layi 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



423 



seems to be no sure cure. Remedy after remedy has been 

 annouuced as a sure cure, but upon next trial the remedy 

 failed. The latest given is one in Gleanings, and may be 

 worth trying. It is to throw some strange bees into the hive, 

 the theory being that In an afTected colony the bees don't lil<e 

 to throw out their sick sisters, but strange bees are not so 

 tender-hearted, and will hustle them out without ceremony. 

 The report states that a cure has been effected by merely 

 making a diseased colony change places with a healthy one. 

 Of course that would throw a big lot of strange bees into the 

 diseased colony. 



A Plan for S%varniiiig-Tinie. 



When my next swarm Issues I am going to try a plan 

 which I do not know of any one trying, atid would like your 

 opinion of it through the " Old Reliable." I have nuclei with 

 laying queens with dipt wings. I shall hive the prime swarm 

 in the regular way, and remove queen-cells from the old hive, 

 and exchange some of the best with a nucleus for a qi;eeu, 

 hoping to avoid the danger of losing an after-swarm, and also 

 to save myself the time lost in looking for a joung laying 

 queen in a full colony to clip her, when I can 13nd her in a 

 minute in the nucleus. 



We have had a good flow of white clover honey for the 

 past two weeks, but with no rain through this section of coun- 

 try, hundreds of acres of white clover is turning brown, and 

 seems to be nearly dead. There is considerable basswood 

 along the " Weeping Water," which will be out in about a 

 week, and we hope for a riuh yield of nectar from that. I be- 

 lieve if those bee-keepers who do not provide water for their 

 bees, could see mine just swarm around the dishes filled with 

 sand, with water constantly dropping into them (the dishes, 

 not the bees), both fresh and salt water, they would decide 

 that it pays to water them in their yard. Nebraska. 



Answer. — I doubt if you'll like the plan. In altogether 

 too many cases, if you give a laying queen to the mother col- 

 ony, they will swarm again before long. 



Bees Dcciining to Work in llie Super. 



Why is it that when taking off honey and putting sections 

 on again the bees do not work ? Kentucky. 



Answer. — I'm not so sure that I understand just what 

 your qi»estion means, but probably that when bees are busy at 

 work in the sections a super of filled ones is taken off and an 

 empty one put in its place, and the bees that were busy in the 

 finisht super don't begin work in the empty one. It is hardly 

 correct that the bees stop work just because their finisht super 

 has been exchanged for an empty one. The rule is that they 

 will go right to work in the new super, provided there is any 

 work to do. If they do not, it must be because the honey-flow 

 hasslackt up, and in that case they would have stopt as well 

 if the old super had been left on. Indeed, it is very little 

 they can do for the last few days in the old super, merely 

 sealing over the last few cells. But a super about finisht 

 should never be left on alone. When it is about half filled, if 

 the honey-flow is good, raise it up and put an empty one under 

 it, and see how promptly the bees will commence in the new 

 super. But if it is near the end of the honey-flow, and you 

 don't know whether another super may be needed or not, then 

 put the empty super on the top of the partly-filled super, and 

 the bees will not use it unless they need it. 



Soiuctliins Tor an Orchard Plant and Shade. 



1. What would be a good plant to put in the orchard com- 

 bining these two points: first, as a fertilizer when turned un- 

 der green; second, a good honey-producer? We live in a 

 dry country, as a rule, with light sandy soil about two feet 

 deep, with a stiff clay subsoil. 



2. Would the castor-oil plant be a good thing to plant 

 near hives for shade purposes during the summer months? 



Our bees are not doing much in the way of honey-gather- 

 ing, but every hive is full almost to overflowing with young 



bees. The supers have been on for the last six weeks with 

 thin surplus starters, but they have not made a start to work 

 on them yet. Texas. 



Answer. — 1. Isn't it a pretty hard thing to have a plant 

 to turn under green and have it produce a crop for the bees 

 also? Buckwheat is good for either purpose, but the same 

 sowing will hardly do for both purposes, for if turned under 

 as a fertilizer it will be at or before the time of blooming. 

 Alsike clover might do to turn under after blooming, but it 

 might not succeed well on your land. Possibly some one else 

 may know more about it. 



2. I doubt whether you would be greatly pleased with the 



castor-oil plant for shade. For the bees it will be as well to 



put a good armful of coarse grass on each hive, weighing it 



down with two or three sticks of stovewood. It will remain 



there all summer. For the operator a sheet fastened to four 



poles stuck in the ground will perhaps be better than the 



castor-plant. 



^ I ^ 



An Insect Supposed to Kill Bees. 



I to-day send you an insect which has destroyed one of 

 my best colonies of Italian bees. It killed the bees, some by 

 biting, and some by stinging, and so quickly I never saw the 

 like of it. I killed it just as it was finishing up one of my best 

 colonies, of which not over lUU bees lived. What is its name ? 

 Is it common in this part of the country ? Minnesota. 



Answer. — The insect received appears to be a bumble- 

 bee, and could hardly be the cause of so much mischief. There 

 must be some mystery or mistake about the case. I know of 

 no insect in the North that is so destructive to bees. 



Getting- Dra-wn Combs Built. — Mr. Isaac 

 Lundy, of Canada, gives his method in the June Review, as 

 follows, for the getting of drawn comb at the time of the 

 white honey harvest : 



One of the most important things to do to obtain success 

 is to use a strong colony to do the work, and it is best to see if 

 there are such about the time of fruit-bloom. If not, strong 

 colonies can be built up by feeding, or with combs of hatching 

 brood, etc. As the above causes some considerable work and 

 also causes the apiarist to sometimes wait (for strong colonies 

 to be built up) until after the drawn combs are needed, I have 

 been looking for better and more satisfactory methods, and 

 will now try and describe a method whereby I have attained 

 much belter results, with much less labor, making it possible 

 to secure the necessary strong colonies in a few hours' time. 

 The plan is as follows : 



A few days before the time to put the supers upon the 

 bees, I select two good colonies, or as many pairs as will be 

 needed to secure the required number of drawn combs, that 

 are sitting side by side (my hives sit in pairs) ; and over the 

 entrance of one hive of each pair I place a cone bee-escape, 

 thus preventing the returning bees from entering their own 

 hive. They will readily enter the twin hive, thus making a 

 powerful colony, in the right condition to take possession of 

 the supers, which should have previously been supplied with 

 partlyfllled sections of comb left over from the last honey- 

 flow. As soon as the super is well occupied by the bees, add 

 at once underneath the first super put on, another super of 

 sections containing foundittUm unly, y/hich will soon be con- 

 verted into beautiful drawn combs. 



Of course, in some seasons, and in some localities, drawn 

 combs can be secured from the fruit-bloom, but with not so 

 much satisfaction, as the weather is often quite cool, a condi- 

 tion very unfavorable for comb-building. If, however, you 

 should try to secure drawn combs from fruit-bloom, I would 

 advise only one super remaining upon the bees at a time, and 

 that should contain enough " bait " sections only to induce 

 the bees above. 



I have been using the same bee-escape for the prevention 

 of after-swarms to the exclusions of all other means. 



Xtie McEvoy Foul Brood Treatment Is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on " Foul Brood ; Its Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for .SI. 10. 



