MAY 15, 1913 



351 



Some beekeepers have lost all their bees, and some 

 a portion through what is generallj' known as the 

 disappearing disease. It is a sort of dwindling dis- 

 ease where the hive is left often with three or four 

 frames of brood and plenty of honey, but no bees. 

 I have never examined any of these hives to see if 

 they had a supply of pollen. If not, that would ac- 

 count for the whole trouble. I will follow this mat- 

 ter up if I get the opportunity, and see if it is pol- 

 len shortage. Major Shallard. 



South Woodburn, N. S. Wales, Feb. 10. 



How to Inspect Hives for Foul Brood when Rob- 

 bers are Bad 



Please state how to inspect an apiary of several 

 hundred colonies of bees all in a rush by inspector, 

 preparatory to moving to another State before the 

 honey-flow. This you said not long ago is easily 

 done without starting robbing. I have never found 

 any way yet. A tent helps but little. 



New Plymouth, Idaho, April 4. J. O. Baird. 



[If you are at all troubled with robbers, or if 

 you desire to do your inspection work at a time of 

 year when they are hovering about the hive, you will 

 find it very slow work, and somewhat dangerous 

 too, because a single robber can carry the infection 

 to its own hive. Under such conditions we do not 

 know of any thing better that you can do than to 

 wait until a day when it rains just lightly enough 

 to prevent robbers from flying, and at the same time 

 allow you to open the hives and inspect every inch 

 of the brood in the combs. A light rain does not 

 interfere with the work, except that the bees are 

 a little crosser. You will have to use a little more 

 smoke ; but when there is a light rain on, you can 

 work much better than you would naturally suppose. 

 If you can't wait for it to rain we would suggest that 

 you work after dark. Get a small acetylene bicycle- 

 lamp. Start it to going, and then have an attendant 

 hold this lamp so it will shoot its rays right on your 

 frames of brood that you are examining. You will 

 find that you can work at night much better than 

 you would naturally suppose. No robbers will bother 

 you at this time, and you can examine every inch of 

 brood. Of course, we should very much prefer day- 

 light, because there is nothing equal to that kind of 

 light for inspecting suspected brood. Looking over a 

 whole apiary to inspect foul brood is a very slow 

 operation, for the reason that every bit of comb in 

 the hive must be thoroughly examined if there is any 

 brood in it to see whether the brood has any dis- 

 eased cells. Even suspicious cells must be examined 

 carefully to see whether any diseased matter is below 

 the capping. This kind of inspection work takes a 

 great deal of time. 



We remember once spending nearly an hour look- 

 ing over a hive where we thought there must be foul 

 brood because we could smell it. We could find 

 nothing of the disease, and finally we saw one sus- 

 picious cell that was capped over. With a pin we 

 raised the capping, and, sure enough, under it we 

 found a typical case of dead larva from foul brood. 

 — Ed.I 



Mold in Double-walled Hives and None in Single- 

 walled 



I have been raising bees for several years, and, I 

 am glad to say, at a profit. Last year I began using 

 some double-walled hives, and upon opening one 

 lately I was surprised to find the lower half of six 

 of the ten frames moldy, and forsaken by bees. The 

 upper half was filled with honey capped over. The 

 bees were crowded to one side of the hive on four 

 frames which were partly filled with honey and new 

 brood, which showed the queen was all right. The 

 hive had plenty of bees in it for this time of the 

 year; in fact, it was the strongest colony I had ex- 

 amined this spring. On the bottom-board there were 

 about a handful of dead bees lying in a certain 



moisture that was too thick to be called a puddle. 

 Now, was this moisture caused by sweat? and did 

 it cause the comb to mold? What I want to find 

 out is whether the moldy combs are fit to be left in 

 the hives, or should they be destroyed and hives 

 furnished with new frames ? I found upon further 

 investigation that all the double-walled hives I had 

 bees in had one or two moldy frames, while several 

 of the single-walled ten-frame hives I have looked 

 into are free of any mold. 



Baltimore, Md., April 3. Mark R. Delahav. 



[This mold will do no harm — in fact, we are apt 

 to find it on the combs of strong colonies just after 

 a spell of long winter confinement. The probabilities 

 are that the colonies in your double-walled hives 

 were stronger than those in the single-walled. If 

 that were the case it would be easy to account for 

 the presence of mold in the former and not on the 

 latter. In our climate a colony in a single-walled 

 hive will dwindle down and become comparatively 

 weak, while in a double-walled the colony will hold 

 its strength and sometimes be stronger in the spring 

 than in the fall. However, it is a fact that most 

 colonies wintered outdoors are not quite so strong 

 in the spring as they were the previous fall. Now, 

 then, if your colonies in the single-walled hives were 

 weaker than in the double-walled hives, it would be 

 very easy to account for the presence of moid in the 

 former rather than in the latter. 



Yes, the moisture is caused by the breath of the 

 bees. Where there is a large powerful colony in a 

 hive it will send out considerable dampness. This 

 strikes the cold air at the entrance, and condenses 

 and runs dowm the bottom-board. In a single-walled 

 hive a colony will not be as strong, as a rule, and 

 not strong enough to send out much moisture; and 

 the consequence is, there will be none found in the 

 hive. — Ed.] 



Honey for Making Labels Stick on Tin 



On page 232 you recommend dextrine for pasting 

 labels on tin cans. By your recommendation I pur- 

 chased some, but found it worthless to stick on tin. 

 I use a flour paste mixed with equal parts of honey 

 and water, which sticks a label on tin so it is impos- 

 sible to remove it without soaking. Use a light hon- 

 ey, as dark honey will stain through the labels after 

 a time. 



Grosvenordale, Ct., April 5. Ernest Ryant. 



[There is a great difference in dextrine. Some 

 will give good results and some will not. Perhaps, 

 however, a common paste made as you describe, with 

 honey in it, will be the equal of any thing. A good 

 many have spoken of the value of honey as an in- 

 gredient in any kind of paste or mucilage for stick- 

 ing labels on tin. — Ed.] 



Antics of Pollen-laden Bees 



In the spring of the year when the bees are gath- 

 ering their first pollen, the pollen-laden bees will 

 come to the entrance of a hive containing a colony 

 with a queen, and enter the hive hurriedly, as if 

 they had been sent for. Some of the pollen-laden 

 bees will go to the entrance of another hive, and 

 will almost enter. Then they will come back out 

 again, and then take wing, doing this repeatedly — 

 sometimes entering the hive, but always coming back 

 out again after a time, as if they were searching for 

 something. That colony is queenless, without a 

 doubt. 



BEES SWARM IF THEY THINK THEY ARE CROWDED. 



Bees will positively never swarm if they think 

 they are not crowded for room. The facts in the 

 case have nothing to do with it. They might have 

 an abundance of empty combs in the supers, and 

 get it into their heads that they were crowded for 

 room in the brood-chamber, and swarm. 



Jonesboro, Ind., March 12. C. A. Neal. 



