April 13. 190S. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



281 



view; but when the facts are that way what else can you say about it? 

 The candy maker goes to the length of his art to make sugar soft. 

 The bee-student, experimentally inclined, tries zealously to shun a 

 sample of honey sharp, hard, and dry like sugar. 



PROPOLIS SCRAPING AND WIDE FRAMES. 



Mr. Doolitlle evidently has a location not so bad for propolis as 

 some of us hare. I, too, still use wide frames and tin separators, but 

 there's quite a bit of scraping to do notwithstanding. But say, com- 

 rade, even granting that scraping propolis is not an ideal, Garden-of- 

 Eden pastime, between that and./i'sAiH^ — I'd scrape. Page 134. 



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X)octor trttUcr's 

 Question - Box 



J 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 



or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



t^~ Dr. Miller does nut answer Questions by mall. 



Depth of Langstroth Hive 



On page 184, you say the depth of a Langstroth frame is 10'. 2 

 inches. Ours are 93-2'. I use what I suppose is the standard Lang- 

 stroth frame S^s inches deep, so I do not know where you would put 

 the extra one inch in depth of hive. Please enlighten us. 



Texas. 



Answer. — Of course the depth should be 93^. Now what pun- 

 ishment do you think severe enough for a printer that would make 

 such a mistake as thati The trouble, however, is that I'm pretty sure 

 the printer is entirely innocent and I'm the culprit. I don't under- 

 stand how I could have written it IO1.2, unless it be a case of total 

 depravity. Please accept my hearty thanks for the correction. 



Bees and Hens In the Same Yard— Moving Bees 



1. How would it do to place about 50 hens and 30 colonies of bees 

 in a yard 150 feet square. 



2. Would many bees be lost by striking the fence-wires on windy 

 days? 



3. Could bees that are packed with a burlap cushion of shavings 

 be safely moved a distance of 4 miles by closing the hive-entrance? 

 Would they get air enough through the cushion? New York. 



Answers. — 1. It would probably do all right. 



2. If the wires were a foot or so apart so that the bees would be 

 in the habit of flying between them, a very few might be killed; but 

 if the wires were much closer together the bees would always fly over 

 and none would be killed. 



3. Don't risk it. Close the entrances with wire cloth. 



Qettlns Swarms to Enter Empty Hives 



There are swarms issuing from the yards of bee-keepers all around 

 me, which they do not take any pains to hive, as they have all they 

 care for. I have seen swarms hanging on the limbs of trees for a day 

 or two, and have set hives out to catch them, but get very few. 



Have you any suggestions how to draw them to a hive set out in 

 the woods? This means a great deal to me. Michigan. 



Answer. — I don't know anything more that to place a hive where 

 it is easily found by a swarm looking for a home, the inside of the 

 hive being acceptable in every way. Probably nothing, in this latttr 

 respect, will be better than to have the hive filled, or partly filled, with 

 clean, empty combs. 



^ • » 



Colonies Affected with Diarrhea 



Last fall I had 50 colonies of black and hybrid bees on the sum- 

 mer stands with no protection except what a thicket on the west and 

 north afforded. During the very cold weather of January and Feb- 

 ruary the snow kindly enveloped them, and when the mild days of 

 March came, and 1 could examine their home, I found one colony 

 dead, under circumstances which, coupled with subsequent events, 

 led me to believe some disease had appeared among them. It is tL:s 

 belief that prompts me to refer the circumstances and conditions to 

 you for your opinion. 



Last summer this hive was glued and waxed with a black, t my 

 paste-like propolis that did not smell just right, but in every ottitr 

 way the bees seemed healthy and all right. They did not work 11; 

 the super as freely as some others, but went into winter with a'.i- 

 ple stores. I did not, at the time, notice any other colooy tti .^ 

 affected, but upon continuing my search, in March, I found anothr 

 dead colony which showed this same dark propolis. In about a wihI 

 another, similarly conditioned, " played out," and the nextday I c- 

 covered the whole yard engaged in robbing a fourth. I covered tiis 

 up with carpets and straw to stop the rubbing, and upomexaminatiou 



later I found it affected the same us one, two and three. On March 15, 

 I found a fifth one dead with these appearances existing. 



In no hive did I find any brood except in the fifth. There the 

 brood seemed perfectly healthy, and just ready to emerge from the 

 cell. Not all that showed blacli propolis died, but all that died were 

 of this class. The offensive odor, noticeable during the hot weather 

 last summer, was not discernible this spring, but there were patches 

 of pollen that seemed to have soured, and the cells containing it were 

 broken down and presented a very unhealthy appearance. All these 

 colonies left plenty of stores, and the cells in the brood-nest were in 

 such good condition, and so clean, as to give no evidence of any 

 " brood disease.'' 



I have tried to be brief in this history of perhaps an imaginary 

 trouble. Although it may not seem to you very brief, I should like to 

 know if you or any reader can tell me if it is a disease, and what I can 

 do in the premises to arrest or eradicate it. Missouri. 



Answer. — I've read your letter through twice with much care, 

 and am a little puzzled as to reply. The appearance of your letter 

 gives me the impression of a man of intelligence, but I suspect that 

 you have not had many years' experience with bees, and if you will 

 promise to take it good-naturedly I'll assume that to be the case, and 

 answer accordingly. The " black, tarry, paste-like propolis that did 

 not smell just right " was not propolis at all, but the excrement of the 

 bees resulting from diarrhea. To be sure, you mention it as being 

 first noticed last summer, and diarrhea does not usually occur in sum- 

 mer, but that may have been from the previous winter. This winter 

 and spring a number of colonies were affected with diarrhea, smearing 

 the combs and particularly the top-bars of the frames, and probably 

 spotting the fronts of the hives, the worst cases dying from the dis- 

 ease. The fifth case was the only one with brood merely because it 

 was later in the season, when brood-rearing had begun. The remedy 

 for diarrhea is a cleansing flight. Wholesome food and proper pro- 

 tection and ventilation are preventives. Consult your book on the 

 subject of diarrhea. 



■« « » 



Drone-Brood and Worker-Brood 



How can I tell drone-brood from worker-brood? Wisconsin. 



Answer. — Lay a rule over the comb containing the brood; if it 

 measures 4 cells to the inch, you may know it's drone-brood ; If 5 to 

 the inch, It's worker-brood. If the brood is sealed, the sealing of the 

 worker-brood is flat, and that of the drone-brood raised or rounding. 

 If you have a drone-laying queen, or laying workers, you will have 

 drone-brood in worker-cells, and the sealing will be rounding like so 

 many little marbles. 



«-•-♦ 



Honey Sent to Commission-Men 



About a year and a half ago I shipped two barrels of honey to a 

 honey commission firm at their request, they having informed me that 

 they had a buyer for same. I paid 6 cents per pound here for 1080 

 pounds net. 'The firm said they could make a good profit for me on it 

 at that price. Well, time rolled on, as it has a habit of doing, and I 

 received no returns from the honey. 



About 6 months ago the firm wrote me saying that they would 

 put the honey in cans, as they could not sell it in barrels. Later they 

 wrote that it was all sold but 3 or 4 cases. Then I wrote them not to 

 sell at a loss, and to send me the money for that already sold. They 

 replied with a draft in full for §35 49,969 pounds at 4',, cents, less 

 freight and commission. No account of cans, or labor of transferring, 

 and 111 pounds short. I could have sold it in Chicago at 6 cents, and 

 would have been glad to pay the freight charges, if only I had been 

 informed. I do not know what right they had to sacrifice my prop- 

 erty for the little $3.00 commission they charged for selling, after I 

 had told them not to sell at a loss. 



What I wish to know is. Has a shipper any rights in his property 

 after it goes into the hands of a commission-man? Iowa. 



Answer. — I'm not familiar with the laws of the different States, 

 but I feel safe in saying that when honey is sent to be sold on com- 

 mission it remains your property till it is sold to a customer, and is at 

 no time the property of the commissiou-man. If you say he must not 

 sell below a certain price, he has no right to do so, and in general you 

 have the right to instruct him what he is to do, he, of course, re- 

 ceiving the proper remuneration tor his services. 



Various Races In One Yard -Best 

 Sunflowers 



Workers— Honey In 



1. Last Saturday was a very warm day, and I noticed the bees 

 bringing in a white looking stuff on their legs. What could it have 

 been? 



2. One of my neighbors told me that black or brown bees could 

 not be kept in the same yard with Italians. Is that correct! 



3. What kind of bees do you consider the best workers ? 



4. Is there any honey in sunflowers, and, if so, could the common 

 black bees get it? Iowa. 



Answers.— 1. Probably early pollea ; possibly sawdust. 



2. All the kinds of bees in the world might be kept in one yard. 

 Possibly he meant you could not keep two kinds in one yard without 

 their mixing, which is true; but it is also true that they mix when 

 two miles or more apart. 



3 Very likely you will get nothing better than Italians, although 

 for some purposes or localities some other may be bettef. 



4. Yes to both questions. 



