1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



629 



value of these and others of this family in this good work of 

 combating our injurious insects. 



The county of San Bernardino, Calif,, is doing a work 

 that may well receive the gratitude of all Southern California. 

 The people of that county have gone systematically at work 

 to give the introduction of the Rhizobius ventralis a fair trial. 

 Twice each month hundreds of the beetles are introduced into 

 two separate orchards. This will give them a fair chance, 

 and we shall soon know of a certainty whether they can be 

 made at once a success or not. In either case, the result will 

 be of great importance to the rest of the State. But in case 

 this experiment is a failure, I shall still believe that we shall 

 yet receive much benefit from this new comer as it adapts 

 itself to its new environment. Every apiarist and farmer 

 should study these lady-birds, that they may know assuredly 

 of the appearance and habits of these valuable insects. 



Claremont, Calif. 



CONDUCTED BY 



r>R. c. c am^LER, alasengo, ill. 



LQuestlons may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct 1 

 Bald or Bare Headed Brood. 



1. What causes bald-headed brood ? 



2. Did you ever know any bad effects from it ? 



3. Do you know any cure for it ? 



4. Did you ever hear of foul brood originating from bald 

 brood ? O. A. 



Answers. — 1. By bald-headed brood I suppose is meant 

 brood that is old enough to be sealed yet is left unsealed. No 

 one seems to know just what causes it, and I am not sure that 

 I ever saw any guess at it except my own guess that wax- 

 worms had something to do with it. You will generally find 

 that these unsealed cells are more or less in clusters, or rather 

 in rows, just as you might expect to find them if a worm had 

 spun its gallery through the cappings. 



2. No, the young bees seem to come out all right. 



3. If worms are at the bottom of the trouble, then strong 

 colonies and Italian bees ought to act as a preventive. 



4. No, and I don't think you need have the least fear of 

 it. Don't worry a minute about bare-headed bees. — [It may 

 be that this is really " pickled brood," as mentioned by Dr. 

 Howard, and by Mr. Stahmann on page 612. — Ed. J 



Exhibiting Bees, Etc., at Fairs— Feeding^ for Win- 

 ter Stores. 



1 will let you know something about our County Pair, or 

 rather of my success. I received your answer on page 55U, in 

 time. I exhibited three rousiug colonies. I had frames in 

 glass, such as a few sections that I scraped up, with brood and 

 queen, and protected queen-cells. Also a frame with six cells 

 on a strip worked as per Doolittle's "Scientific Queen-Rear- 

 ing." I opened the hives to show my way of handling the 

 bees. I also took your plan to show the way of extracting, or 

 what extracted honey is, with water, on account of robbing. I 

 learned that there were bees kept within }4 mile of the Pair 

 ground. This was most certainly interesting to many who 

 were there. I know only of one person that got a sting, or 

 that had to swear about my bees. He sold sweet drinks, and 

 tried to drive the bees away from it. I pointed to the old- 

 fashioned bee-keeper's home, and kindly told him that we 

 couldn't blame my bees alone. There had been 88 race-horses 

 there and many others, and the above was the only complaint. 



Mr. H. H. Soavely, proprietor of the Warwick House, was 

 well pleased with my exhibit. There was no premium offered 

 on bees or honey, but he paid or gave me .$L0, free exhibit, 

 three complimentary tickets, board for us the whole week at 

 his public house free ; also 50 pounds of granulated sugar to 

 feed the three colonies to help safe wintering, so that I can 

 bring them again next year. This was a great thing for the 

 Lancaster city and town newspapers to publish. I also had a 

 photograph there, showing where the bees" home is, the yard 

 where the bee-hives are in view, also the old house-apiary, and 

 all my other buildings ; a large portion of the meadow and 

 field, also the south side of the South Mountains of Lancaster 

 county. Quite a portion is in view, and all in one picture. 

 This also took the attention of many of the Pair public. 



1. What do you think of my success ? 



2. Will you please tell what other counties in any State 

 pay to bee-keepers for exhibiting bees, or must the bee-keeper 

 pay? I got more than I would have asked for. I think I can 

 now afford to renew my subscription to the Bee Journal. 

 What do you think, Mr. Editor? 



3. When I weigh my 10 pounds of sugar, also 10 pounds 

 of water, and feed this early in September to one colony of 

 bees, can I take it for granted that the colony has now 20 

 pounds of stores for winter? I mean cold water and sugar. 



Brickerville, Pa. E. B. K. 



Answers. — 1. I congratulate you heartily on your suc- 

 cess. It shows what may be done with the right kind of push, 

 and no stronger proof is needed that your efforts were appre- 

 ciated than the fact that you got no inconsiderable material 

 reward where no reward had been offered at all. Even if you 

 had received nothing of the kind, I feel pretty sure that you 

 were well paid by the interest that you found awakened in 

 others, and the pleasure they took in your exhibit. 



2. The only way to find out about what is done in other 

 counties is by consulting their premium lists. Very likely 

 nothing will be found in many of them that in any way re- 

 lates to bees, while in others a premium of 50 cents may be 

 offered for honey. A few such exhibitions as you gave would 

 stir up the managers of the Pairs so that they would hold out 

 some inducement worth paying attention to. Yes, you can 

 well afford to take a good bee-paper just so long as you keep a 

 single colony of bees, and perhaps the editor wouldn't object 

 if you send a good part of that $10 as advance subscription. 

 Neither would it greatly distress him if he should learn that 

 at the Pair you secured some new subscribers for the "Old 

 Reliable." 



3. No, 10 pounds of sugar and 10 pounds of water will 

 not make 20 pounds of stores for winter, any more than 20 

 pounds of nectar fresh from the flowers will make 20 pounds 

 of winter stores. You can figure that about 6 pounds of the 

 water will be thrown out of the hive, mostly in the form of 

 vapor, leaving 14 pounds for winter stores. No matter how 

 much water there may be, you can count at the rate of about 

 5 pounds of sugar for every pound of stores. 



milkweed Pollen 



on Bees' 

 Bees. 



Feet — Pnre-Blooded 



1. I send two bees. You will notice on the feet a foreign 

 growth. What is it, and what is the remedy, if any? It is 

 only in one hive, and they are the yellowest bees I have. Only 

 a few are afflicted like these. 



2. Are there two full 5-banded Italians? I notice that 

 some of my drones are black, and others have very little yel- 

 low on them, while some queens produce full yellow nearly to 

 the tip. 



3. What color would a pure drone be? Also, what is the 

 test of pure Italian bees ? T. J. B. 



Answers. — 1. The bees have been working on milkweed 

 and the pollen-masses are clinging to their feet. There is no 

 remedy unless you destroy all the milkweed in your neighbor- 

 hood, but very likely the bees gather enough from the milk- 

 weed to pay for all the bees that are lost through getting their 

 feet loaded. 



2. You can always count easily the number of yellow 

 bands on a worker if you get it to fill itself with honey and 



