the egg she lays In an embryo queen- 

 cell is any different from any other worker-egg? 



0. Is the umbilical cord attached to the cell during the whole life 

 of the larva, or is it thrown out after the larva has partly developed? 

 Has any one ever found such a cord for the first three days after hatch- 

 ing? 



7. Is there not considerable in keeping the queen laying to her 

 full capacity during the first of her laying season? Is that not one of 

 the reasons why so many are not prolific when kept in a nucleus for 

 some time after commencing to lay? Wisconsin. 



Answers.— 1. I don't know just what chance there is for further 

 progress, but I believe, with a good many others, that just as good 

 queens can be reared outside of natural swarming and superseding. 



2. I suppose all are agreed as to the need of plenty of heat and 

 food, but I think many believe it necessary to have a queen laying 

 continuously to her full capacity the first season. Usually the 

 weather is so hot at swarming-time that there is little trouble about 

 heat, but some time a tool time may come. Sometimes you will find a 

 dead larva or pupa in one of the lowest cells, but there are always 

 enough cells in the warm parts of the hive. 



3. I think it is known to be the same. 



4. No. 



5. I think it is known to be the same. 



y. I don't believe there is any umbilical cord either before, on or 

 after the first three days. 



T. I don't know, but I doubt the importance of it. 



Queenle Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies -we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. 



