April 19. 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



247 



A plant that will sometimes give a month of surplus storing- 

 late in the fall had better not be sneezed at. Page 165. 



BLINDLY CONDEMNING GOOD QUEENS. 



How unconsciously and amusingly pat a good writer 

 can sometimes be in stating a fundamental truth ! (It's 

 Aikin I'm after this time.) On page 165 we read, " I sus- 

 pect that many a good queen has been condemned blindly 

 because she did not have a good, strong colony, when she 

 was not at fault at all." Why, comrade, if you live to good 

 old age, and Iteep studying, you will not only suspect that, 

 but be almost sure of it. 



PERPLEXING FOUL-BROOD PREVENTIVES. 



How instructive, and also how natural, is the medica- 

 tion experience of the Colorados ! One man used solution 

 of salt and carbolic acid as preventive, and kept bees with- 

 in a quarter mile of a foul-broody apiary without getting 

 the disease. Naturally he would think his remedy splendid. 

 But then another man kept bees for years near foul brood 

 without getting any. He used nothing at all — and there we 

 are. Page 166. 



UNCLE SAM AHEAD AGAIN ! 



What an absurd idea it is to spend good United States 

 money, and time supposed to be valuable, in getting Apis 

 dorsata, when this peerless country already possesses a bee 

 117 feet long ! On the whole, I am mildly (very mildly) glad 

 that the chap to whom we are indebted for this news didn't 

 get stung. Page 169. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C. lUIT.LER, Afareng-o, ni. 



(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal ofl&ce, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1 



Painting Hives Two Colors. 



How would it do to paint loose-bottom hives dark on 

 one end and one side, and white on the others, then turn to 

 suit the season ? Kentucky. 



Answer. — The plan is worth considering. If I under- 

 stand rightly, the idea is this : If a hive faces southeast, 

 the front and the side to the southwest would be white for 

 the summer and the other end and side dark. That is, the 

 ■ parts toward the sun would be white so as to reflect the heat 

 of the sun, keeping the hive cooler. Then for winter it 

 would be reverst, still having the entrance face southeast, 

 but the sides toward the sun dark, so as to absorb the sun's 

 rays and imake the hive warm. It is just possible that on 

 some days in winter the dark color would make enough dif- 

 ference so that bees would fly when they would not fly with 

 white surfaces to the sun. But'in Kentucky do you alwaj's 

 want to have bees fly out oftener than they do in a white 

 hive ? For as one goes south the line is reacht where the 

 thing desired is to keep bees from flying as much as 

 possible. 



A Swarming Experience. 



Are there others who ever had this experience ? I pur- 

 chast a box-hive of bees some time ago, transferred them 

 March 8, or rather I took about -3 of them from the box and 

 put them into a frame hive. On March 23 the box gave a 

 4-quart swarm, leaving as many in the box. Of course I 

 took the old queen when I made the transfer, so the balance 

 had no queen, but would rear one in IS days ; but she came 

 out with her full brood, on her wedding-flight, and this 

 must have been on the very day she came forth from her 

 own cell, as 15 days would be her time. I now have (3) good 

 4 to 5 quart colonies from one box-hive in just IS days. 

 Every one of them is bringing in honey from early to late. 

 The swarming took place on a rather cool day — a little 



misty— at 2:30 p.m. The bees are a very large black variety, 

 and as gentle as any bees I ever saw. I do not know what 

 kind they are, being quite different from the rest, or any I 

 have seen in this neighborhood. Florida. 



Answer. — Under the same circumstances you would 

 probably have the same experience repeated. At any time 

 when bees are gathering, take away from a strong colony 

 the queen and some workers, and if enough bees are left in 

 the hive you may be pretty sure the first queen that emerges 

 will issue with a swarm. 



It is not at all certain that the young queen that issued 

 with the swarm issued from her cell the day the swarm is- 

 stied. For in that case the bees must have chosen an egg 

 if they started a queen-cell any time within two days after 

 the old queen was taken. While I believe that bees prefer 

 to select a larva not more than 2 or 3 days old, I do not be- 

 lieve they prefer an egg ; and there was a chance that the 

 young queen in question was two or more days old when 

 the swarm issued. 



Later. — My box-hive just gave out another swarm of 

 about 3'i quarts. This makes 4 colonies from one in just 17 

 days. Is this not unusual ? Florida. 



Answer. — If bees .are left to their own sweet will, it is 

 nothing unusual to have 3 swarms issue within 17 days, and 

 even four or five ; but it is probably unusual for a third 

 swarm to be strong enough to have 3>< quarts of bees. 



Lilcely Bee-Paralysis— A Suggested Remedy. 



I have 60 colonies of bees, and five of them are diseased 

 as follows : The old bees become bright and shiny with 

 bowels much distended. The younger bees are much swol- 

 len and have but little use of themselves. Unhatcht bees 

 that die have pink eyes. Some of the cappings have holes 

 as if they had been bursted by accumulation of gasses in- 

 side. The unhatcht dead have no smell or ropiness. 



For 3 years I have had from 1 to 5 colonies diseased. I 

 have cremated them heretofore, but now I wish to know the 

 name of the disease and a remedy therefor. Only one col- 

 ony has ever recovered sufficiently to do any good. Is the 

 disease contagious ? and how is it communicated from hive 

 to hive ? It seems more fatal in spring or early summer. 



Giving diseased colonies young queens has failed to 

 cure. Sprinkling sulphur in the brood-nest seems to abate 

 the disease to some extent. Texas. 



Answer. — It seems to be a case of bee-paralysis. As 

 far south as Texas it gets to be a very serious matter. It 

 would be easy to give a list of remedies that have been 

 vaunted as successful from time to time, but the unfortu- 

 nate thing about it is that no remedy seems yet to have 

 been discovered that proves effective the next time it is 

 tried, and perhaps the best thing is to try to keep colonies 

 strong and hope the damage may be as little as possible. 



I don't really know whether the disease is contagious, 

 nor how it is communicated. 



The latest cure I have seen is given in the Australasian 

 Bee-Keeper, and it is claimed a number of bee-keepers have 

 succeeded with it. The cure is as follows : To a pound of 

 honey add )4 ounce of a mixture of one part sulphurous 

 acid with 4 parts tincture of podophyllin. Heat to 90 de- 

 grees, and daily spray combs, bees and all. Three to five 

 days' spraying cures. This may be worth trying. 



Bran Instead of Chaff for Packing. 



I would like to know if bran will do as a substitute for 

 chaff packing to keep the bees warm ? Minnesota. 



Answer. — I don't know. I think no one has reported a 

 trial of bran for packing : but I should be afraid it would 

 not keep so dry and sweet as chaff. Mice would probably 

 like it better than chaff. 



Dr. niller's Honey=Queens are offered as premiums, 

 on another page, for sending us new subscribers to the 

 American Bee Journal. The offer is limited to our present 

 regular subscribers, and the queens are to be mailed in ro- 

 tation, beginning about June 1st, so first come first served. 

 Liook up a new subscriber, send in his name with $1.00, and 

 we will enter your order for a Dr. Miller Honey-Queen. 



