690 



Aug. 9, 1906 



American Itee Journal 



development of bacilli— would not all in- 

 fected eggs be killed before hatching by the 

 swarm of inbred bacilli, and only non-infected 

 ones be left to hatch? 



Valuable items. Size of bee'6 egg— 1-14 inch 

 long and 1-70 inch in cross diameter. Correct 

 strength of the violent poison corrosive sub- 

 limate — % ounce to a gallon of water. This 

 to use on tools and hands. Page 52S. 



Baby Nuclei and Queen-Rearing. 



Most gladly will I hold Henry Alley's bon- 

 net while he makes kindling wood, both lit- 

 erally and figuratively, of E. L. Pratt's baby 

 nuclei. Still Satan should have all the dues 

 the truth will allow him — and pne point Mr. 

 Alley does not cover. Why do the bees of 

 weak nuclei ball queens returning from the 

 mating flight? I take it that it's because they 

 are overworked at feeding brood. Disgusted 

 at every prospect of fertility — which would 

 normally be attractive. " No more babies for 

 Josie — not if she knows herself." Now 

 brand-new and broodless bees have not had a 

 chance to get in this frame of mind. The re- 

 cent kink of using very few bees, using them 

 but once and throwing them away, has at 



least a rationale why they might be expected 

 not to persecute their queens. The gist of 

 the article is that in the experience of Henry 

 Alley (and who has longer or broader?), 

 nuclei much larger than the "babies" are 

 pretty sure to ball their returning queens 

 whenever they are allowed to get weak. The 

 inference that weaker nuclei must be worse 

 in this respect seems a very natural inference. 

 Page 5S 1. 



Writing for Common Folks — Lop-Sided 

 Flowers are Nectar- Yielders. 



Here's a club for Prof. Cook for saying 

 '' conterminous " when writing for common 

 folks. Most bee folks are not even botanists; 

 and the words necessary to botanical informa- 

 tion are enough of a trial without selecting 

 those needlessly puzzling. Say, rather, that 

 the pollen and the stigma of the same flower 

 are not ready to act at the same time. 



But splendidly convenient is the rule that 

 he gives that lop-sided flowers always yield 

 nectar. Never thought of it before. Even if 

 it 6hould turn out to have some exceptions, 

 its manifest correctness in the main makes it 

 valuable. Page 530. 



*V 



Docfor Millers 



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. 



Milkweed Pollen on Feet of Bees 



I have sent you under another cover a 

 queen-cage with a few bees. There is some- 

 thing wrong with their legs or feet. There 

 seems to be a growth ou them, so that they 

 can not stick to anything. The bees have 

 been carrying them out for 10 days or 2 

 weeks. They seem all right as far as flying 

 is concerned. The well bees bring them out 

 and don't kill them, but fly off with them, 

 and I think that they find their way back. If 

 I part them when they first come out, one can 

 liy as well as the other. This is something 

 new to me, and I have not read or 6een any- 

 thing in print that describes anything like it. 



Wtoming. 



Answer. — It's mikweed again. See picture 

 No. 2 on first-page cover of the American Bee 

 Journal for July 26, and what is said about it 

 on page 684. No need for great alarm, and 

 there's nothing you can do about it unless 

 you can kill off all milkweed within range. 

 There's some comfort in the possibility that 

 the bees will get enough honey from milk- 

 weed to make up the loss. 



Removing Bees from Sections— Bees 



Hanging Out-Bee-Sting 



Remedies, Etc. 



1. What is the best way to get the bees 

 from the sections when I remove a super? (I 

 have no bee-scraper.) If one should take the 

 super a distance from the hive and brush 

 them off, would they go back to the hive or 

 would they get lost? 



2. Why do bees collect on the outside of 

 the hive in hot weather? Is it because they 

 have not room enough, or because of the heat I 

 Or is it a sign that they are not gathering any- 

 thing? Is it any harm for them to do so? If 

 so, how can I prevent it? 



3. What is good for bee-stings? 



4. How many colonies of bees have you at 

 present? 



5. Do they ever gather much honey from 

 basswood? Is that honey as good as clover 

 honey ? 



6. Do you sell your honey by the section or 

 by the pound ! 



7. How much honey should a strong colony 

 store in sections in a good season ? 



8. If a colony should lose their queen, 

 would they rear auother? If so, would she 

 be as good as the old one? 



9. If a colony should lose its queen, would 

 they continue to gather honey as well until 

 another one was reared? Maine. 



Answers.— 1. The Porter bee-escape is a 

 nice thing to use if you have time to wait for 

 it; and if you want more prompt work there 

 is perhaps nothing better than the Miller tent- 

 escape, which latter you can make yourself. 

 But as you say you have no escape, it is prob- 

 able that you do not have enough honey to 

 make it worth while to have an escape; yet 

 I think if I had as many as 5 colonies I should 

 make a Miller escape. Without having an 

 escape there arc several ways to proceed. 

 The way you speak of will work, for if you 

 brush oil the bees either close to the hive or 

 several rods away, they will find their way 

 home again, unless there be some bees on the 

 section so youug that they have never left the 

 hive — a thing not likely to happen. You may 

 also set the sections right on the hive, or 

 stand the super against the hive, allowing the 

 bees to come out at their leisure. When 

 honey is coming in very freely, it will be safe 

 to do this in broad daylight; but too gen- 

 erally there i i hat it will 6tart rob- 

 bing. The safer wa; is to place the sections 

 in the evening- after the bees have 

 stopped flying. The bees will most likely be 

 all out before morning, and you can take up 

 the sections before the bees leave the hives. 

 Another way is to pile up several supers in a 



pile, bee-tight at the bottom, and over the 

 top spread a sheet or other covering that is 

 bee-tight, but will let the light through. 

 From time to time lift off the sheet and let 

 the bees that are above escape, and in the 

 course of a few hours all ought to be out. 

 Whatever way you do, it is well to smoke 

 down a good part of the bees before removing 

 the super; but don't be too lavish with your 

 smoke or the honey will taste of it. and 6moke 

 doesn't improve honey as much as it does 

 ham. 



2. It may be because there is too little room 

 in the hive; it may be because there is noth- 

 ing to do in the fields: it may be partly for 

 both reasons. Sometimes giving more room 

 will stop the clustering out: sometimes giv- 

 ing more ventilation. Don't worry about 

 their hanging out if there is nothing to do in 

 the fields; they may as well loaf outside as 

 inside. 



3. Get the sting out as quickly as possible, 

 and think about something else. Putting 

 mud on the place is a good thing ; also honey. 



4. I don't know, for there are maybe a half- 

 dozen that it's hard to tell whether they are 

 full colonies or nuclei. Leaving these out of 

 the count I think there are 164. 



5. There are very few basswoods in this 

 vicinity, but this year the dearth has been so 

 great that what little the bees got from bass- 

 wood was quite acceptable. Basswood first 

 opened June 29, and was entirely gone July 

 16, lasting 17 days. The honey ranks with 

 white clover. Probably most persons prefer 

 white clover, but some prefer basswood. 



6. By the pound. 



7. That depends very much upon the honey- 

 resources of the locality. In most places 30 

 pounds is a pretty fair yield, in an average 

 season ; and 50 to 75 in a good season. 



S. A colony losing a queen when young 

 brood is present in the hive may be counted 

 on to rear another. She may not be as good 

 as the old queen— she may be better. If 

 reared at a time when honey is coming in 

 freely, she is likely to be, while a virgin, 

 much the same as her mother. If she meets 

 a very good drone she may be better than her 

 mother; if she meets a poor drone she may 

 not be as good as her mother. 



9. Not likely. 



Caucasian Queens and Bees 



What is a Caucasian queen like in color; 

 Are Caucasian bees good honey-gatherers? 

 Are they gentle bees? Are they any better 

 than Italians? Will they tight the bee-moths? 

 The reason I ask these questions is, I won as 

 a prize a Caucasian queen : it was sent to me, 

 and was just like mine, as near as I could tell, 

 in color. Martland. 



Answer. — Caucasians are new yet, and it 

 is hardly fully settled just how they are to be 

 considered. It is generally conceded that 

 they are extremely gentle, and as to other 

 points there is a difference of opinion. Ital- 

 ian queens vary in appearance, and it is likely 

 Caucasians do ; so it would be nothing strange 

 to find a Caucasian queen and an Italian 

 queen looking very much alike. You will be 

 able to judge more by the appearance of the 

 workers than by that of the queens. If you 

 will turn to page J4:t you will find pretty full 

 information about them. 



Swarming— When to Take Off Supers 

 —Wintering in Open Shed 



1. I have 7 colonies of bees, and but one 

 has swarmed so far. I took the new swarm 

 and set it on the old stand and moved the old 

 one to one side and drained about all of the 

 workers from the old colony. Was that 

 right? I have 2 hive-bodies and 1 super on 

 the new colony. Tney are all full of bees. 

 Will they swarm this season? 



2. Another colony has :'. bodiesand 3 supers 

 full to the cover with bees, and they are also 

 hanging out in front. Will the queen lay in 

 all 3 bodies? and will they swarm? 



