140 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Db. C. C. Miller says : " I winter 

 my bees in the cellar, and I have the 

 hives, when out-doors, facing east. If 

 it is more convenient, they may face 

 south." 



What Caused the Trouble ? 



Query, No. 28 — lu 1883 I lost one colony 

 of ijees which died from starvation, with 

 plenty of honey in the hive. It was simply 

 an averajje one with an abundance of good 

 clover honey at the time it was placed into 

 winter quai-ters. and at the time of its death, 

 Jan. '2r>, 188:t, the bees and combs were very 

 carefully examined in order to ascertain the 

 cause. The hive and frames were in a most 

 disagreeable condition, being covered with 

 diarrhetic e.vcreta. Brone brood was found 

 in three frames, the centre one containing' 

 about five square inches of it. There was 

 not one cell of worijer brood in the hive, 

 and not a queen to be found. I do not think 

 that the absent queen had any thing- to do 

 with the cause of the so-called diarrhea. 

 What caused the death of this one colony ?— 

 Manchester, Mich. 



Prof. A. J. Cook says that " this is 

 the common winter trouble. See an- 

 swer to No. 24." 



Jasees Heddon answers thus : "It 

 died of bee-diarrhea, and not starva- 

 tion. What causes the disease, is still 

 in dispute ; no one knows positively." 



J, E. Pond, Jr., replies as follows : 

 "The answer to this question, like 

 that to No. 24, would be extremely 

 valuable if it could be given with pos- 

 itiveness. Diarrliea undoubtedly was 

 the trouble ; but what caused the diar- 

 rhea y Echo answers, ' what V Tell 

 us what, and we shall be able to win- 

 ter our bees with a fair show of suc- 

 cess." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE answers as fol- 

 lows : " Brood-rearing resulting in 

 pollen, in the form of chyme, being 

 eaten by the bees which gave them 

 the diarrhea." 



W. Z. Hutchinson says that " col- 

 onies witli fertile workers are more 

 inclined to breed out of season than 

 those with a queen." 



Dr. C. C. Miller remarks thus : 

 " Perhaps, after all, the absence of a 

 good queen had something to do with 

 the uneasiness and disease. Accord- 

 ing to Ileddon, its death was caused 

 by pollen ; according to Clarke, by 

 non-hibernation ; or perhaps it was 

 diarrhea." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker answers thus : 

 "I think that early, winter brood- 

 rearing was the cause of the trouble." 



Fastening Foundation in Frames. 



Query, No. 29.— What is the best way of 

 fastening foundation in frames? Also, what 

 is the best method of wiring them ?— Marion, 

 Iowa. 



James Heddon replies as follows : 

 " I work it thus : After the frames 

 are made up (being previously bored), 

 I sew the wire in the frames. First, 

 slip an end-bar loosely into the cen- 

 ter of the frame, to prevent bowing or 

 springing tlie, top and bottom bars, 

 while wiring. Commence near the 

 middle of tlie frame, and sew both 

 ways, to prevent so much drawing of 



wire ; when it is done, the end-bar is 

 removed and each end is wound 

 around the head of the nail (purpose- 

 ly left out a little) that nails the bot- 

 tom-bar fast, when it is driven to its 

 place. To fasten the foundation to 

 the frame and wires, I bend tlie sheet 

 up about 3-16, and rub this 3-l(j fast to 

 tlte top-bar by placing a form behind 

 it and rubbing it with a wooden tool, 

 similar to a shoemaker's ' shoulder- 

 stick,' only with a bevelled shoulder 

 to keep the hand from getting in con- 

 tact with the sheet of foundation. 

 This method mashes the wax fast to 

 the wood very quickly. Mr. W. II. 

 Shirley tirst used this plan. I then 

 imbed the wires into the sheet 

 of foundation by the use of a wire- 

 imbedder, the frame laying over a 

 form such as has heretofore been de- 

 scribed." 



Dr. C. C. Miller answers thus : 

 " Probably no way of fastening foun- 

 dation in frames is nearly so good as 

 wiring. I have had good success in 

 wiring frames by driving through the 

 top and bottom-bars, wire nails of 

 such length as to project through ^ 

 of an inch, then with a pair of round- 

 nosed pliers, bending the nails into the 

 form of a hook, and stringing the wire 

 upon these hooks." 



J. E. Pond, Jr., remarks as follows: 

 " I find the best way of fastening 

 foundation in frames without wires, 

 is to cut it about J4 of an inch shorter. 

 and I4 of an inch narrower, than the 

 length and width of the frame ; then 

 take a piece of very thin deal the 

 length, of the frame inside and J4 of an 

 inch wide, and after laying the foun- 

 dation on the top-bar, tack the deal 

 through it lirmly so that the founda- 

 tion will hang directly in the center. 

 However, I would advise the use of 

 wires in all cases. My plan of wiring, 

 whether best or not, is to pierce the 

 top and bottom-bars about % of an 

 inch from their ends, and then about 

 2 inches apart the rest of the distance, 

 pass the wire through backward and 

 forward, draw it tight and fasten it at 

 the bottom." 



Messrs. Dad ant & Son reply thus: 

 " To fasten foundation in brood 

 frames, we use a knife and rub the 

 foundation with it until it makes a 

 body with tlie wood. We use a lath 

 to guide the knife. This manner is 

 very expeditions, and when the opera- 

 tor "is an expert, it does better work 

 than any other way that we know of. 

 For wiring, we are strongly opposed 

 to using as many wires as some do. In 

 a Langatroth frame we use two or 

 three wires horizontally, and these 

 are more to keep the foundation from 

 warping than to keep it from break- 

 ing. To imbed the wire into the foun- 

 dation, we have never seen a better 

 instrument than Vandervort's. It is 

 made like the Carlin foundation cut- 

 ter, only it has teeth set like a saw 

 and runs over the wire. Ruland's 

 wiring tool is also good for the pur- 

 pose." 



Prof. A. J. Cook answers thus : 

 " By wiring the frames; the method of 

 wiring them is explained in all the 

 late works on bee-culture." 



W, Z. Hutchinson replies as fol- 

 lows : " Have the edge of the foun- 

 dation warm, and press it upon the 

 comb-guide in about the same manner 

 as foundation is fastened into sections 

 with the Parker fastener. A putty 

 knife can be used, or a large machine 

 can be constructed upon about the 

 same principle as the Parker fastener. 

 To wire frames, have the top and bot- 

 tom bars pierced ; commence in the 

 middle of the frame, and work towards 

 the ends, having the ends of the wire 

 come at the ends of the frame." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker says: "My 

 method has been, where the top-bar is 

 flat beneath, to use melted wax with a 

 short camel's-hair brush and apply 

 the wax to both sides. If the top-bar 

 is V-shaped or has a supporting thin 

 strip, I prefer to use a heated knife." 



What Ails the Bees? 



Query, No. 30 — What is the trouble with 

 my bees ? I lirst discovered dead brood in 

 one hive in February, 1SS4, and by April 1, 

 I found that all of my hives had dead brood 

 in them. I could find a few cells with browu 

 mucus, and sometimes small holes in the 

 caps. The bees swarmed rapidly, and the 

 swarms were large. Swarms put in new 

 hives on foundation would soon fill up. and 

 have plenty of brood, and some would be 

 dead, whilst others would be hatching. I 

 could invariably find that all the dead in-ood 

 had a deposit sticking to them, especially on 

 the legs, resembling rust. Sometimes tliey 

 would hatch with this rust on them, and be 

 \ery weak, hardl.y able to crawl, and with 

 crimped or defective wings ; others were ex- 

 ceedingly small, very little i>rown mucus to 

 be seen, and if a colony was rendered queen- 

 less, they would be almost certain to clean 

 out all the dead brood before they would 

 have another laying queen. I am satisfied 

 that the same derangement is quite exten- 

 sive in this State. I do not think that I have 

 ever lost a colony from that cause. If I 

 only had a few colonies, I would expect soon 

 to have them all right by using salicylic 

 acid, as directed by Mr. Muth. I have ex- 

 perimented enough to have confidence in it, 

 but with 1.^0 colonies all affected, and all the 

 bees in this section of country in the same 

 condition, I desire a more convenient 

 remedy.— Birdville, Tex. 



Dr. C. C. Miller says : " If it is 

 foul brood, here is a good chance to 

 try Frank Cheshire's phenol treat- 

 ment." 



J. E. Pond, Jr., replies as follows : 

 "The indications are that the trouble 

 is foul brood ; still the symptoms 

 given are not precisely in all respects 

 like those of that disease. It would 

 require an examination on my part to 

 enable me to give a positive diagnosis. 

 If the bees were mine, with only ray 

 present knowledge of them, I should 

 use the method and remedy found so 

 successful by Mr. Frank Cheshire, of 

 England, an account of which has 

 been lately published in the Bee 

 Journal.'' 



H. K. Boardman remarks thus: 

 " The question is well answered in 

 part in the asking. The 6 heaviest 

 colonies have the diarrhea, because 

 they have commenced rearing brood 

 under unfavorable conditions ; while 

 the rest do not have it because they 

 have not commenced breeding. JNIy 

 remedy is to put the colonies affe<'ted 

 into a room provided with a s'.ove 

 and made perfectly dark. The hives 

 are raised from the bottom and the 



