Nov. 20, 1902. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLRNAL. 



745 



Questions and Answers. 



I Quest 



CONDUCTED BY 



DIt. C O. aill^LHR, Marenfro, 111. 



[The Qaestlons may be mailed to the Bee Jonrnal office, or to Dr. Miller 



alrect, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mall.— Editor. 1 



Poul Brood. 



1. How can one say for certain this is foul brood or 

 chilled brood 7 



2. Is there a certain remedy for foul brood ? 



3. Can it be cured or not ? 



4. How do the bees carry foul brood from one hive to 

 another? Is it in the honey, or is it transferred to other 

 hives ? 



5. What would you advise one to do if he had 30 or more 

 colonies that he was afraid had foul brood, and they were 

 all the bees he had ? I have 12 colonies that have had some- 

 thing- the matter with them the past three years. I am 

 afraid it is foul brood. Here it appears about the latter 

 part of May and disappears during the latter part of 

 August. Before and after that time the brood looks clean 

 and nice, but when that appears it looks just as I see foul 

 brood explained. The bees do not do so well as they would 

 if that was not the case. What would you do in a case like 

 this ? Wisconsin. 



Answers. — 1. The special feature of foul brood that 

 distinguishes it from chilled brood is the odor and ropiness. 



2 and 3. The McEvoy treatment has been effectual in a 

 great many cases. 



4. It is usually carried in the honey. A colony badly 

 affected with foul brood is not able to protect itself against 

 the robbing of other colonies, and the microbes are carried 

 with the honey. 



5. Make a business of informing yourself fully upon 

 the whole subject. Study carefully all that is said in your 

 text-book, and get Howard's foul-brood pamphlet. That vpill 

 be much better than the information to be had in thisdepart- 

 ment, for our good editor would be likely to shut down on 

 me if I should attempt to take all the space necessary for 

 subjects already treated in the text-books. It is possible 

 your bees have foul brood in a mild form ; and yet one would 

 think greater headway would be made in three years. 



Perhaps Bee-Paralysis— Wintering Bees— Eating Honey. 



I have one colony of beesi that I am puzzled with. In 

 August and September, 1901, the bees began to die off very 

 fast ; even later on the bees, when in front of the hive dead, 

 were swollen up and full, as if from confinement. I did not 

 open the hive to see what was going on, and more than 

 likely I could not have seen more than I could see outside. 

 I thought to unite what would not die, but neglected to do 

 it. When I came across that colony last spring I found a 

 young queen, brood, and a goodly number of bees (strong), 

 making the best showing of all, and they also proved the 

 best. Now that same colony is dying off the same way. 

 The reason I mention the young queen is because I always 

 clip my old queens, and this was not clipped. This colony 

 did not swarm in 1901 or 1902. It always goes with the rest 

 of the best ones. Why is it that only the bees out of the 

 one hive die off so early, and not any of the others that do 

 but little better ? This is what puzzles me. The colony is 

 located at the same place. I do not meddle with bees any 

 more than is necessary. 



2. I winter my bees on the summer stands, where the 

 sunshines on them. I have a rim under the hives 2'+ inches 

 high, open the whole width of the hives, 16 inches, with 

 wire screen 3 meshes to the inch. Is that too much opening 

 for out-door wintering, and no packing ? Bees have wintered 

 best for me without protection ; I only change the size of 

 the entrance. 



3. Don't you think every practical bee-keeper should 

 pay his or her subscription to bee-papers in advance ? Yes, 

 sir ; I will pay in advance, even though the subscriptions 

 go up to $5.00. 



4. I eat honey on bread, pie and cake. I am often 

 laughed at by my wife. What do you think about it ? She 



is good about cleaninff sections, and hiving swarms when 

 I am away. Pennsylvania. 



Answkks.— 1. I don't know what is the trouble. The 

 swelling and dying looks like paralysis. In that case 

 you ought to notice the bees standing about with their 

 wings trembling, and with a more or less shiny appearance 

 because of the disappearance of their plumage. 



2. That seems pretty open, but the best proof of the 

 pudding is the eating, and if you have had good success in 

 any particular way it is not a bad plan to continue it. 



3. You are quite right about the importance of subscrib- 

 ing for a bee-paper. I can hardly be called a beginner, and 

 yet I dare not skip anything written by the rawest begin- 

 ner, for there is always a possibility that he has struck upon 

 something that I have not yet learned. It is no doubt true, 

 also, that the larger the list of subscribers the better able 

 the publisher is to make improvements that will be of value 

 to the readers. 



4. Your wife is quite right not to eat honey with pie 

 and cake, at least not much of it, for the cake and pie spoil 

 the honey ; and people are learning that cake and pie are 

 not nearly so good for the health as bread and honey. Still, 

 it's a good deal a matter of taste how one eats honey. I 

 drink more than I eat of it. First thing every morning I 

 drink a bowl of hot water sweetened to taste with extracted 

 honey. I think my folks find me less disagreeable to live 

 with on account of the honey. Editor York eats an amount 

 of honey that is surprising for one of his size. — [Prov. 24- 

 13 says : "Eat thou honey because it is good." That's the 

 reason we eat lots of it. It's good. — Editor.] 



Young Queen Swarming Stiipping Bees-Bitter Honey 



1. I have just read what " New York " says, on page 

 650, about his young queen swarming this year. During- 

 swarming-time, last spring, I took a frame ot young brood 

 and put it in an empty hive, moved a strong colony and put 

 the hive with the young brood in place of the strong colony. 

 They sealed up 8 or 10 young queens at once. When the 

 young queens began to hatch they cast a nice swarm. In 

 September this same queen led another swarm out. So 

 yousee this one was reared this year, and led out two 

 swarms. 



2. Did you ever know bees to swarm 3 months after the 

 usual time to quit? They did this here this fall. The rea- 

 son was, because there was a honey-tlow of bitterweed. 



3. In shipping bees you put the end of the frames to- 

 ward the engine, don't you ? 



4. A keeps B's bees for half the honey and swarms. A 

 decides to move, and take B's bees with him. Who ought 

 to pay the freight. A, or B, or both ? 



5. In shipping bees in very cold weather would it do 

 just to cover with wire-cloth ? Would it not be too cold ? If 

 so, how would you fi.x them? 



6. I am thinking of taking my bees to Texas. They are 

 all in good hives, with nice combs. I could not sell them 

 here for very much. Do you think it will pay me to take 

 them. 



7. When would be the best time to ship them, about 

 Dec. 1, or in February ? 



8. I use a plain plank for a bottom-board. Would it do 

 to nail the top and bottom boards on and close the entrance 

 with wire-cloth, if I ship them in the winter ? 



9. I send you a sample of bitter honey. How do you 

 think the bees will winter on it? We have never had to 

 winter bees on it altogether before. Al.^bam.v. 



Answers. — 1. I am sorry there are so many exceptions 

 to the rule, but glad to learn the truth about it. But I 

 would not call the first swarm in your case an exception. It 

 is just what would be expected as a general rule, that when 

 several queens are reared in a colony, if conditions are 

 favorable, a swarm will issue with the first virgin that 

 emerges. Although it may not always have been explicitly 

 stated so, the rule is that no /av/w^f queen will issue with a 

 swarm if a queen has been reared in a colony during the 

 same year. Your second case of swarming was an excep- 

 tion to this rule, but the first was not. 



2. Yes, in some places this is more or less common. It 

 is much the same as another season coming on, and such 

 swarms are often called " buckwheat swarms," and a swarm 

 of the same year may send out a swarm, called a virgin 

 swarm. This makes your second case of swarming, pre- 

 viously mentioned, less of an exception than it otherwise 

 would be. 



