1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



29 



retaining tlieir old brood-nest of corab 

 and honey, recovered. 



DEDUCTIONS 



1st. Tliat tlie malady is not retained 

 by the mature bees, but with the un- 

 sealed brood and with a mixture of 

 honey and black-broody matter gotten 

 by straining or extracting combs contain- 

 ing unsealed brood. 



2nd. That colonies with no unsealed 

 brood can use upblaclc-broody hoiiey and 

 cleanse their combs of decayed black- 

 brood, after which they can taise brood 

 and build up. 



3rd. That honey stored by black- 

 broody colonies selilom, if ever, by itself 

 alone, carries the disease. 



Middaghs, Pa., Jan. 1, 1901. 



[Mr. Johnson keeps, ordinarily, about 

 one hundred colonies. — Ed. J 



Our Amateur Table. 



A NUT WITH A DOLLAR IN IT. 



A peculiar instance of a swarm ab- 

 sconding from colony having a clipped 

 queen, is iclated in one of our ex- 

 changes. In order that all may have 

 a chance as nearly equal as possible, we 

 shall liave to omit the credit for the 

 present. 



All the queens in a certain apiary had 

 been clipped. One day during the 

 season a swarm issued from one of these 

 colonies having a clipped queen. The 

 apiarist had been anticipating the event 

 and had, as a result, been carefully 

 watching tais colony. He had not, 

 however, been anticipating that it 

 would immediately leave for the woods 

 and there remain, which it did. An ex- 

 amination of the colony elicited the fact 

 that the clipped queen was still in the 

 hive, though most of the bees had de- 

 parted. The weather for a few days 

 previous to the swarming had been un- 



favoiable for swarming and none had 

 issued. 



The gentleman who relates th6 story 

 offers a very plausible explanation of 

 the cause and accounts for the condi- 

 tions which would result as did this. 

 Here is an opportunity to do some 

 wholesome thinking during the winter 

 evenings. 



Only amateur bee-keepers are eligible 

 to compete, and of those only such as 

 are not in arrears. 



The first ^jorrect reply mailed to the 

 editor of The Amekican Bee-keepeb 

 will take the dollar. 



The question is : What were the con- 

 ditions which made this occurrence 

 possible and most likely were the cause? 



SECURING AN ITALIAN-CARNIOLAN CROSS. 



Leeper, Pa., Dec. 26, li^OO. 

 I have four colonies of Hybrids which 

 I want to transform into Carniolans, 

 aiming to have the young queens mated 

 with Italian drones. How shall I pro- 

 ceed to get the best results? Shall I, 

 after the Carniolans have swarmed, 

 divide the combs into four groups of 

 two each with other empty or full combs 

 and place them on the stands of the 

 hybrids after moving and uniting the 

 original hybrids, also giving some of 

 their brood to the prospective Carniolan 

 colonies, or shall I leave the Carniolan 

 brood-nest intact, only removing as 

 many queen-cells as may be required, 

 replacing the hybrid queens with them? 

 H. Heffner. 



[The success of your project will de- 

 pend largely upon your ability to sup- 

 press drones of undesirable sorts and 

 provide an ample supply of pure Italians 

 within flight of your queens. Presup- 

 posing the existence of this condition in 

 your vicinity, perhaps you will best 

 succeed as follows : 



When the Carniolan colony, from 

 which it is desired to breed, begins to 

 construct .|ueen-cells preparatory to 

 swarming, form a half-dozen nuclei 

 from the bees and maturing brood of 

 other colonics. After all the brood in 

 these nuclei is sealed, remove every 



