166 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March IS, 1900. 



Report of the Colorado State Convention. 



[Continued from page 150.] 



Prof. Gillette then exhibited some sections. One con- 

 tained a starter of foundation colored by lampblack, re- 

 moved from the bees when they were just beg^inning to 

 draw it out. It showed pellets of wax added by the bees. 

 Another sample, containing lampblack foundation extend- 

 ing half-way down, showed that the bees transferred wax 

 from the upper to the lower portion. Another sample con- 

 taining a full sheet of black foundation showed that the 

 bees had transferred wax from it to the corners of the 

 wood. Samples of wax molded in test-tubes were also 

 shown, showing the amount of wax in pound sections of 

 honey under different conditons. (The exact weights were 

 not obtained for these notes.) 



SPRING MANAGEMENT OF BEES FOR COMB HONEY. 



Mr. Lyon — Wintering comes first. I can carry them 

 thru the spring better than thru the winter. They get weak 

 in the spring. Shall we double weak colonies or not ? I 

 have done it only in one way, by taking one hive to another, 

 and uniting. With me, it has been a terrible failure. In 

 two or three weeks they don't seem to be stronger than be- 

 fore. There are other questions. Shall we change brood 

 from the strong to the weak ? Should we spread brood in 

 Colorado, or turn the combs end for end ? Should the hive- 

 entrance be left open in winter as in summer ? 



Mr. Pease — I have sometimes tried spreading brood, and 

 thought it beneficial, but can not say certainly. 



H. Rauchfuss — I used to spread brood to double up, and 

 to draw from the strong to give to the weak, but do so no 

 more. It gets the brood-nest out of the proper shape. The 

 bees make the colony, not the queen. You can give the 

 queen of a weak colony three pounds of bees, and you will 

 be surprised at the amount of brood you will get. 



Mr. Martin — Instead of reversing one frame at a time, 

 have you tried reversing the whole hive end for end ? 



H. Rauchfuss — I have thought of it, but never tried it. 



Mr. Martin — I tried reversing in this way, as the bees 



consume the honey in the front end first. I think it was a 



success. It causes them to consume more honey and to 



convert the honey into brood. 



Mr. Moon — I generally leave them alone. They increase 

 faster than they can cover the brood. I give them plenty 

 to eat, and consider that the most I can do to stimulate 

 them. They work more after being fed ; they seem to 

 " rustle " for pollen better. The cold nights here make it 

 unadvisable to spread brood. 



J. B. Adams — I don't spread brood. I would reverse the 

 whole hive, or all the frames. If part is reverst, the bees 

 can't follow toward the front fast enough to cover it. 

 F. Rauchfuss — When do you feed, Mr. Moon ? 

 Mr. Moon — I have an excellent location for early 

 spring, but there is nothing between the early sources and 

 alfalfa. I feed in that interval. That is right after fruit- 

 bloom, about the middle of May to the 20th. I feed bran 

 early so as to prevent the bees from becoming attacht to 

 places where they will bother the neighbors. 



J. B. Adams — Does it pay to feed a colony already well 

 stockt ? 



Mr. Moon — Yes, I believe it pays to feed all I can get 

 for stimulation. 



Mr. Lyon — I believe in feeding. I wouldn't run a yard 

 without feeding. Some try too early and make a failure. 

 Unless these things are done at the right time, they should 

 be let alone. Above all, use plenty of salt and carbolic 

 acid. I never open a hive without an atomizer. My plan 

 may not be a success with you, and yours not a perfect suc- 

 cess with me. You are all against spreading brood. I 

 take the other stand. If you spread brood with a handful of 

 bees, you do more harm than good. I go to a strong col- 

 ony, take a frame of brood with as many bees as possible, 

 and make the weak colony strong, and after a certain time 

 take another. It does not do harm if done judiciously at 

 the right time. If the weather is cold, I avoid it ; if right, 

 then I commence spreading. 



Mr. Harris — I took a comb from a strong to a weak col- 

 ony last spring ; and think otherwise I would have lost it. 

 It made a booming colony. I think it well to equalize. 



Mr. Lyon — Don't some of you try this and blame me. 

 Be sure the strong colony is in the right condition. These 

 things are very misleading when not given in a prepared 

 essay. 



H. Rauchfuss — I want the bees. I don't want the brood 

 so much. The bees go back to the old stand. I think just 

 changing the positions of the weak and the strong colony 

 will accomplish this without spreading. 



Mr. Martin — I think Mr. Lyon refers to brood very 

 nearly ready to hatch, with very little unsealed, and in that 

 case I know the plan is very successful. 



Mr. Brock — I think the bees know more about the brood- 

 nest than I do. When the weather is warm I assist the 

 weak colonies with combs and brood. 



Mr. Pease — Our hives are not in the natural shape. 



Mr. Rhodes — I began early one season to feed the bees. 

 I had no honey, but fed sugar. The result was I had them 

 very strong at the flow. From seven or eight colonies I 

 had a surplus of 1,000 pounds, while my neighbor with 100 

 colonies didn't have enough to spread over a buckwheat 

 cake. I think it better to feed 21 days or a month before 

 the flow, as the flow comes June IS. 



DRUG TREATMENT OF FOUL BROOD. 



J. B. Adams — Mr. Tracy did not have a case of foul 

 brood when a foul-broody apiary within a quarter of a mile 

 was robbed out entirely. He said he read in Gleanings in 

 Bee-Culture about carbolic acid and salt. He would fill the 

 cells along the top-bars by means of an oil-can, and headed 

 ofl^ many a case of foul brood. Don't attempt to cure with 

 this. I want to emphasize this. The proportion is one 

 part of carbolic acid to 300 parts of water, with a heaping 

 tablespoonful of salt to every pint of the mixture. Shake 

 well before using. It is best to buy a 5-pound can of the 

 acid. 



Mr. Brock — I have used the mixture a number of years. 

 I add lyi teaspoonfuls of the acid to a gallon of water, with 

 a handful of salt, and apply with a whisk-broom. 



Mr. Martin — Was this treatment used the year the bees 

 died oif so ? 



H. Rauchfuss — Yes. I have tried it a good many differ- 

 ent ways the last four years, tho not for foul brood. 



F. Rauchfuss — The instance Mr. Adams quotes can 

 also be paralleled when nothing of the kind was done. I 

 kept bees a number of years near foul brood, but my bees 

 did not get it. 



Mr. Root — I tried carbolic acid in the proportion of 1 to 

 SOO in pure cultures, without killing the germs. I tried a 1 

 to 300 solution, but that did not kill them. A 1 to 200 solu- 

 tion did. I sprayed all the hives without doing much good. 

 Cheshire recommends feeding carbolic acid in syrup. Mr. 

 Cowan recommends the same, in the proportion of 1 to 300. 

 He thinks napthol beta a better disinfectant. I have not 

 tried it. 



FENCE SEPARATORS AND TALL SECTIONS. 



H. Rauchfuss exhibited a Danzenbaker super, with 

 fences, in the condition in which it was after the sections 

 of honey were removed, showing a number of brace-comb 

 attachments to the fences. This super was the second one 

 put on a hive. The first one that came off was filled with 

 ordinary sections and separators, and had no brace-combs 

 attacht to the separators. The brace-combs in the Danzen- 

 baker super were not due to crowding. The outside sections 

 were not finisht when it was removed, and another empty 

 super was on top of it while it was being finisht, so the bees 

 had plenty of room. I used 10 of the latest Danzenbaker 

 supers last season, and aimed to put them on the best colo- 

 nies I had. All had more or less attachment to the fences. 

 The spaces between the slats would be filled up in spots and 

 then attacht to the combs. Many of the combs themselves 

 were built out on the cleats, beyond the edges of the sec- 

 tions. It is claimed that this system results in better fill- 

 ing of the sections. I produced 3S0 cases altogether, and 

 could see no difi'erence in filling between the plain and the 

 ordinary kind. 



Mr. Harris — I tried the fences in five or six 10-frame 

 supers, and did not find a brace-comb on them, tho I did on 

 others. 



Pres. Aikin — I didn't get to use any this season. 



Mr. Porter — I have been too busy to make experiments. 



Mr. Harris — The spaces between the slats were not 

 wide enough a,t first. 



F. Rauchfuss — I have had no actual experience myself, 



