75S 



American Itee Journal 



Sept. 6, 1906 



Docfor Millard 

 sfion-Box 



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. 



Wants Positive Cure for Foul Brood 



1. Is there any positive cure for foul brood, other than 

 starving- it out of the bees, and putting them into a clean 

 hive ? 



2. Is there any law in Pennsylvania to prohibit people 

 from distributing the disease ? We have been troubled 

 with foul brood in our apiary for the last 12 or 15 years in 

 succession. Pennsylvania. 



Answers.— 1. I don't know of any. But it isn't neces- 

 sary to use a clean hive ; the old hive may be used, but not 

 the old combs. 



2. Perhaps some other Pennsylvania bee-keeper will 

 answer this. 



Best Hive-Telescope Hive-Cover 



1. What kind of a hive is the best for comb honey ; for 

 extracted ? 



2. Is the Danzenbaker hive a good comb-honey hive ? 



3. Could I use the Danzenbaker hive for extracting ? If 

 so, state how to use it. 



4. Can I use the telescope cover X\% inches deep over 

 the Danzenbaker hive in the summer-time, or is it only for 

 winter use? 



5. Is the telescope cover better than the excelsior cover? 



Ohio. 

 Answers.— 1. After trying several different hives, I 

 have found nothing that suits me better than the 8 frame 

 dovetailed ; but unless I expected to give very close atten- 

 tion to my bees I should prefer 10-frame. 



2. Either the 10 frame dovetailed or something larger. 



3. Some speak highly of it. At one time I had thoughts 

 of adopting it for my own use, but after trying it on a small 

 scale I did not like it well enough to adopt it. 



4. It can be used for extracting just as you would use 

 any hive for that purpose. 



5 A telescope cover may be used summer or winter any- 

 where where it is large enough to go over the parts desired. 



6. That's a question that can't be answered in a single 

 word. A good many things must be taken into considera- 

 tion. Some prefer one and some the other. For my own 

 use I prefer the plainest kind of a cover, only so it is water- 

 proof, close-fitting, and with an air-space to make it cool in 

 summer and warm in winter. But if I were to change 

 places with some one who is usin g a telescope cover, I might 

 prefer the telescope. 



■ ^ • » 



How Late to Remove Surplus Honey 



What time in the fall, as near frost as possible, do you 

 think that a bee-keeper ought to take off section honey ? 



Do you think 2 weeks before frost would be too late ? 

 Sometimes we do not have a killing frost until the last of 

 November here, and sometimes we have a killing frost the 

 9th of November. 



If the temperature goes below 48 or 50 degrees above 

 zero by the middle of the day, I hardly ever open a hive in 

 the fall. At least, not if much below that. Bees here store 

 sometimes as much honey in the fall as they do in the 

 spring, when the summers are not so severe and hot as to 

 kill out a good many of the bees— that is, when the colonies 

 are strong they do better in the fall. All bee keepers in 

 this locality leave on the hive all winter the sections that 

 are unfilled in the fall. We had but 3 freezing days last 

 winter that the bees did not fly out ; on all other days they 



flew out at some time during the day when the weather was 

 warm enough. Georgia. 



Answer.— It's a matter not of frost but of flow. Or, 

 rather, cessation of flow. If you were told that 2 weeks be- 

 fore frost is the right time to take off all sections — and I 

 take it that what you are talking about is the right time to 

 take off all sections for good— what guide would that be to 

 you ? for who can tell 2 weeks, or even 2 days, beforehand 

 just when the first frost will come? 



No, the time to clear all sections off the hives is when 

 all storing of the right kind is done. All storing "of the 

 right kind," for sometimes it may happen that after the 

 bees cease to store honey of a desirable sort for surplus, 

 there may come again a fall flow of such honey as you do 

 not care to have in sections, but will be all right for the 

 bees to store for their own consumption. The time to take 

 off all sections will depend upon pasturage and seasons, 

 and possibly on other things. So it may be 2 weeks before 

 first frost, and sometimes it may be 6 weeks or more. In- 

 deed, in some cases it might not come till after frost. When 

 you have reason to believe the bees will do no more storing 

 in sections, or at least will store no more such honey as you 

 care for in sections, then leaving them on longer will only 

 be a damage. If it is fashionable to leave seetions on all 

 winter in your locality, then there's one thing in which you 

 will do well to be unfashionable. The more the bees fly in 

 winter, the worse it will probably be for the sections that 

 are left on. 



Catnip Honey— Supers and Separators-Getting 

 Rid of Ants 



1. Is catnip honey fit for table use? It seems to taste 

 very strong. 



2. What kind of a super would you advocate using — the 

 T super, or the slotted section-holder super, for bee-way 

 sections ? 



3. Would you advocate using separators in T supers ? 



4. What is the best remedy for keeping very little yel- 

 low ants from attacking the honey in the honey-house ? 

 Some years they are all over the house and attack anything 

 sweet. They are a "fright "when they attack a stack of 

 comb honey ready for market, for the only way I know to 

 get them off is to blow them off. Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. Catnip honey has the reputation of being 

 fine for table use. Unless you have catnip in great abun- 

 dance, and little or nothing else yielding at the same time, 

 you can hardly be sure that you have pure catnip honey ; 

 and it is impossible that the very strong taste comes from 

 some other honey being mixed with the catnip. 



2. I prefer the T-super. 



3. Yes, if the honey is to be handled as much as will be 

 if put upon the market, separators should be used. If the 

 honey is merely for home use, then it doesn't matter. 



4. Trace them to their nests, and give them a good dose 

 of bisulphide of carbon or gasoline. You may also pile the 

 honey on a platform with feet which set in some sort of 

 dishes (oyster cans, or old cans of any kind), the dishes 

 being kept filled with water or oil. 



Late Increase— Experience in Super-Work 



I have one L,angstroth 8 frame hive crammed full of 

 bees. On July 4 I cut out 4 queen-cells to keep them from 

 swarming. On the 11th I examined again and found 7 

 queen-cells — 4 on one frame, 2 on 1, and 1 on 1 frame. I 

 have a super on the hive, but the bees don't seem to make 

 any progress in filling it. I have the queen's wings clipped. 

 I have an extra hive ready to put the swarm in. 



1. Is it best to allow natural swarming ? I would like 

 to increase to 3 or 4 colonies. What is best to do in my case? 



2. In putting starters in the super sections I used some 

 old comb in 4 sections; for the balance I used comb founda- 

 tion. The bees have now capped some of the sections 

 started with old comb, while they eat holes in the comb 

 foundation, and even take the comb foundation out alto- 

 gether. Alhambra. 



Answers. — 1. It might have been best to allow natural 

 swarming in the first place ; but as you have hindered the 

 bees by cutting cells out twice, and as there is probably 

 very little nectar coming in, it is possible that natural 



