May 11, 190S 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



343 



while the larva infected with foul brood dies in the pu|i,i 

 state about the 10th day. After a few days it settles bark 

 into the bottom of the cell and turns Into a putrid, ropy stato, 

 and can not be shaken from the cells, while the pickled and 

 chilled brood shrivels up and can readily be drawn from tb(3 

 cells intact. 



I find that the practical bee-keepers are, as a rule, their 

 own inspectors — the trouble comes from the novice or persons 

 who never have seen the inside of a hive of live bees. In my 

 visits with the bee-keepers, I find them all anxious to learn to 

 know foul brood, so they can take care of their own and 

 neighbors' bees. As a rule they are intelligent above the aver- 

 age, and very pleasant ladies and gentlemen. 



In my work last season I inspected over 4000 hives, and 

 although last year was a very poor honey year, the bee-keep- 

 ers were not discouraged, but are looking forward to the com- 

 ing season for better results. 



I believe that good results could be attained, as Mr. N. E. 

 France, State Inspector of Wisconsin, suggested in his report, 

 by bringing together the farmer bee-keepers at the winter 

 Farmers' Institutes, &-^d having there a talk on bees and their 

 diseases ; also distributing to bee-keepers the old, reliable 

 McEvoy treatment, which never fails to effect a cure. I find 

 that a number of bee-keepers have the wrong idea regarding 

 the treatment and costs, as in their letters they want to know 

 what the cost will be to have their bees inspected. 



I appointed Mr. Herman F. Moore my deputy last year, 

 to look after the disease in Cook and adjoining counties. He 

 visited a number of apiaries, and I herewith give his report 

 for work done : 



Park Ridge, III., July 11, 1904. 

 Mr. J. Q. Smith, Lincoln, 111. — 



Dear Sir : — I have finished my 30 days of inspection of 

 apiaries. I visited about 125 yards, and found foul brood in 

 about 12, containing 88 hives of bees. Possibly one- half of 

 the 88 are diseased more or less. These figures show the im- 

 portance of the work, and the need for a better law. The 

 work has been very interesting. 



Herman F. Moore, 



Deputy Inspector of Apiaries. 



In my treatment and instruction to others I have used the 

 McEvoy treatment. I have never burned a colony of bees j 

 where there was a fertile queen and bees enough to form a 

 nucleus, which can soon be built up by adding combs of brood 

 from strong colonies ; the hives can be used again by boiling 

 in strong salt or lye water. Care should be taken in remov- 

 ing the bees from the diseased combs, so that no robber-bees 

 can have access to the combs. The work should be done at 

 night while no bees are flying, or, if in daytime, in a tent or 

 well-enclosed building. J. Q. Smith. 



Lincoln, III. 



WINTERING BEES 



The subject of wintering bees is one which has perhaps 

 been discussed and written upon as much as any other topic 

 of apiculture, and it is of paramount importance to the bee- 

 keeper to know how to bring his bees through, from the 

 close of one honev harvest to the commencement of an- 

 other, in good condition, so as to get the full benetit of the 

 yield, whether it be large or small. This is especially an ap- 

 propriate time to give the matter our consideration so as to 

 refresh our minds for the approaching winter. If we were 

 asked the question as to what was the principal cause of 

 bees not wintering well, and their reduced condition in 

 spring, and later when it occurs, Iwould answer. Cold and 

 the unfavorable condition of the bees to withstand it. With 

 this view, then, what are some of the favorable conditions 

 conducive to successful wintering? 



First, on the summer stands, to start with strong col- 

 onies. Second, plenty of well-sealed stores of good quality 

 in the same combs on which the bees are clustered. Third, 

 protection against winds. Fourth, a double-walled hive or 

 its equivalent by packing. Fifth, ventilation so as to keep 

 the inside of the hive dry, but no draft through it. 



As to hives being shaded or standing in the sun, it de- 

 pends upon the kind of winter. If warm, shade ; if long- 

 continued cold, like the winter of 1872-3, 1877-8, 1881-4-5, 

 we would give the hives the benefit of all the sun's warmth 

 possible. 



During some of those extremely cold winters we have 

 saved the bees, as we believe, by covering the hives with 

 snow. In all such cases we ventilated the hives above so as 

 to allow the moisture to escape through the upper chamber. 



For outdoor wintering of bees we believe that colonies 

 should be allowed to increase to their full capacity of 

 strength during the summer season. In fact, for other pur- 

 poses we think the expansive system, or giving the queen 

 and bees full room, is more profitable than the contracting 

 and manipulating plan, for Illinois. While with proper care 

 bees may be wintered with comparative success on their 

 summer stands, but for the 8 or 10-frame single-wall Lang- 

 stroth hive, a cellar or building so constructed that it will be 

 not only frost-proof but not easily affected by outside tem- 

 perature, is much more desirable. With part of our bees 

 stored in such a repository we have time and again wintered 

 them with a loss of not more than 3 or 4 per cent. 



During the past thirty years, with but two exceptions, 

 we have had almost perfect success in cellar-wintering, while 

 those colonies wintered on the summer stands have suffered 

 more or less especially during the coldest winters. Our 

 conclusion is that the chief point to be kept in mind is the 

 protection of the bees from cold, from the time it com- 

 mences in the fall, until warm weather in spring has come 

 to stay. Jas. Poindexter. 



r 



\= 



®ur Bee Keeping Sisters 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



J 



Some Difficulties of a Beginner 



I bought 5 colonies of bees last spring and 

 was all last year learning the different bee- 

 traits. These bees were in the Hilton double- 

 walled hives containing 8 Hoffman frames to 

 a bive. 



1. I notice that the bees have built the 

 comb out so far that it is impossible to re- 

 move the frames. How shall I go about 

 remedying this mistake? My idea was to 

 take a new hive and put a frame with brood 

 and honey from another hive in the center of 

 the hive and put frames with new foundation 

 on either side of the one containing brood, and 

 brush the bees into the new hive, putting the 

 old frames one by one on the top of the 

 frames to let the bees remove the honey. Will 

 I lose too much brood in so doing, or is there 

 a more simple, practical plan, and when must 

 I do this to get best results possible? 



2. Also, at what temperature must comb 

 honey be kept during winter to have the best 

 results? 



3. One of the colonies is not as strong as I 

 should like, and a stranger who keeps some 

 bees, suggested that the queen was not very 

 vigorous, and also suggested a new queen. 

 There is plenty of honey, and also brood 

 hatching. The thought occurred to me that I 

 could take a frame, later on, from my finest 

 colony containing a queen-cell, and exchange 

 it for one of the others, kill the old queen, 

 and let the bees rear a new one, or put on a 

 queen-catcher and let the queens battle it out 

 themselves. Is this practicable, or would it 

 be economy 1o buy a new queen? I have a 

 bump of curiosity on my head, and should 

 like to carry out an experiment with one col- 

 ony if some one who knows how thinks it 

 might work. 



I must mention that the 3 colonies that have 

 the brood-frames built so full were in that 

 condition when I bought them, and I did not 

 know what to do, and so left them in. I 

 know better how to do now if I can only get 

 out of my present difficulty. 



The stranger before mentioned told me I 

 had wintered my bees finely, and especially 



for a beginner. And ,to be sure they are all 

 in good shape with the exception of the above 

 difficulty. I have the Hilton double-walled 

 hives, as I have mentioned, and last fall I 

 turned all the entrances to the south and put 

 all the hives in a row and packed them all 

 around the backs and sides with leaves. I 

 kept the entrances clear from snow all winter, 

 and before putting on the cushions in the fall 

 I put cut-loaf sugar on top of each hive to 

 make sure they had enough to eat. Each 

 hive contains a great abundance of honey 

 now, but the bees seemed to prefer a change 

 of diet, as they ate about three-fourths of the 

 sugar. Miss Sobscbibbr. 



1. Please don't think of such extravagance 

 as to waste all the brood, as you would do by 

 the plan you propose. It would very likely 

 cut in two the profits of that colony. Just 

 what is best to be done depends upon the 

 actual condition of the combs. You say " the 

 bees have built the comb out so far that it is 

 impossible to remove the frames." If you 

 mean by that that the septum or center of 

 each comb is in the right place in the center 

 of each frame, and the bees have made the 

 comb so thick in places that the combs can 

 not be drawn out, then the remedy is easy. 

 Select what looks to be one of the straighest 

 looking combs, take a long-bladed knife, and 

 slice off the part that bulges, so that you can 

 lift out the frame, and that will give you room 

 to get out the other frames, when you can slice 

 off any bulges on them. Then instead of re- 

 turning the frames just as they were, reverse 



