THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



199 



1. Will eggs laid in worker comb pro- 

 duce drones if removed by the bees to 

 drone comb ? 



2. Is there any difference between an 

 egg that produces a drone, a queen or a 

 worker bee ? 



In connection with the above I would 

 give you my own observations. This 

 spring, about 9th to 12th of April, on ex- 

 amining one of my "black colonies," I 

 found it very strong and queenless, (/ had 

 examined this two or three times previous) 

 so that I know there was no queen nor 

 fertile loorker. I gave it 1 frame of brood 

 from jiiy Italian colony, all worker comb, 

 and as the colony was weak from which I 

 took it, I have every reason for believing 

 every egg would have produced worker 

 bees if left with the parent hive, for at 

 this time there are no drones nor drone 

 brood in it, and on examining the hive 

 this morning, 1 find a fine young Italian 

 queen, a fine lot of y/»ung Italian bees, 

 about as many as would hatch out from a 

 piece of comb six to seven inches square, 

 a good force of black bees, and on the ad- 

 joining comb some drone brood, some ap- 

 parently just from the cell, and some 

 drones one to three days old, and some 

 cutting out, and every drone, or nearly so, 

 a well marked Italian. 



Now the above tends to show that an 

 egg laid by a fertile queen (one that has 

 met the drone and been impregnated) will 

 produce either a queen, drone, or worker 

 bee, and that the bees alone control the 

 fecundation of the eggs, and that the 

 queen has no control over the sex of the 

 egg. W. G. Smith. 



8t. Louis, Mo. 



A pretty strong case is here made out, 

 but there may be more than one way of 

 explaining the puzzle, without conflicting 

 with the generally accepted theory, that 

 an unimpregnated egg will produce only 

 a drone, and an impregnated egg only a 

 queen or a worker. We should like a 

 little further history of this case. In 

 what stages of progress was the drone 

 brood ? Was there any brood not sealed 

 over, either drone or worker? Had any 

 frames of this hive ever before been ex- 

 changed with the Italian hive ? 



It has been suggested to me, to treat 

 foul-broody hives and combs, and also 

 moldy combs and empty combs, hung 

 away over winter (to protect the latter 

 from moth worms), with a solution of 

 potash or concentrated lye. Can you or 

 any of your readers tell me in what pro- 

 portion the lye or potash should be diluted, 

 whether it will destroy foul brood, mold, 

 moth worms and moth eggs, what effect 

 it has on the comb, if tliis should lie 

 rinsed only with water or (as was also sug- 



gested) with a weak solution of sulphuric 

 acid, and how the bees will accept hives 

 and combs tlius treated ? I shall experi- 

 ment myself, and report results. 



Wm. Muth-Rasmussen. 

 Los Angeles, Cal. 



We have no experience in the use of 

 potash as cleaning agent for the combs, 

 or for preventive against foul brood, or 

 moth. Will some of our readers give 

 some light on this subject? 



Instead of trying potash, if we had any 

 fears about combs being infested with 

 foul brood, we would use sal icy tic acid to 

 disinfect them. 



Take 1 ounce salicytic acid (crystallized) 

 and dissolve it in 8 ounces of pure alco- 

 hol. Preserve the liquid in a bottle well 

 corked. To spread the acid upon the 

 combs dilute it in pure distilled water, 

 one drop of acid for 17 grains (avoirdu- 

 pois) of water; the water should be warm 

 at least at 60 degrees to prevent the crys- 

 tallization of salicytic acid. Then with 

 an atomizer, project the watery spray in 

 the cells. Do not prepare the dissolution 

 beforeliand, for the salicylic acid would 

 crystallize. 



To clean combs of moth worms 

 fumigate them with sulphur. Prepare 

 sulphured wicks, by dipping some strips 

 of coarse cotton clolli in liquid sulphur. 

 Suspend the combs in a box and light a 

 bit of your sulphured wick under them. 

 Renew the operation if some eggs have 

 escaped and hatch. Then preserve the 

 comb in a well closed box. 



Please give me the proper management 

 of honey barrels that were used for honey 

 last year. I have some barrels that were 

 made last season, of white oak timber, 

 and filled with honey, and when they were 

 emptied last fall I bored a gimlet-hole in 

 one head, close to the side, and set them 

 up and let them drain until the last drop 

 was out. Ai-e they in order for honey this 

 year ? A Bee-Keeper. 



If the barrels have been kept in a dry 

 place since emptied, they are probably all 

 right. If not, a good scalding would 

 be the thing. If they have stood in a 

 damp place with a little honey in them 

 they may have soured, in which case it 

 might be well to fill up with water and 

 soak a few days, then dry out and scald. 



To wax the barrel, pour in beeswax 

 hot, bung up light; turn the barrel on 



