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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 12, 1906 



(Dur+Stster 

 Beekeepers 



=\ 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Keeping Dry Combs from Moths With (iasoline 



On page 87, C. S. Guernsey says, " I never saw any in- 

 structions in the books or papers for keeping dry combs 

 from moths by the use of gasoline." If he will look on page 

 437 (1902), under " Bee-Keeping for Women," he will find 

 something about it. 



As he may not have this number, and as additional 

 light is there given, it may be well to reproduce the follow- 

 ing : 



Dr. Miller had been reading to me about the fumes of gasoline 

 being effectual. I did not have much faith in the fumes of gasoline, 

 but I did have a good deal of faith in the gasoline itself. So, without 

 consulting Dr. Miller. I concluded to experiment a little. I had about 

 50 combs that were wormy. Some of them had full-grown worms, 

 some about half -size, and some just commencing work, so I felt I had 

 a good chance to experiment. 



I took a bottle of gasoline and a small oil-can, such as is usually 

 used about a sewing machine, as my outfit. I filled the oil-can with 

 gasoline and was ready for work. I inspected each comb carefully, 

 and whenever I saw the least suspicion of worms I squirted the cells 

 full of gasoline from the oil-can. It was very quickly and easily done, 

 and was most effectual even on the very large worms. I treated the 

 whole 50 combs, and was sorry afterwards that I had not kept track 

 of the time it took me, as I was surprised to see how quickly it was 

 done. 



I felt sure it was a success as far as killing the worms was con- 

 cerned, but I had a little misgiving as to the effect the gasoline might 

 have upon the combs, and as to what the bees would have to say about 

 accepting them after they had been so treated. I am happy to say 

 that the combs were not injured in the least by the gasoline, and the 

 bees made no objection to accepting them, so I am inclined to think it 

 a pretty good way to treat them. Of course, one must be very careful 

 not to use gasoline anywhere near a fire, as it is very inflammable. 



When wax-worms are full-grown they are very hard to 

 kill. The fumes of burning sulphur, even when very 

 strong, seem to leave them in good health. It is a question 

 how large a worm might be killed by being enclosed in the 

 fumes of gasoline. But when the gasoline itself is squirted 

 upon them there is no question in the case. 



We are sometimes instructed to dig the larger worms 

 out of their burrows with a wire-nail. It is much easier to 

 squirt the gasoline upon them, and it does the work just as 

 thoroughly. 



No Winter Losses— Turpentine to Qet Rid of Ants 



As this is the first day of March, and we now feel quite 

 secure from winter losses, I thought I would report our suc- 

 cessful wintering. Out of 75 colonies (with 10 rather light 

 in stores in the fall) we, so far, have lost but 1 colony. 

 There have been very few dead bees carried out of the hives 

 the present winter, and I verily believe that some colonies 

 have bred and reared young bees throughout the winter 

 months, as the weather has been very mild at times, and 

 young bees seemed to be trying their wings in front of the 

 hives. 



On pleasant days I have fed the bees by distributing 

 canaille (coarse flour) on top of the hives, and they rolled it 

 up like pollen on their busy little legs, and carried it off 

 quite greedily. We now find them going to the woods to 

 work on Cottonwood and elm buds. 



Please tell the gentleman who mentioned having caught 

 6 swarms of bees in decoy hives, that here is a gentle-woman 

 (?) who, with the aid of mascule climbers, caught 26 abscond- 

 ing swarms from the neighboring vicinity, and we have 

 them yet. Many of them proved to be prime swarms and 

 great honey-gatherers. Some were 5-banded Italians, and 

 others a kind of black bee. One colony in particular gave 

 us 4 supers of fine honey in 1904. We had very little sur- 

 plus honey last season. 



I read somewhere about the ants being such a menace to 

 bees in the South, as they also are in Nebraska. A good 

 remedy is to apply turpentine along the seams and in their 

 run-ways (with a common stiff feather). One application 

 proves effectual in most cases. They don't wait to be told 



to pack up and go ; they simply just " get up and git," and 

 take their larva;- with them. The bees pay little or no atten- 

 tion to the turpentine, unless it happens to touch them. 

 Williams, Nebr., March 1. Mrs. Jas. Lamb. 



You are to be congratulated on your successful winter- 

 ing. Lookout, however, that they have plenty of stores 

 until your main harvest comes. 



Caught 26 stray swarms I That, alone, is a good sum- 

 mer's work. The brother with his 6 will please take a back 

 seat. 



*% 



21lt\ pasty's 

 Ctftertljougfyte 



The " Old Reliable" as seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Helpful Bees— Milkweed Pollen 



That was an interesting observation of Mr. Suddith's, 

 when he saw the guards on the alighting-board acting like 

 jockeys grooming a horse in pulling off the milkweed pollen 

 from the feet of incoming bees. That's just so as it ought 

 to be — make themselves useful, as well as " sassy " and in- 

 quisitorial. If there was only a kind of domestic dog for a 

 guard at our thresholds that would clean off the feet of 

 " we'uns " when we come in, how swift all the sisters would 

 be to purchase a pup ! Page 185. 



Control of Swarming ? 



Absolute-control-of-the-swarming problem, is it now ? 

 And yet most of us are not shouting or dancing around in 

 glee ! Strange creatures, we ! Still I guess we are waiting 

 with a tolerable amount of interest to hear the particulars 

 from Mr. Davenport. Shall we realize upon our newly- 

 born hopes — or have we been listening to the claims of a 

 patent medicine ? Page 186. 



Crowding Out the Queen 



C. P. Dadant mentions again a difficulty which we often 

 read of. Bees put some new honey in nearly every cell and 

 the queen has nowhere to lay. Now, I am not by any means 

 saying that the brethren need not look out for this — let 

 them be duly careful — but in my location, with my strain of 

 bees, it is an empty bug-a-boo, I am well convinced. My 

 bees are well settled German-Italian hybrids. They will 

 clear room for the queen if she wants it — and if the brood- 

 nest is too small it's, the queen that's to blame. With a 

 strain of bees more inclined to disregard the queen's wishes 

 naturally the trouble would be worse — and also worse in 

 heavy and long-continued honey-flows than in the short 

 and moderate ones of a none-too-good location. 



Yes, if you buy a tremendous lot of hives, and very 

 earnestly want a lot of bees to swarm, they may improve 

 that occasion to say, " This is our off year." If you want 

 to be sure of increase you must of course make it artificially. 

 And Mr. D. is shrewd and wise to use for artificial increase 

 those colonies that would not have yielded much surplus 

 anyway — and especially wise in insisting that they have 

 queens given them of the best parentage instead of being 

 allowed to rear their own. Page 187. 



Buying, Selling, and Eating Honey 



That was a wise saying of C. W. Dayton's, where he 

 said : " People like to buy honey, but do not like to have it 

 sold to them." Nice to take that saying in the opposite 

 direction, too. I don't like to sell honey, but I like to have 

 people come and buy it of me. 



And so the landlady and the hired girl didn't agree. 

 Fear of adulteration with sugar — else the boarders' eating 

 it too fast — stopped the consumption of honey at one board- 

 ing house. Page 188. 



Honey-Yielding Plants of Texas 



Mr. Scholl did a good job for Texas (and how much we 

 all need the same for our own localities) in that botanical 

 list of honey-yielding plants. Represents the observations 

 of six years, it seems. It does not claim to be complete. 

 Should have the color and appearance of each kind of pol- 

 len. Desirable to have the color and quality of each kind 

 of honey ; but that is such a difficult, problem when minor 



