AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



579 



honey early in the Fall, Influencing them 

 to stop breeding early in the Fall, and, 

 having more honey, they consequently 

 breed up earlier in the Spring than the 

 natives. 



On page 246, Mr. M. B. Nichols 

 stated that he lost 5 colonies of bees, of 

 which 3 were Italians ; and the question 

 arises, why he should lose all 3 colonies 

 of Italians. I have lost 4 colonies in the 

 same way — 1 Italian, 1 hybrid, and 2 

 blacks. Now, I do not exactly know the 

 cause of their death, but I think it was 

 on account of cold weather and damp- 

 ness existing in the hive, causing the 

 bees to remain where they clustered, 

 and, being unable to move about, they 

 died amidst their honey. 



Deer Plain, Ills., April 4, 1892. 



Care of Dnoccupiel Comlis. 



DB. C. C. MILLER. 



" How shall I take care of brood- 

 combs left by colonies that have died ?" 

 That is the question asked every year. 

 They are well worth saving. Two ene- 

 mies are to be guarded against — mice 

 and wax-worms. 



Years ago, one Winter, I lost 48 colo- 

 nies out of 50. That left a pile of empty 

 combs — 480. I stacked them up in 

 their hives in-doors. Do you believe 

 the mice went at them and riddled every 

 last comb except a very few that had 

 never had brood in ? New, empty comb 

 they do not care so much for. Comb 

 filled with honey is disturbed only so far 

 as they want to eat the honey, and their 

 appetite in that direction is limited. But 

 empty combs containing cocoons in 

 which the bees have been, are their 

 special delight. Those 480 combs, at 

 that time, were worth at least $100. 



How should I have protected them ? 

 Why, how would you protect anything 

 from mice ? Kill off the mice as soon as 

 you can, but in the meantime shut up 

 the combs mouse-tight. This is easily 

 done, for every hive must be so you can 

 shut it up bee-tight, and a mouse will 

 seldom gnaw its way into a hive. Look 

 sharp that there are no mice in the hives 

 when you shut them up. 



But if I had shut them up from the 

 mice just as soon as warm weather 

 came, the worms would destroy them 

 even worse than the mice, no matter 

 how tightly shut up. Somehow the eggs 

 are in the comb, and when warm enough 

 they hatch out into worms. If the combs 

 have been out-doors, so as to be thor- 



oughly frozen, that kills worms and eggs. 

 I do not know just how much freezing is 

 needed, but light freezing will not do ; 

 10° to 15'^ would perhaps be necessary. 



Well, what will you do if they have 

 not been frozen ? The eggs are so small 

 you cannot find them, but you can find 

 the worms when they are very small, 

 for a white, powdery substance sur- 

 rounds them, made by their gnawing, 

 perhaps. Still, it is a pretty big under- 

 taking to find the little worms on a big 

 lot of combs, and if you keep them in a 

 cool cellar they will not hatch out very 

 rapidly, nor grow very fast after they 

 have hatched. 



Fumigating them with sulphur or 

 brimstone Y'iH kill the worms, but not 

 the eggs. If they have grown to full 

 size, it takes heavy brimstoning to kill 

 them. If you get them once all hatched 

 and killed with brimstone, then they are 

 safe until the wax-moth lays more eggs 

 in them. This can be prevented by 

 closing them up moth-tight. If the 

 combs are hung about two inches apart 

 in an airy place, the moth is not likely 

 to disturb them. Some report success 

 by putting them in hives and putting in 

 spiders. 



I will tell you how I have managed 

 my combs for the last few years : Sup- 

 pose a colony has died. I try to see that 

 no mice can disturb the combs, shutting 

 the hive up mouse-tight, and then put- 

 ting it in the cellar if it is not already 

 there. From time to time I keep watch, 

 and so long as no worms can be seen I 

 let them alone. As it gets warmer, the 

 worms will be seen, and sometimes I 

 have left the combs then for some time, 

 picking out, with a pin or a wire nail, all 

 worms a half-inch long ; for up to that 

 size they do not work so fast on the 

 combs, especially in a cool place. 



But there is no place in the world that 

 combs are so safe from worms as in the 

 care of a strong colony of bees, especially 

 the Italians. So, as fast as they can be 

 given to the bees, all anxiety about 

 them is over. The only trouble is that 

 in the Spring you want to keep the bees 

 warm, and on as few combs as possible. 

 But by the time it is warm enough for 

 worms to do much harm, it is warm 

 enough for bees to cover a little more 

 territory. Still, I do not need to put the 

 combs right in the hive with the bees, 

 but I put them under. Put a hive full 

 of the combs under the hive with the 

 colony, so that the bees in going in and 

 out must pass through the hive of empty 

 combs. Do not leave any other entrance 

 or exit for them. You may rely on their 

 finding every worm, and taking them 



