1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



277 



chips of wood will answer. Tlien 1 usi-cl by many. But the suggestions 



put on the cover and the bees do tlic given are somewhat novel. Every- 



rest. l)ody has coffee containers, and so 



(This is the atmospheric feedtr, the feeder costs nothing.— Editor). 



e 



DR. MILLER'S ANSWERS 



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(juestions are answered in order received. As we receive more questions 

 than we can answer in space available, two or three months sometimes elapse, 

 before answers appear. 



Spraying — Location — Supplies 



1. Will the spraying of apple trees injure 

 bees, if so how would you advise to remedy 

 it? 



2. Would you think my location favorable for 

 beekeeping? Our main honey plants are white 

 clover and Spanish needles. 1 am in Wayne 

 County. 



3. Where would you advise me to pur- 

 chase supplies? ILLINOIS. 



Answers. — 1. If apple trees are sprayed 

 when in bloom it will not only be bad for the 

 bees that get the poisoned nectar, but it 

 will be bad for the apple crop, since the 

 poison will injure the blossoms. Unfortunate- 

 ly there is no law in Illinois against spraying 

 fruit trees in bloom, so your only recourse is 

 to appeal to the owner of the trees not to 

 spray curing bloom, not only because it in- 

 jures the bees which are his good friends in 

 fertilizing the bloom, but because it will hurt 

 the apple crop. 



2. With plenty of white clover and Spanish 

 needles you ought to succeed. 



3. Purchase from any of those advertising 

 in this Journal, other things being eijual giv- 

 ing preference to those nearest, so as to save 

 freight. 



any of our text-boks. 



Pratt's Method of Queen Rearing 



Would you be good enough to define 

 Pratt's, of Swarthmore, Pa., method of queen 

 rearing, as I see mention of it made in Alex- 

 ander's writing? Dr. Miller also lightly 

 touches the subject in "Fifty Years Among 

 the Bees." 



If 1 should see a book advertised entitled 

 "Pratt's Method" I would not bother you, a^ 

 1 am getting disgusted with the foolish ques- 

 tions those "gum beekeepers" ask. If they 

 would only invest in an elementary beeboOK 

 and not bother professionals with their non- 

 sense! CALIFORNIA. 



Answer. — The Swarthmore system of queen 

 rearing was based principally upon DooUttle's 

 cell-cup system. But E. L. Pratt, who gave it 

 this name, was the inventor of it. His asser- 

 tion was that one could rear queens in small 

 sections, 6 to a frame, and get them fertil- 

 ized by setting such frames, containing G 

 boxes, half opening on one side, half on the 

 other, fastened to stakes out-of-doors. De- 

 scriptions of his methods were given in 

 Gleanings for 1901, pages 434 to 504. He had 

 also a method for making molded cells, by 

 pressure on the underside of a top bar. He 

 bad a queen nursery and also asserted that he 

 could winter as many as 75 queens in a sin- 

 gle hive, as stated in Giraud's "Traite Pratique 

 de I'Elevage des Reines." His method is un- 

 doubtedly economical. But we doubt that it 

 was practical. At any rate, the ABC barely 

 gives him mention in its "queen-rearing" arti- 

 cle, and Pellctt did not mention him in his 

 **Practicai Queen Rearing." 



Your criticisms of the "foolish questions" 

 may induce some of our beginners to invest in 

 a text-book and read it before asking ques- 

 tions. They should bear in mind that a bee 

 magazine is intended for matters which are 

 not given in books. But the elementary ques- 

 tions of the business are answered in almost 



Bees Fighting 



I am just starling in bees and have five 

 hivts, which wintered well; have plenty of bees 

 and stores. These bets seem to have a con- 

 tinual fight on, when it is warm enough for 

 them to be out. At night there will be prob- 

 ably three big table spoonfuls of dead bees 

 scattered in front of the hives. I noticed 

 them fighting this way in the winter, when 

 they could get out. The hives are set closf 

 together and the entrances are about 3j4x2 

 inches. If there is robbing, I can't tell it, and 

 I have been careful aliout exposing honey. 

 Have only opened them once this spring and 

 that was after supper when they were not 

 flying. Is it natural for bees to fight this way? 



IOWA. 



Answer — .No, it is not natural for bees to 

 fight this way. Usually, when there is any la- 

 tent fighting, it is due to some of the colonies 

 being stronger than the others and to the 

 weaker colonies not being able to fully pro- 

 tect their stores. There is also a possibility 

 of fighting when there is drifting of bees from 

 one hive to another, on account of their being 

 in too close proximity to one another. ±-*id you 

 move them closer together for winter? If you 

 did, that would explain the fighting. If any 

 of your colonies are weak and have a large 

 amount of stores which they cannot protect, 

 it might be a good plan to remove this extra 

 honey and give it back to them when they are 

 strong enough to take care of it. 



American Foulbrood and Treating the 

 Same 



1. Authorities on bee diseases seem to be 

 at sta of late in distinguishing American from 

 European foulbrood symptoms, and an inspec- 

 tor examining my colonies could not tell me 

 positively whether mine had one or the other. 

 Would you give me some positive distinction of 

 these diseases by some competent authority? 



2. I am experienced with the shaking method 

 of treating American foulbrood. If there is 

 any shorter, less drastic means of merit kindly 

 describe same. 



3. Since I have 12 or 13 colonies to treat, 

 would like to save the hatching brood. Which 

 is the best method for doing this, when using 

 the shake method? I had planned to tier up 

 the shaken frames containing hatching brood 

 and later shake same and give young queen, of 

 Italian blood. MICHIGAN. 



Answers. — 1. You are right in stating that 

 authorities seem to be at sea in distinguishing 

 between the two diseases. This indicates how 

 little we know about these matters as yet. 

 However, the main things known about the 

 diseases are: 



In American foulbrood the larva: die about 

 the time when they are about to be S'^aled up 

 in the cell; the larva rots down, assumes a 

 brown coffee color, has the odor of joiner's 

 glue and is stringy or ropy, so that a tooth- 

 pick inserted in its body brings back a sticky 

 matter which stretches out a couple of inches 

 and flies back like india rubber. 



In European foulbrood the larva dies mainly 

 when still coiled in the bottom of the cell, or 

 shortly afterwards. There is very little ropi 

 ness. 



These are the statements of positive authori- 



ties, but there is now a tendency to believe 

 that these symptoms are not always reliable. 

 The best authority is Dr. G. E. White, special- 

 ist in insect diseases, at the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology at Washington. Write to this bureau 

 and ask for Bulletins S09 and 810. both by Dr. 

 White. Send samples of doubtful brood to 

 Ur. E. F. Phillips, at the same Bureau of En 

 tomology. This is the best information that 

 can be supplied up to this date, 



2. With real American foulbrood, we believe 

 in the shaking treatment, nothing less. 



3. Tiering up the brood to hatch it and thus 

 save it has been recommended. If it is done 

 with great care, it may prove good. In any 

 case it is well to be overcautious. 



A beekeeper whose bees suffer from foul 

 brood should not get discouraged, but be per- 

 sistent. We have had experience with foul- 

 brood and have made greater crops since then 

 than before. It is perhaps because it com- 

 pelled us to -e more attentive to the uusiness 

 than ever. 



Active Vs. Inactive Bees — Large Hive 

 — Glass Hive 



1. Why is it that colonics of bees right in 

 the same yard and same conditions do not all 

 seem to get busy at the same time? Some days 

 I notice certain hives are very active and 

 other hives quiet. Then possibly the next 

 time I go to look other hives are busy and the 

 first mentioned are still. 



2. How about hiving a swarm of bees into a 

 big Jumbo hive? Would it be all right, or 

 would it be only in case the swarm is an ex- 

 tra large one? 



3. 1 should think these big swarms in Jumbo 

 hives would never be bothered with moths, un- 

 less they become tjueenless. 



4. Are bees in large hives liable to be more 

 scrappy when you take honey from them than 

 colonies in 8-frame hives? 



5. Some good beemen claim they can artifi- 

 cially raise 5 or 6 swarms from one hive in 

 a season, if they don't care to get any surplus 

 honey. Others say only the rousing big 

 swarms pay. Now how about it? I should 

 think these nucleus hives would be constantly 

 in danger of moths, etc. 



6. Don't you think it would be best to get 1 

 swarm from each hive and then discourage 

 any more? 



7. Don't bees attempt to raise a new queen in 

 a Jumbo hive, or, if they do, wouldn't they 

 surely swarm? 



S. If a man had all twelve-frame hives in- 

 stead of smaller ones, wouldn't he be com- 

 pelled to make his increase swarms artificially? 



9. I notice that some of the Southern bee. 

 men use great long hives or else the pictures 

 in their "'ads" are misleading. What is their 

 object for using different hivts than we use 

 in the central States? 



10 Do you think it would be well for a new 

 beginner with bees to make a hive with glass 

 sides and top, so he could watch them and 

 learn? Or couldn't a person find out much 

 that way? Should such a hive be kept dark- 

 ened except when you want to watch them? 



11. In case a colony becomes queenless. are 

 the remaining bees sure to take a young worker 

 bee and develop it into a queen, i. e., .£ they 

 have any such brood available? 



12. How does a man raising queens prevent 

 the first one hatched from destroying the ones 

 that are not out or fighting with the queen of 



•the colony? NEBRASKA. 



Answers. — 1. Why don't you and your neigh- 

 bors get up at the same time always? Bees are 

 usually active insects, but conditions and tem- 

 pers differ, even among them. 



2. If the swarm is small it will take it longer 

 to fill a Jumbo or a 13-franie hive than an S- 

 frame. But they will fill it if they have a 

 good nueen and a good season. 



3. No bees are bothered with moths when 

 they are strong enough to cover their combs, 

 whether in a large or a small hive. 



4. No, not if handled properly. 



5. They can, but the large colonies pay best. 



6. Sure. 



7. Bees will rear queens in any size of hive, 

 if they wish to swarm. 



S. Yes, he would have less swarms. But he 



