Julv, 1907. 



American Hee Journal j 



brood died. The larvae when about large 

 enough to seal over would die and set- 

 tle down in the cells in a white, watery 

 mass. Later on they would turn to a 

 dark-brown color and dry in a scale 

 over the lower sides of the cells. There 

 is a slight odor of decayed matter, but 

 the dead larvx do not rope when you 

 stick a toothpick into it. This spring, 

 about the last of April, I examined my 

 bees and found them in bad shape, they 

 having the same trouble they had last 

 summer, only a great deal worse. So in 

 fruit-bloom I transferred them into clean 

 new hives on starters, melted down the 

 combs and put the hives where the bees 

 could not get into them. Then I com- 

 menced to feed the bees. They built up 

 slowly, but seemed to be healthy. As 

 soon as blackberries and raspberries 

 were in bloom I thought the bees would 

 take care of themselves, and took away 

 the feed. To-day, when I examined 

 them, I was surprised to find them des- 

 titute of honey, and the brood dying as 

 of old, so now I don't know what to do. 

 All I did was to put back the feed. I 

 have sent two samples to Mr. France 

 and he does not call it foul brood, al- 

 though he said it resembled European 

 foul brood, but did not think it was. 

 He advised me to feed and keep the bees 

 warm. I have only three colonies left. 

 What would you advise me to do? As 

 all three -of them are affected alike, 

 every brood-frame is alike, or nearly so. 



2. Would not bees in cool weather 

 protect some of their brood so that one 

 or two frames would hatch all right, 

 or would they try to protect it 'all and 

 make it scattered ; that is, the bees that 

 hatch, the rest dying? 



3. What would be the express on a 2- 

 irame nucleu shipped a distance of about 

 J 50 miles over two railroads? 



Illinois. 

 Answers. — i. I am not an expert in 

 bee-diseases, and Mr. France knows 

 ever so much more about such things 

 than I. You were very wise to apply 

 to him. It is just possible that things 

 would have been different if you had 

 "kept on feeding. It may be that when 

 berries came in bloom the bees did not 

 get enough, especially as the weather 

 was unfavorable. You can do no bet- 

 ter than to follow the advice of Mr. 

 France. 



2. When bees in a healthy condition 

 are hard pinched with the cold, only the 

 outer part of the brood-nest is likely to 

 suffer ; but in a diseased condition the 

 cold may so devitalize them the effect 

 •may be seen through the entire brood- 

 nest. 



3. I don't think there is a uniform 

 Tate. Your station or express agent can 

 tell you what it is on your line. 



Bees' Use of Water-Swarming 



This has been a pretty hard spring on 

 the bees, and also on the beginner, as 

 about 99 percent of the fruit has been 

 killed, with the exception of some small 

 fruit. 



I. What do the bees do with the water 

 they get in mud-holes? 



.2 Can you tell 2 or 3 days before a 

 colonv will swarm? If so, how? 



3. What is the best way to get a 

 swarm into a hive? 



4. How- far would a swarm go from 

 the hive where there are plenty of trees 

 and bushes around the hive? 



Kansas. 

 Answers. — i. The same as they do with 

 water from any other source; "they use 

 it for drink and to thin their honey. 



2. If a colony has been working all 

 right and then seems to stop work sud- 

 denly and hang out idly, while other 

 colonies are busy, you may make a pret- 

 ty good guess that it will swarm w-ithin 

 a day or so. If you find queen-cells in 

 the hive, some of them built out nearly 

 full length, you may expect a swarm 

 within 2 or 3 days. After a prime or 

 first swarm has issued, you may expect 

 a second swarm in something like 8 

 days, provided a second swarm issues 

 at all. 



3. That depends upon where the 

 swarm is. If it's on a small limb of a 

 tree, a very nice way is to cut off the 

 limb, carry it quietly to the hive, and 

 lay it at the entrance of the hive, allow- 

 ing the bees to crawl in. Often it will 

 be more convenient to set the hive on 

 the ground, where the bees will fall at 

 the entrance when shaken off the tree. 



4. It may settle directly over the hive 

 from which it issued, or on a tree close 

 by, but sometimes on a tree or bush 10 

 rods away. 



No ttullt Over Bees 



If you don't use a quilt won't the 

 bees go up and build comb against the 

 roof of the hive? 



West Virginia. 



Answer. — Yes, if there were room 

 enough, but when neither enameled cloth 

 nor quilt is used over the frames or 

 sections — just a flat cover — there is only 

 ;'4 inch of space between the frames 

 or sections and the hive-cover, and bees 

 are not likely to build in so small a 

 space. 



Settling Swarms-Cow-Peas- 

 ence in Bee Eggs 



Differ- 



1. When bees swarm, is it necessary, 

 or does it do any good, to rattle bells, 

 pans, or the like, to get them to settle? 

 And when settled, about how long will 

 they stay there when not hived? Do 

 bee-men use the above method to settle 

 bees? 



2. Do bees gather honey from cow- 

 peas? We had about 3 acres of cow- 

 peas here last year, and it appeared that 

 all our bees worked on them for 3 or 4 

 weeks, as it seemed that there were 

 thousands and thousands, and the queer 

 thing to me was that they did not work 

 on the bloom, but on the joint just be- 

 low the bloom or young pea. Was it 

 wax or honey? 



3. In regard to bee-eggs, is there an> 

 difference or distinction between the 

 eggs from which a queen and worker 

 are hatched or reared? If I am cor- 

 rect, bee-men use any egg they may 

 come to when transferring eggs to 

 queen-cells, and the difference result.^ 

 from the size of cell and the material 

 on which the young bees are fed. 



Answers. — i. It would be hard to find 

 any bee-keeper nowadays who believes 

 it does any good to make any kind of 

 noise with the view of getting a swarm 

 to settle. Part of the performance is 

 to settle anyhow, noise or no noise. 

 The length of time bees hang after 

 clustering before going off varies 

 greatly. It may be more than a day, 

 and it may be less than an hour. The 

 best thing is to get them into a hive 

 as soon as possible. 



2. Cow-peas are counted honey-plants. 

 There are different plants which, at 

 least at times, secrete nectar elsewhere 

 than in the blossoms. When you see 

 bees working as busily as you say they 

 were on your cow-peas, you may be 

 sure they are getting either nectar or 

 pollen. If you see no pollen on their 

 legs you may be sure they are getting 

 nectar. They don't gather wax, they 

 secrete it; but they gather bee-glue. 



3. An egg laid by a good queen in a 

 queen-cell is precisely the same as one 

 she lays in a worker-cell. A drone-egg 

 is a different thing. A drone-egg is un- 

 fertilized and can produce nothing but a 

 drone, even if fed in a queen-cell ; other 

 eggs are fertilized. 



Nearness of Apiary to Hlstiway- 

 Bee-Houses or Hive-Covers 



1. How close does the law allow an 

 apiary to stand to the public highway? 

 Mine are (the front row) 50 feet from 

 the road, and a man having a horse 

 stung says it will cost me something if 

 I don't move them. 



2. Can he make me move them? I 

 can find no article concerning it in 

 Cook's "Manual." 



3. Which is the cheaper, to build bee- 

 houses or hive-covers? New York. 



Answers. — i. I doubt there being any 

 law on the subject in your State. If 

 they sting people going along the road, 

 you will do well either to move them 

 farther away or to have a fence high 

 enough so the bees will fly over the 

 heads of passers-by. 



2. There is probably no law by which 

 he can compel you to move them, but 

 you might be obliged to pay for any 

 damage resulting from their stinging. 



3. That depends upon the kind of 

 houses and of covers. In general it 

 will probably cost less for covers. Even 

 if the covers cost more, probably most 

 bee-keepers in this country would pre- 

 fer them. 



Observation Hives - Size of Cells 



1. I am thinking of making an ob- 

 servation hive. Will the bees cover the 

 inside of the glass with propolis so that 

 I can't see through? 



2. When kept in the house do they 

 have wood casing over them? 



3. How about that statement on page 

 449, of bees drawing out cells as the 

 bottoms are filled with cocoons? " It 

 looks as if they would have to be spaced 

 farther apart. Of course, you didn't 

 make the statement yourself. Texas. 



Answers. — i. Not to a very great ex- 

 tent. 

 2. They might be kept with nothing 



