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Entered at the Poet-OflBce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 

 Published M^eekly at Sl.OO a Tear by Cieorgre W. York Ss. Co., 334 Dearborn St. 



QBORQB W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL,, FEB, 9, 1905. 



VoL XLV.— No. 6. 



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(£bitortal Hotes 

 anb (Eommcnts 



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Youag Queens and Afterswarms. 



The Canadian Bee Journal takes this Journal to task 

 after this good-natured fashion : 



It is a relief to find that the " Old Reliable " §rets 

 " mixed " a little sometimes, too. We were rather amused 

 at a statement which appeared in its pages recently, that 

 when second swarming is contemplated by a colony, " only 

 one " young queen is allowed to emerge and go with the 

 swarm, " the others being guarded in their cells by the 

 workers ", to follow in rotation with subsequent swarins. 

 The theory is very interesting and beautiful, very much 

 like the " sting trowel " theory of a few years ago. Our 

 Canadian bees certainly do not exercise so much care and 

 forethought. A number of young queens are often found 

 in second and afterswarms, which would be an evidence 

 that the cells are very poorly guarded, if at all. 



Good Canadian, haven't you become a little " mixed " 

 in your reading ? The paragraph to which you probably 

 refer is found on page 500 of the last volume, where it is 

 said, " If further swarming is contemplated, only one vir- 

 gin is allowed to emerge ". You have evidently read into 

 it this meaning : "When an afterswarm issues only one 

 ▼irgin is allowed to emerge, and the others are kept in their 

 cells till after the swarm has issued ". Please read again 

 what is said, and see if you have any warrant for such an 

 interpretation. 



You will not find a word said about queens being 

 guarded in their cells after a swarm has issued, nor at any 

 other time except wken further swarming is contemplated : 

 and you will find more than one queen released when 

 further swarming is contemplated, no matter if one or five 

 swarms have already issued. You say, "A number of 

 young queens are often found in second and afterswarms ". 

 To be sure there are, i/ no further swarming is contem- 

 plated ; but did you ever see a number of young queens in 

 a second swarm, and then a third swarm issue 7 When you 

 put your ear to a hive the evening before a second swarm 

 issued, did you ever hear more than one queen piping? 

 " But you saw a number of virgins with the swarm the next 

 day "? Ah, yes, but they were not contemplating swarm- 

 ing, then ; they were actually swarming. 



Whatever Kanuck bees may do, you may rest assured 

 that the rule with Yankee bees is to allow only one queen to 

 be free in a hive so long as further swarming is contem- 

 plated. 



Foul Brood vs. Bee-Pest. 



In the British Bee Journal W. H. Harris urges that the 

 name " bee-pest " should be given to the disease now called 

 " foul brood ". W. Woodley wants " bee-brood pest ". That 

 might do better in England than here. If foul brood were 

 the only disease to which bees are subject, or even the most 

 severe disease, it might do to give it one of the names men- 

 tioned, just as the loose term " the plague " is sometimes 

 used to designate some disease particularly destructive to 

 the human family. But in the course of time England is 

 likely to follow the fashion started in this country, where 

 among bees there are other diseases that might be called 

 pests, at least one of them being rated as more destructive 

 than foul brood. 



Mr. Harris thinks "foul brood" misleading because 

 mature bees are liable to be affected by the Bacillus alvei as 

 well as the brood. Yet the disease of the brood is the 

 prominent thing. Moreover, a name once established has 

 a claim to continuance just because of its established usage. 

 If a more appropriate name can be given — well ; but it will 

 hardly be " bee-pest " or " foul-brood pest ". 



Flour as a Substitute for Pollen. 



F. W. Penberthy says in the Australian Bee-Bulletin : 



" I found only 10 percent of the brood capped when fed 

 on flour alone for a month ; the larvse thrive all right until 

 the third or fourth day from the egg, and then a large per- 

 centage disappears before being capped." 



Has anything of this kind been noted by those who 

 have used flour or any other substitute for pollen? But are 

 there many localities with a whole month of weather fit for 

 feeding, and yet no natural pollen yielding ? 



Close Spacing for Worker-Combs. 



A correspondent of the British Bee Journal asks 

 whether it is an infallible rule that bees will build only 

 worker-comb in frames spaced 1,'+ inches from center to 

 center, and the reply is : " Quite infallible if done at the 

 proper time, viz., when hiving the swarm". Can any of 

 our readers report experience in this matter ? 



Prices of Hives— Are They Too High ? 



The following clipping from the apicultural department 

 of The Farmer has been sent to this oflice by Mr. A. T. 

 Dockham, of Todd Co., Minn., with the request for an opin- 

 ion thereon : 



QuES.— What are bee-keepers to do for hives and bee-supplies if 

 prices remain where they are now i Ddes the advance in price of 

 lumber warrant the present high prices of liives? 



An9. — Bee-keepers will be compelled to make their own hives. 

 Hives may be made by any one who understands how to handle tools! 

 There is no patent at the present time on any of the standard hives, so 



