GLEANINGS IN BEE uULTURE 



have been at it ever since, but did not solve 

 the problem until this season. Some writers 

 have suggested that tlie old honey stored in 

 the hive, and others that the old pollen in 

 Ihe hive, is responsible for the trouble, and 

 that, so soon as new pollen and nectar are 

 brought in, the trouble wouhl abate. My 

 observation does not sustain either of these 

 theories. I have several times removed from 

 the diseased colony all the honey and pollen 

 in the hive, leaving only the center combs 

 with the brood, and this, too, wlien a good 

 supply of both nectar and pollen was being 

 brought in. At other times I have fed su- 

 gar syrup. In no case lias there been any 

 perceptible imi^rovement in the condition of 

 tlie colony. Last season I attemx")ted to in- 

 troduce to a diseased colony a (lueen which 

 1 had received through the mail. The bees 

 refused to acce])t her; and Avhen I next 

 opened the hive for the purpose of examin- 

 ation I found a lot of fine queen-cells. As 

 a matter of experiment I took a couple of 

 these cells and gave them 1o nuclei from 

 healthy colonies, besides leaving one for 

 the mother colony. They all mated; and 

 not only did the motlier colony recover com- 

 l>letely, but there was never any trace of 

 disease in the nuclei. 



During the past winter, wl)ich was unusu- 

 ally warm, 1 had five colonies badly affect- 

 ed. In January I happened to open one of 

 these and found a number of supersedure 

 cells. This Avas so unusual that I watched 

 this colony carefully. A queen hatched out 

 in due time and remained in the hive for 

 ten days or more; but a cold spell coming 

 on, she eventually disapi)eared without ever 

 laying. Soon afterward, when I went to 

 introduce a queen to this colony, I noticed 

 that it was entirely cured of paralysis, and 

 I incidentally noticed that all brood had 

 hatched out. 



About the first of Mai'ch we had a pretty 

 fair honey-floAv here from tupelo and other 

 sources, and another of the diseased colo- 

 nies swarmed, which was something else 

 unusual, as I had never before seen a dis- 

 eased colony build up sufificiently to cast a 

 swarm, even in the best honey-flows. I 

 attribute this instance to the warm winter. 

 1 hived the swarm and moved it to a new 

 location, and in due course of time found 

 a laying queen in the mother colony. Some 

 three or four weeks later 1 was surprised 

 to notice that there was no indication of 

 paralysis in either the mother colony or the 

 swarm. Tn trying to account for this, and 

 in recalling some of tlie experimenting that 

 I had done in the past, I came to the con- 

 clusion that the only thing that cDuld ac- 

 count for such a promjjt cuic was the sus- 

 jjension of brood-rearing which had occui'- 



red in both the mother colony and the 

 swarm. 



As a matter of further exi^eriment I then 

 went to each of the three remaining diseas- 

 ed colonies, and, removing the queens, I 

 introduced each of them to healthy colonies 

 and allowed the diseased colonies to rear 

 their own queens. The result was surpris- 

 ing in that the recovery of the diseased 

 colonies was so prompt in all three cases. 

 The old queens which Avere removed have 

 had time to hatch out and mature a large 

 amount of brood, and there is no indication 

 of infection in any of the colonies to which 

 they were given, Avhich shows that the 

 queens were not responsible for the trouble. 



It is true that my investigations are not 

 conclusive; but I am so sure that my con- 

 clusions are correct that I give them to the 

 other members of the fraternity, especially 

 thos:' in the South, with request that they 

 verify tlie same. 1 do not know just how 

 long the colony should be without a laying 

 queen in order to effect a cure, but appar- 

 ently until all brood has been sealed, and the 

 nurse bees have had time to get rid of all 

 tlie food they have been preparing for the 

 brood. 



As above stated, in two cases in the past 

 where I introduced queens received througli 

 the mails a cure Avas not effected until I 

 again changed queens; and I attribute this 

 to the fact that these queens must have be- 

 gun laying before all of the old brood had 

 been sealed. In no case Avhere I have in- 

 troduced a cell or alloAved the colony to rear 

 its oAvn cjueen has it failed to effect a cure 

 promptly. 



I desire to say further that my observa- 

 tion is that it is not at all necessary to iso- 

 late the diseased colonies nor to remove 

 them to a separate yard. In no case have I 

 had colonies by the side of the affected colo- 

 nies to become diseased. I have had my 

 yard entirely Avell for Iavo or three months at 

 a time, as it is at present. I have never had 

 the trouble occur the second time in the 

 same colony, and have given combs of hon- 

 ey and pollen from diseased colonies to 

 healthy colonics without eA^er haA'ing the 

 healthy colony become infected. 



Colquitt, Ga. 



HIVES PROTECTED IN WINTER BY BUILDING 

 PAPER TACKED TO A FRAMEWORK 



BY M. J. KAUFMANN 



I liereAvith enclose a photograph shoAving 

 a hive and covering. The outside coA'er is a 

 light frameAVork covered Avith building pa- 

 l)er. I loi'e the front out to slioAV better the 

 hive inside. During the Avinter there is just 



