358 



April 25, 1907 



American ^ee Journal 



during the past year I have traveled 

 several thousand miles studying condi- 

 tions of diseases and the rapidity of their 

 spread, and I cannot refrain from say- 

 ing that conditions are serious. The 

 scientific work which has already been 

 done on the subject is of very great 

 value. We know that these two diseas- 

 es — European foul brood and American 

 foul brood — are of bacterial origin, and 

 we know from scientific work on other 

 bacteria that certain methods of treat- 

 ment are necessary. The result is that 

 with this work we now have reliable 

 methods of treatment. 



The control of diseases of animals 

 and plants by inspection methods has 

 been the object of a great deal of 

 thought on the part of very competent 

 men, and inspection is really a science. 

 Horticultural and veterinarian inspec- 

 tion methods are well worth study by 

 those interested in the extermination or 

 control of brood-diseases, and for this 

 purpose there will be a meeting of bee- 

 disease inspectors in this city next Mon- 

 day. How much good will result from 

 such a meeting remains to be seen, but 

 it is certainly a worthy object. Bee- 

 keeping must be up-to-date in its meth- 

 ods of disease control, and to accom- 

 plish the maximum good our inspectors 

 must work in the greatest harmony. 



In addition to the direct good result- 

 ing from scientific work, great good re- 

 sults from the publication of scientific 

 results in the stimulating effect which 

 such work has on practical methods and 

 discussions. As an example of this I 

 need only refer once more to the work 

 on bee-diseases. The recent work on 

 this subject has given us a better in- 

 sight into the causes of the two forms 

 of foul brood, yet it must be confessed 

 that these results are of minor value, 

 since methods of control are not changed 

 in the least. In spite of this the an- 

 nouncement of results and public dis- 

 cussions have stimulated the persons in- 

 terested in disease work, and we novif 

 are, in a better position to take up the 

 practical question of ridding ourselves of 

 these plagues. 



Over and above all this, scientific work 

 makes better bee-keepers, in that the 

 more a man knows about bees the better 

 bee-keeper he is, and the better man he 

 is. We must not lose sight of the fact 

 that a bee-keeper has some mission in 

 life besides honey-production or queen- 

 rearing, and increased knowledge adds 

 infinitely to the pleasure of living. To 

 add to the sum of human knowledge 

 and to interest others in some new line 

 of thought is fully as commendable as 

 the production of something to tickle the 

 palate. Let us, therefore, hail with de- 

 light any advance in our knowledge of 

 bees. E. F. Philups. 



(Continued next week.) 



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 made to take all ttie copies of the American 

 Bee Journal for a year. It is sent by mail 

 for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. 

 The Bee Journals can be inserted as soon as 

 they are received, and thus preserved for 

 future reference. Or we will send it with the 

 American Bee Journal a year — both for $1.10. 

 Address office of the American Bee Journal. 







sss^. 



locfor 

 [uesfi0nJ9)c 



Send yuestions either to the otliee of the American bee .Journal, or to 



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



1^°° Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Clipped aueens-Swarming-Yellow- 

 est Bees 



1. I bought a queen last year and her 

 wings were clipped. This spring they 

 seemed to be grown out. Will they 

 grow out, or was it a young queen? 



2. Will bees swarm before any young 

 queen is hatched? 



3. Which strain of bees is most golden 

 yellow? Subscriber. 



Answers. — i. No, a wing that is 

 clipped never grows out again. One ad- 

 vantage of having a queen clipped, is 

 that, as in the present case, you can tell 

 when a young queen has taken her place. 



2. A first swarm issues about 8 days 

 before the first queen emerges. When 

 an after-swarm issues, a young queen 

 has already emerged, ready to go with 

 the swarm, while one or more young 

 queens still remain in the cell. 



3. Probably Italians ; although it may 

 be that some Carniolans are equally yel- 

 low. 



Management for Chunk Honey 



I have a few colonies of bees that I 

 wish to run for chunk honey ; i. e., use 

 extracting frames and supers and cut 

 the comb honey out instead of extract- 

 ing. Will it be necessary for me to use 

 queen-excluders if I use full sheets of 

 comb foundation in my frames? 



Ohio. 



Answer. — That depends. With a 

 small brood-chamber the queen is likely 

 to go up ; with a large brood-chamber 

 she is not likely to trouble much in 

 that way. In any case she is less likely 

 to go up into an apartment filled with 

 foundation than into one filled with old 

 combs. 



Management to Prevent Swarming— 

 Transferring 



1. I would like to put 2 old colonies 

 of bees on one stand with space between 

 for one young colony. Now, if I should 

 take the 2 old colonies with old queens 

 away to another stand a distance of 4 

 rods', will the field-force of worker- 

 bees unite with the young queen left on 

 the old stand, and work, or will thev 

 loaf? 



2. Will this plan keep the old colonies 

 from swarming? 



3. When the old colonies are heavy 

 with bees, by bringing them back to the 



old stand will it do to use the same plan 

 again with another young colony? 



4. Can I transfer a colony of bees by 

 waiting until they swarm and putting 

 the young swarm close beside the old 

 colony, and then setting the old colony 

 on the opposite side of the young col- 

 ony every 6 or 7 days until the old 

 colony is run out? or will the bees stay 

 with the old colony when moved such a 

 short distance? Michigan. 



Answers. — They will unite and work. 



2. Yes, at least for a time ; but when 

 they get strong enough they will be like- 

 ly, if undisturbed, to swarm later. 



3. Yes, if you remove the 2 colonies 

 to a new place at any time, you may 

 count on the field-force uniting with any 

 colony left in their place. 



4. It will probably not work as well as 

 you expect. Each time you make the 

 proposed change you will throw the 

 field-force from the old hive to the new 

 one; but at the same time you are likely 

 to throw some of the field-force of the 

 new hive into the old one. It will work 

 better when making the second shift to 

 set the old hive on top of the new one. 

 But either plan will work fairly well, 

 and 21 days after the issuing of the 

 swarm you can drive out, or shake out, 

 all the bees from the old hive and add 

 them to the swarm. 



Saving Bees from Sprav-Poison- 

 Honey Adulteration Super- 

 seding Old Queens 



1. How can I best save my bees from 

 being poisoned? I have an apple or- 

 chard of 30 acres. I spray for codling- 

 moth as the blossoms are about to close 

 and fall. I use arsenate of lead. Would 

 you advise feeding for a few days with 

 sugar syrup? 



2. Will the pure-food laws prevent to 

 a great extent the adulteration of honey 

 with glucose? 



3. Will a good colony supersede its 

 worn-out queen, or is it not best to in- 

 troduce a new queen at least every 3 

 years? Oregon. 



Answers.— I. Feeding with syrup 

 would probably have little effect, for the 

 bees prefer the blossoms. The easy way 

 out is not to spray till the blossoms have 

 fallen. That's the wiser course, any- 

 how, even if there were no bees in the 

 case. The best authorities will tell you 

 that it is an injury to the blossoms to 

 spray while the stamens and pistils are 

 still active. Neither is it at all neces- 



