May 17, 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



429 



head-glands, which, for a long time, were supposed to contain acid. 

 M. Reidenbach's research has shown this to be so, for formic acid is 

 very volatile, and is rapidly dissipated in the air, but he found appre- 

 ciable quantities of acid in the dry royal jelly several years old, which 

 showed it to be not formic but tartaric acid. This not only inverts 

 cane-sugar, but is of greater importance in the food or laryae as it 

 changes by oxidation into formic acid. 



A third means of disinfection is in the ethereal oils found in 

 honey. It is these that produce the aroma that escapes from a hive 

 during a rapid ingathering, or that attract the bees to the flowers, and 

 give to the plants like fennel, mint, and thyme, their healing virtues. 

 Their action in a colony is inestimable, and they assist in preparing a 

 healthy food, and, while arresting the development of bacilli, give 

 vigor to the colony. An active and vigorous colony produces a large 

 quantity of formic and tartaric acid, and with a rapid tlow of nee tar 

 the ethereal oils increase, and the bees are in good condition to defend 

 themselves against foul brood. 



He concludes by advising the bee-beeper to look after the 6anitary 

 conditions of his hives, to be sure that they have proper ventilation 

 and good food ; in fact, that they should be in a state always to pro- 

 duce the natural disinfectants to maintain the colony in a healthy con- 

 dition. There would then be little to fear from foul brood.— British 

 Bee Journal. 



1904, 

 i a very 

 large extent, to me, they are new. Although I had been 

 experimenting for some time with the ethereal oils, I had 

 not thought of the fruit acids ; but I am now trying them, 

 and would like to know, through your columns, what my 

 fellow bee-keepers are doing to prevent disease by way of 

 disinfectants; also, what Messrs. Benton, Cook, etc., think 

 about the feasibility of making more use of these acids. 

 With the air, moisture, and carbonic acid in the hives, no 

 doubt the materials for transforming one of these into formic 

 acid are at hand ; but are the reagents there to cause these 

 changes to take place unerringly ? 



Perhaps our bees, after all, when the honey-flow is 

 about over, and they are storing the essentials in their hives 

 for winter, do not go about sucking bruised grapes and 

 apples just for diversion. Robt. West. 



Jamaica. 



Sorting and Overhauling- Combs 



sets 



The foregoing from the British Bee Journal of 

 forth what the editor calls " new ideas ;" and to a 



During April and May there is much weather when 

 nothing can be done with the bees. A comfortable work- 

 shop is then a necessity, and an important matter to attend 

 to is the overhauling of all combs, extracting supers and 

 hives not occupied by bees. All the woodwork is scraped. 

 To start with a super or hive full of combs, the tops of top- 

 bars are scraped off with a wall scraper used by paper- 

 hangers. The combs are next removed, one by one, and 

 the sides of top-bars, end-bars and bottom-bars scraped with 

 a small, short scrapinp-knife until every bit of wax and 

 propolis is removed. Then the inside of the hive or super 

 is scraped, and the rabbet for the frame-rest is scraped out 

 with a ; s -inch chisel. 



The combs are all sorted into 3 classes : 



1st, Worker-combs — those containing practically all 

 worker-comb, culling out especially those with drone-cells 

 next to the top-bar. These combs may have considerable 

 pollen. 



2d, Extracting combs — those containing part or all 

 drone-comb, and no pollen. 



3d, Combs to be cut out. In this class we put frames 

 not more than three-fourths filled with comb, and combs 

 which can not go in Class 1, and are very dark-colored or 

 contain pollen. These combs are cut out and melted up 

 along with the wax-scrapings. If a starter of worker-cells 

 a half-inch or an inch can be left along the top bar, it is 

 left for use in comb-honey hives. If not, it is scraped out 

 clean, and the frame re-wired for a full sheet of comb 

 foundation. 



A Queen-Bee Free as a Premium. — We are now book- 

 ing orders for Untested Italian Queens to be delivered in 

 May or June. This is the premium offer: To a subscriber 

 whose own subscription to the American Bee Journal is 

 paid at least to the end of 1906, we will mail an Untested 

 Italian Queen for sending us one new subscription with 

 $1.00 for the Bee Journal a year. Or, we will renew your 

 subscription to the American Bee Journal for a year, and 

 send a fine Untested Italian Queen — both for $1.50. Now 

 is a good time to get new subscribers. If you wish extra 

 copies of the Bee Journal for use as samples, let us know 

 how many you want and we will mail them to you. Address 

 all orders to the office of the American Bee Journal. 



=\ 



Doctor miller's 

 (Question > 23ox 



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

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

 Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Clipping Queens-States Having No Foul Brood 



I want to clip my queens' wings this spring. I have not clipped 

 any before. 



1. Is May 1 about the best time? 



2. How much of the wing should be clipped off — ]4 or J^? 



3. Ought all the colonies to have brood or eggs now, that have 

 good queen6? 



4. Which States are without foul brood? 1 want to get some 

 queens this year. Minnesota. 



Answers.— 1. That's a very good time. It doesn't matter a great 

 deal about the time, only it's easier to find a queen before a colony 

 gets to its largest numbers. 



2. No great matter just how much. Some cut off half or more of 

 the large wing on one side. That spoils the looks of a queen less than 

 to cut off both wings on one side; but others prefer to cut off about 

 half of both wings on one side, because it makes it easier to recognize 

 the queen when looking for her. Some cut the wings differently in 

 different years, perhaps cutting the right wing in odd years, and the 

 left in even years. Others keep a record of queens in a book, clipping 

 each year alike. 



3. Yes. . , M . 



4. I don't know; it is doubtful that any State is entirely free from 

 foul brood. But there is not much risk in getting a queen from any- 

 where, for if the queen be run into another cage, and the attendant 

 bees be burned with their cage, no disease will be carried. 



T-Supers and Quilts-Weak Colony Over a Strong One- 

 Fence Separators 



I always winter my bees on the summer 6tands, and am always 

 afraid to look into them after they are or have sealed up in the fall 

 until warm weather the next spring, because I do not want to let in 

 the cold, as they could not very well seal up again. So I let the hive 

 stay closed. I use 8-frame hives, and work for comb honey only. 



1. Do you use supers that are flat on the bottom and top, or are 

 they 6hip-lapped a little, like the Wisconsin? 



2. Is it necessary to have a quilt over the honey-board? 



3. Do you use a honey-board or division-board, or both i 



4. Would a T-super work on a Wisconsin hive? 



5. In putting a weak colony of bees over a strong one in the 

 spring, is it necessary to have a queen-excluder between them? I 

 have done so without an excluder, and never lost but one queen out of 

 several times— probably 10 or 12 different times— doing it. 



6. Do you use slats or fences between sections? Nebraska. 



Answers.— 1. I use T-supers which are flat, the bottom of the 

 sections coming down flush with the bottom of the super, and within 

 14-inch of the top of the super, making the bee-space at the top of the 

 super. 



2. I use neither quilt nor honey-board. 



3. No honey-board, and, strictly speaking, no division-board, but 

 I use a dummy, which some call a division-board. The inside width 

 of the hive is 12V, aDl1 lhe frames beiDg spaced 1 3 8 that leaves quite a 

 space, which the dummy fills up at one side. The dummy is 5-16 

 thick, and by first lifting out the dummy it makes it easier to get out 

 the frames. , _, 



4. With a little adjustment it ought to work on any hive. Of 

 course a T-super can be made of such size as to fit exactly a hive of 

 anv size. . _ . ' . 



5. If you had not given your experience, I should have said an 

 excluder was absolutely necessary; but I suppose it will work all 

 right without excluder so long as the upper colony is so weak that the 

 clusters of the two stories do not come together. 



6. I have used both, but now use only plain wood separators, 



1-16 inch thick. 



•+ • » — ■ 



Prevention of Swarming 



Not long ago a writer in the American Bee Journal said he pre- 

 vented his bees from swarming without shaking the combs or looking 

 for queens. Can you tell us how that can be done? Illinois. 



Answer.— About 20 years ago 1 gave to the public a plan for the 

 management of a colon; alter swarming, which, with a little modifica- 

 tion, might fulfill the conditions. If you want to try it, proceed thus: 



Set off the super or supers, and set the hive off its stand. Put on 

 the stand a hive containing a frame of brood in all stages ( ibis frame 

 may be obtained wherever it is most convenient), and 2 or 3 frames 

 containing comb, foundation, or starters. On this put the super or 



