September, 1914. 



American Hee Journal j 



Dr. Millers ^ Answers^ 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



Dk. C. C. Miller, Marengo, III. 



He does not answer bee-keepine questions by mail 



Bitter Honey 



I have about 200 colonies, and on the hives 

 is considerable honey moslly in half-depth 

 frames— not wired. I find that a great por- 

 tion of it is very bitter I am at a loss to 

 know what they worked on to produce such 

 a taste in the honey Last fall they were 

 storing from asters and the bloom froze, yet 

 they stored for several days from the frozen 

 bloom. That honey was not all thoroughly 

 ripened, yet the bees wintered finely. This 

 spring they worked on dandelion, fruit 

 bloom, maples, poplar, basswood, sweet 

 clover, little boneset. and a meadow weed. 

 with a flat white top; people call it "yar- 

 row." Also some reported them working 

 at joints near the roots of red clover. There 

 was some honeydew. yet I did not see any 

 bees working on it. 



1 sell most of my honey cut from half- 

 depth frames, and put it in buckets at 15 

 cents a pound, which is as much as I can 

 get in sections 



I had thought of taking off all their sur- 

 plus, then extracting the combs, and have 

 them to put back to catch the fall flow, then 

 feed where needed of this bitter honey. 

 Can I clean the combs of this bitter honey 

 so the fall honey will not have this bitter 

 taste? Ohio. 



Answer.— We do not know from what 

 source the bees harvested that bitter honey 

 unless it is from the dandelion We have 

 never seen enough gathered from this 

 source to make a surplus, but it is quite pos- 

 sible that you had enough for that. As to 

 the " 3 arrow " {Ai:liilh\i milUfoliunr), we have 

 never seen any bees upon it. It is classed 

 among the weeds of Iowa by Prof. L H, 

 Pammel. Its scientific name, Millcfi>lium. 

 meaning "a thousand leaves," conies from 

 the fineness and great number of its leaves. 

 Perhaps some of our subscribers can tell 

 us whether the bees work upon it. and of 

 what flavor is the honey. 



There is no doubt that you can extract 

 that bitter honey so as to keep it separate 

 from the next crop. It will surely make 

 good bee-feed — C. P. D. 



in the yard where all the bees can help 

 themselves. Is this method of feeding all 

 right or should the feed be placed in the 

 bive? Oklahoma. 



Answer -Feeding out in the open is a 

 little more like having the bees gather from 

 the fields; only if other bees are near you 

 they will also partake of the plunder. The 

 stronger colonies are likely to get the lion's 

 share, but you can make that all right by 

 taking filled frames from the strong and 

 giving to the weak. 



Feeding 



We are now in the midst of a protracted 

 drouth, hardly a flower to be seen. I have 

 filled my bee-feeders with syrup made from 

 cane granulated sugar and placed the feed 



Queer Actions of Bees 



What ails my bees? Quite a number of 

 them emerge from the hive, try to fly but 

 cannot, only hop along. They are all perfect 

 bees, as far as I can see. They act as if 

 they were loaded with honey; but I killed a 

 couple and found the honey sac emptv. 

 rhey are not young bees, neither are they 

 very old. Minnesota. 



Answer.— It is probably a case of bee 

 paralysis. As far north as you are it is not 

 likely to be a very serious matter, and the 

 trouble will disappear in a few days. If it 

 should seem to increase, send samples of 

 ^he diseased bees to Dr. E. F, Phillips, Dept. 

 of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and he 

 will give you all the information needed 

 without charge. 



Requeening for European Foulbrood 



I. Will it pay to requeen with untested 

 Italian queens for European foulbrood. leav- 

 the bees on their old combs ? If not, how is 

 the best way to subdue said foulbrood at 

 this time of the year ? 



2 How long must old frames of brood 

 comb be kept to be safe to use ? 



New York. 



Answers.— I Let me answer the last part 

 of the question first. For a mild case of 

 European foulbrood, supposing a vigorous 

 queen of the best sort is present, the best 

 tr.eatment I know of is to keep the queen 

 caged in the hive for 8 or 10 days. That's 

 all — the bees will do the rest. If the case is 

 a bad one, it's a pretty safe guess that the 

 queen is no longer good. So she should be 

 killed. At the same time that she is killed 



a virgin queen of best slock, not more than 

 24 hours old, should be dropped in the hive 

 or placed on a comb. Instead of that a 

 sealed cell nearly ready to hatch may be 

 given in a cell-protector, or a day or two 

 later without the protector. 



Whether the case be mild or severe, it 

 will probably pay to replace the queen with 

 one of best Italian blood, if the queen is not 

 already one of that kind. Italians are in 

 general more vigorous than blacks or hy- 

 brids, and there may be also something in 

 the claim that Italians, in dependent of their 

 vigor, are more nearly immune to European 

 foulbrood than others. 



2. I doubt that age alone will make a dis- 

 eased comb oitirelv safe. But after it has 

 been kept until the dead brood is entirely 

 dried up. then there is probably not one 

 chance in fifty that there is any danger. 

 And a comb that has been kept 8 or 10 days 

 without any eggs being laid in it is probably 

 as safe as one kept a year. 



But remember that we are talking about 

 European foulbrood. I wouldn't want to 

 use a comb affected with American foul- 

 brood if it had been kept 10 years. 



Uniting — Wintering— Foulbrood 



1. Is it advisable to unite a strong colony 

 with a weak one in July or August or wait 

 until spring ? 



2. Will a colony that hasn't swarmed win- 

 ter on the lower story of an 8frame hive ? 



3. Is it a sign of foulbrood if the lower 

 story has three dead bees in capped cells. 

 They were full grown, and were the only 

 dead cells found, and when opened had a 

 strong bad odor ? Washington. 



Answers.— I. If the one colony is quite 

 weak, or if you are not anxious to save the 

 queen, then you had better unite now. since 

 there is much danger that a weak colony 

 will not winter through. 



2. Yes, a number of my colonies that have 

 not swarmed will have to do it. 



3. A little uncertain. If those three are 

 the only ones, and no more follow, then you 

 may decide it is not foulbrood. 



Finishing a Super Above Brood-Nest- 

 Honey 



-Darit 



1. When a super of unfinished sections of 

 honey is placed under the brood-nest will 

 the bees take the honey and put it in the 

 super above the brood-nest to fill up the un- 

 finished sections. 



2. Was the honey in the northern part of 

 the State as dark as ours is down here? 

 Ours is all honey-dew and black. 



Illinois. 



Answers.— I. In the few cases in which I 

 have tried it, they would not carry it up. 



2 In this locality the honey has been very 

 white. I think bees are not so likely to 

 work on honey-dew if they have plenty of 

 flowers from which to obtain a better arti- 

 cle. I suspect that in your location there 

 was a dearth of flowers. 



Carniolans- 



-Italians Ventilation 

 Transferring, Etc. 



Wintering- 



M. E. LaCoss at Work in Tonawanda, N. Y. 



I. By the use of queens I intend to work 

 my apiary into one race of bees, and am at 

 a loss to know the best one for my condi- 

 tions. It is claimed that the Carniolans 

 will fly earlier, later, and on darker days 

 than the other races of btes; take to the 

 supers more readily than the Italians, pro- 

 duce the whilesl wax. and use less propolis 

 than other bees. Some claim that they work 

 buckwheat and like it befer than others. 

 Above all they winter the best of all races 

 when kept in a cold climate. My bees will 

 ;ill have 10 be wintered outside, and the 

 temperature will several times each winter 

 go 20 degrees below zero The worst thing 

 1 have been able to learn against them is 

 their propensity to swarm What is the 

 truth about the above claims? Would the 

 so-called "jumbo " hive carrying 10 frames 



