Feb 14. 190" 



American ^ae Journal 



our best authorities will back me up in 

 this statement. 



I wonder if Mr. West, or any one else, 

 would knowingly like to eat honey ex- 

 tracted out of such combs. I like 

 honey, but when I think of eating such 

 stuff, my stomach enters an emphatic 

 protest. 



An Englishman, who lived near us 

 once, used to say in his broad way of 

 speaking, that he didn't " mind a bit 

 of clean dirt, but he did detest nasti- 

 ness ;" and I think that honey out of 

 foul combs would quite properly come 

 under the latter qualification. 



Mind you, I am speaking of foul 

 brood as we have it here in Ontario, 

 but from what I have read of " black 

 brood," I have my doubts as to the 

 propriety of using combs with that dis- 

 ease in them, for extracting purposes. 



I have had no experience with form- 

 aldehjde myself, but Mr. Sibbald, who 

 tested the drug a number of times, pro- 

 nounced it a failure. That the great 

 majority of Inspectors have repudiated 

 its use, is in itself significant; and 

 while I do not dispute Mr. West's 

 claims, yet I would advise Canadian 

 bee-keepers, at least, under no circum- 

 stances, to try to save foul-broody 

 combs. 



Skunks and Bees 



Official figures show that skunks annually 

 net this State [Maine] between 8125,000 and 

 $150,000— double the revenue from the honey- 

 making industry. Nearly 25,000 gallons of 

 skunk-oil. which is said to have curative 

 properties, are produced annually in Maine. 

 The wholesale price is §5.00 a gallon. — To- 

 ronto Globe. 



There is an old saying that "com- 

 parisons are odious," and I should 

 think that to our bee-keeping friends 

 in Maine, the foregoing comparison 

 would be doubly odious. As we have 

 no means of disproving the statement, 

 I suppose we will have to accept it in 

 toto until better informed. 



This reminds me that just at present 

 skunks are causing me considerable 

 trouble at my " Cashel' apiary. One 

 or two of the "varmints" visit the 

 yard quite frequently, and eat all the 

 dead bees that accumulate on the 

 ground in front of the hive-entrances. 

 If that were all, there would be no harm 

 done, but there is plenty of evidence 

 that they scratch at the entrances, dis- 

 turb the bees, and cause them to come 

 out, when they are promptly gobbled 

 up by Mr. Skunk. We have had so 

 little snow that it has been impossible 

 to track them to their den, and I hesi- 

 tate to set traps on account of a num- 

 ber of the farmers' cats which fre- 

 quent the yard, and do good service in 

 eradicating the mice. 



One strange thing I have noticed re- 

 garding skunks, is that they invariably 

 confine their attention to the same 

 hives on their different visits. Last 

 season, for some reason that I could 

 not understand at the time, a colony in 

 the home yard kept dwindling down 

 all through June and July. Two or 

 three times during the busy time I took 

 off the super (with no honey in) to see 

 if the colony had become queenless, or 

 perhaps had swarmed. Every time the 

 old queen was seen, everything seemed 



normal, with the exception that there 

 were very few old bees as compared 

 with the large amount of brood. 



About the end of July I happened to 

 notice the grass all scraped back at the 

 entrance of the hive in question, and I 

 at once suspected skunks. That night 

 I set a trap, and the next morning 

 proved the case without a doubt. 



This was the first time I had any ex- 

 perience with these highly-perfumed 

 beauties in the bee-yard, but a neigh- 



bor, a few years ago, had over a dozen 

 colonies ruined before he noticed any- 

 thing wrong, as it was towards fall, 

 and he was busy with the farm work. 

 He also reported that the skunks con- 

 fined their attentions to the hives all 

 in one row, and never molested the rest 

 of the apiary. 



I should think that where skunks are 

 numerous they would be quite a menace 

 to out-yards remote from buildings, 

 which receive only occasional visits. 





ilocfor Millers 

 , %esti0nj$x^ 



Send Questions either to the oilice of ttie American liee .Journal, or to 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 

 ' Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Moving Bees 



As I have to move about 3 miles March 1, 

 when do you think it would be the best time 

 to move my bees? I use the dovetail hive, I 

 have them in boxes with chaff packed around 

 them. Will the bees get ventilation enough 

 from the entrance, or would I better put a 

 screen over the top of the hive in moving 

 them? lowA. 



Answer.— It will not do to disturb the 

 winter packing any sooner than necessary, so 

 you would better not move them till bees are 

 flying every few days, possibly well along in 

 April. If you choose a cool day the entrance 

 will probably give ventilation enough, unless 

 it be that it is less than the equivalent of 3 or 

 4 square inches. Of course, extra-strong col- 

 onies may require extra ventilation. 



Feeding Bees in Winter 



1. Last fall we bought 4 colonies of bees, 2 

 in box-hives with a glass box on top for 

 honey, aud 2 in dovetailed hives with top 

 super for 24 pound sections. Is it too late to 

 examine to find whether they have enough 

 honey to winter, or would it be better lo feed 

 and risk their needing it ? 



2. What should be fed, just granulated 

 sugar, or a syrup of sugar? 



3. They are on the stands sheltered on the 

 north and east by a large building extending 

 out to the west 10 or 15 feet on the north side 

 and 2 stories high. Is there any danger of 

 their suffering here through the winter, as we 

 have no severe cold weather? 



4. They fly on warm days. Is this right, or 

 should the entrance be closed so they can not 

 fly except when we want them toi These 

 colonies were very heavy when bought, but 

 no honey on top. One was robbed at that 

 time. One had started new combs in the 

 glass box. The other in the box-hive also 

 started comb, and both stored a small amount 

 which we uncapped and they carried out late. 

 We took 20 pounds off one of the dovetailed 

 hives after the season was over. 



Missouri. 

 Answers, — 1. From what you say in the 

 last part of your letter, it is quite likely that 

 the bees are not in desperate need. It will, 

 however, be a good thing to be on the safe 

 side, so long as you are not entirely certain 

 as to their stores. It doesn't matter a great 

 deal whether you feed without much atten- 

 tion to what they have, or whether you look 



in the hive and feed only if stores are scarce. 

 It is not too late to do either, so long as the 

 bees are alive. 



2. If by ''just granulated sugar" you 

 mean dry sugar, that won't do at all. They 

 can't eat dry sugar. This time of year it is 

 better to feed in the form of candy. Stir the 

 sugar slowly into boiling water, having 4 or 5 

 times as much sugar as water. Keep it stirred, 

 and try it occasionally to see when it is done 

 enough so that a little dropped into cold 

 water becomes brittle; then take it oil the 

 fire and stir till it begins to stiffen, and pour 

 into dishes so as to be an inch or so deep. A 

 good plan is to put into the dish a piece of 

 paraffined or oiled paper, or paper oiled with 

 butter, and then, when cold, it will be easily 

 turned out of the dish. Pal a cake of the 

 candy over the bees and cover up warm. 



3. It ought to be a good place, although it 

 might be better it they were protected from 

 the west rather than from the east winds. 



4. It is generally better to let them fly when 

 they want to, although it may be well to set a 

 board as a blind in front of the entrance when 

 there comes a bright sun with soft snow on 

 the ground. But don't think of fastening 

 them in the hive. It will only make them 

 more frantic to get out, and some of them 

 will worry themselves to death. 



Getting Workers for tlie Harvest- 

 Wiring or Splinting Frames- 

 Honey Dew 



1. The honey-flow here lasts till into Sep- 

 tember, and it seems to me that the common 

 bees 1 have crowd the brood-nest early in the 

 season and thus diminish the supply of work- 

 ers for the later flow. What few Italians I've 

 had seem to have the same fault. (The com- 

 mon bees have a little Italian blood). Which 

 race, or races, would you advice me to try 

 that would be apt to do better? Sometimes 

 my bees would starve in the spring during an 

 inclement spell of weather it nut fed, 

 although having a 10-frame hive full of honey 

 in the fall, on account of rearing so much 

 brood. They build up strong, and swarm be- 

 fore enough honey is coming in to live on. 

 Would you advise dividing early to keep them 

 down a little, and then uniting later to keep 

 down undesirable increase? 



2. I have used 3 vertical wires in some of 

 my frames, the wire being common baling 

 wire, about the size of the splints you use, or 

 maybe a little smaller, and it was suggested 

 to me by what you wrote about your use of 



