214 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



so that the combs will be cleaned out 

 and be carried down, aud then these 

 combs be sprayed as above and be 

 saved? Then if the lower lot (which 

 were also extracted from as clean as 

 possible) by putting back of division 

 board, etc., part at a time, be emptied 

 same as the others, clean from honey 

 and brood, then the bees brimstoned, 

 the comb and hives disinfected, would 

 they not be safe to use? A set of good 

 brood combs are worth more than the 

 bees at the close of the honey season. 



Ans. Combs from diseased colonies 

 whether they have been in the brood 

 or honey chamber are always danger- 

 ous, should not be allowed to lay about 

 at all, but be rendered into wax at 

 once. In such cases, I extract the 

 honey first and disinfect the extractor 

 by spraying when done. 



5. Does" foul brood ever affect queen 

 or drone brood as well as worker? 



Ans. It does. I have seen diseased 

 worker, drone and queen larvae. 



G. Do you think the disease is com- 

 municated in any other way than 

 through the food? If so, why cannot 

 bees carry it on their bodies the same 

 as it could be carried by old combs, 

 hives, etc.? 



Ans. Foul brood is imparted to 

 healthy colonies, through the food, 

 but principally by combs, hive and by 

 bees carrying the spores on their bod- 

 ies. 



7. A lot of comb from an infected 

 colony is rendered into wax in the 

 "Swiss" wax extractor with the aid of 

 steam at, say, 40 lbs. pressure; is the 

 hone]! t'lat runs from the Extractor, or 

 the contents of the comb basket after 

 so extracting, dangerous if left where 

 bees can have access to it? 



Ans. The honey running from the 

 wax extractor, as suggested, has not 

 been exposed to sulflcieut heat to des- 

 troy the spores. I should never let 

 bees have access to it. 



8. Are the dead bees from an in- 

 fected stock that have been brimstoned 

 dangerous if left where other bees can 

 have access to them? 



Ans. They arc dangerous without 

 any doubt. 



QUKSTIONS BY ClIAS. II. SMITH. 



1. Would you advise extracting all 

 of the honey from colonies in the fall 

 and sul)stitute granulated sugar syrup 

 for winter consumption, when the 

 honey sells for double the cost of the 

 sugar? 



2. Will bees winter better on sealed 



sugar syrnp (when stored in -combs 

 containing no pollen) than on late 

 gathered honey? 

 Pittsfield, 3Iass. 



ANSWKKS BY THK EDITOR. 



1. Provided you understand how to 

 do it properly. It is not well (we 

 think) to work bees too hard late in 

 the fall; but if the honey is extracted 

 early, and the sugar-syrup food given 

 to them while they have plenty of time 

 to evaporate and seal it properly, all is 

 well. 



2. To this question we would an- 

 swer yes, and yet we would not advise 

 keeping the brood chamber free from 

 pollen; we think that most trouble 

 comes from poor honey and a condition 

 of disquiet among the bees (from vari- 

 ous causes) during tlie winter, than 

 from the presence of pollen. 



The following questions and answers 

 being handed to us, as given below, 

 we present them to our readers. 



Solon, Me., Aug. 16, 1884. 

 Dkau Sir: 



In order to ascertain what would be 

 a fair market standard for extracted 

 honey I have written to a number of 

 parties and thinking that perhaps your 

 readers might be benefited by them I 

 have sent them to you. 



For present purposes I looked upon 

 honey as practically a solution of un- 

 crystallizable sugar in water which 

 would keep without fermenting if 

 dense enough, and what density was 

 iny query. With questions concerning 

 the flavor and the eflect of flavors and 

 acids naturally present in honey, 

 upon the keeping of it 1 didn't at this 

 time trouble myself. I might come 

 to that hereafter. The (juantity of 

 oily or ethereal flavoring substance is 

 probably too small to have any iiiflu- 

 whatever. The presence of pollen 

 and nitrogenous matters of that 

 class would induce fermentation in a 

 too dilute solution. And the presence 

 of acids would influence and prob- 

 bly determine whether and when 

 granulation would take place. Sugar 

 in solutions dense enough prevents or 

 sufficiently retards the action of fer- 

 ments and acids and that brings me 

 again to the questions, how dense? 

 what specific gravity? wiiat degree of 

 the saccharometer? what weight per 

 gallon? In sugar refineries when the 

 syrup reaches a certain degree of the 

 saccharometer, it is run ofl'for crystal- 

 lization. I wanted to suggest that when 



