Dec. 10, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



795 



good hive for wintering and surplus honey, and then "stick 

 to it." Perhaps the one I have is all right. 



2. What do you think of the long-tongued or red clover 

 queens? I have seen them advertised so much. 



3. Is there any danger of getting foul brood in one's 

 apiary by sending avray for queens ? 



4. May two kinds of bees be kept in the same apiary for 

 2 br 3 years without producing hybrids ? 



5. If so, how ? 



6. Are hybrid bees usually crosser than others ? 



7. When foul brood is found in an apiary where it has 

 n ver before been known, what usually causes it? Is it 

 carried by the bees from places where the disease is raging ? 



8. Some one who wrote for the American Bee Journal 

 a few years ago, claimed that foul brood is caused by tak- 

 ing too much honey from the bees and then feeding sugar 

 syrup. Is this true ? 



9. Is foul brood more prevalent among some races of 

 bees than others ? 



10. If so, what race seems affected most ? 



Nkw York. 

 Answers. — 1. Your hive is excellent for wintering, but 

 for comb honey it is doubtful that you can get best results 

 with so deep a frame. Some think that even 9's is too 

 deep. You ask what I would adopt. I'll tell you what I 

 have adopted. I do not assume to know what is best in 

 everything, but with the light I now 'nave I am using the 

 S-frame hive with outside measure of frame the common 

 size, 175sx9,'s. and find it works well for comb honey. It 

 win also do well for extracted honey, although a larger hive 

 would be better. Indeed, unless you intend to give close 

 attention to your bees, a 10-frame hive would be better even 

 for comb honey. 



2. I think there is an advantage, and there may be a 

 very great advantage in long tongues. In actual practice, 

 however, I have come to doubt whether it is still worth 

 while to pay any attention to the length of the tongues. 

 Breed from the stock that gives best results. Very likely 

 that may in most cases give long tongues, but whether 

 tongues are long or short, we want the bees that will get 

 the most honey. 



3. Not much ; I don't think many men would be dishon- 

 est enough to send out queens where there was any danger 

 of sending foul brood as an accompaniment. As a matter 

 of safety, however, it is not a bad thing to burn cage, bees 

 and all, saving only the queen. 



4 and 5. The thing is not practicable. 



6. Yes, but not always. 



7. Yes, it is carried in the honey stolen from diseased 

 colonies. 



8. Foul brood is due to the presence of the microbe 

 bacillus alvei ; neither spores nor bacilli of this kind are in 

 sugar. 



9 and 10. In Australia they say that the disease is more 

 troublesome among black bees than Italians. 



Wired Combs from Starters- Unsealed Sections 

 Sneds— Other Questions. 



Bee- 



1. In hiving a swarm with only starters in frames, can 

 the frames be wired so that the completed combs will be as 

 strong and straight as if full sheets wired were used at the 

 start ? 



2. Is there any way of getting unsealed honey out of 

 sections without using an extractor, and without injurying 

 the combs ? And can unsealed honey be left in the sections 

 without spoiling till spring ? 



3. How soon after the first swarm has issued should the 

 young queen in the parent hive have her wings clipped ? or 

 in other words, how soon after the first swarm issues is the 

 young queen fertilized ? 



4. How soon after a first swarm has left should the par- 

 ent hive be given a super with sections ? (I take the super 

 that was on the parent hive and put it on the swarm at 

 once.) 



5. Will it be disadvantageous having sheds over the 

 hives ? Sheds are S feet high in front and 6 feet high in 

 the rear. The temperature goes as high as 100 degrees in 

 the shade here. I have little or no shade in the apiary. 



6. What is the length o he main honey-fiow, ordi- 

 narily, in central Virginia ? 



7. Could any of the eucalyptus trees be planted satis- 

 factorily in central Virginia ? The temperature occasionally 

 goes below zero here. 



8. Would it pay, not only for honey but for gentleness, 

 too, to insist on having all pure Italians in an apriary of SO 



colonies, by killing all hybrid queens as soon as discovered, 

 and replacing immediately with tested Italians ? There are 

 very few either wild or domesticated black bees in the vicin- 

 ity. (I rather expect you will say, " Decidedly not," to this 

 question, as you seem to think very highly of good hybrids.) 



9. Has Virginia any bee-inspector ? 



10. Does it matter how soon in the spring supers with 

 full sheets of foundation are put on strong colonies ? 



11. Is it not better to put them on a little too soon than 

 a little late? 



12. When absolutely no more increase is desired, would 

 the following plan be likely to succeed ? Queens are all 

 clipped. Return first swarm after catching clipped queen. 

 Put clipped queen in safe place for an hour or two. Open 

 the hive and kill the young queen, and destroy all cells and 

 queens about to hatch, then give them the clipped queen 

 back again. Destroy all drones in the swarm to allow more 

 room for the workers. Watch the colony and destroy all 

 cells as fast as they appear. Virginia. 



Answers. — 1. No; you can not be sure that the bees 

 will build the septum directly on the wire. 



2. No, unless it be to let the bees empty it. Generally, 

 honey unsealed in sections will be granulated by spring, 

 but if kept in a place sufficiently hot it will keep. 



3. A queen may be clipped as soon as she lays, no matter 

 when fertilized. The young queen may lay 16 days or more 

 after issuing of prime swarm. In practice, it is well not to 

 look till three weeks after swarming. 



4. As soon as strong enough, which may be in a few 

 days, and may not be at all. Generally, it is well to throw all 

 the flying force into the swarm a week after swarming, in 

 which case not much super-work can be expected from the 

 mother colony for some time, if at all. 



5. Sheds would probably be all right if not closed too 

 much when hot. 



6. I don't know. Perhaps the best way to get an an- 

 swer from some one who knows is for me to guess, so I'll 

 guess that the average length of the main flow is five 

 weeks. 



7. Doubtful, but it might be worth while to try. 



8. " Decidedly not." Other things being equal. I'd 

 rather have pure stock, but I would not secure it " by killing 

 all hybrid queens as soon as discovered," unless there was 

 already a great preponderance of pure blood. I'd favor the 

 continuance of those which showed the best performance, 

 and you are likely to find these among mixed as well as 

 pure bloods. 



9. I think not. 



10. Yes ; if put on too early there is a waste of heat at a 

 time when heat is important. 



11. Emphatically, yes. A little too early is just right. 



12. No. 



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