1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



343 



frames 17 inches long by 4}{ deep, and single Heddon 

 chamber and others, and I almost invariably fail to 

 get a colony that will be of any account whatever by 

 the honey-flow Tune 15th, and this in spite of the fact 

 that the colony never gets out of honey ; but just give 

 two or three of such chambers and plenty of stores, 

 and I get rousing colonies. It is not enough that 

 there be still a h/i/e comb unoccupied with brood ; 

 there must be plenty in sight inviting the queen to oc- 

 cupy. 



To which Mr. Doolittle, page 363, replies : 

 Depth of Frame. — Friend A. tells us how he has in- 

 variably failed in securing colonies " that will be of 

 any account whatever by the honey-flow June loth," 

 in using single brood-chambers having frames of the 

 depth of the Heddon or shallower, even though the 

 colony did not get out of stores ; therefore he con- 

 cludes that he wants a large hive. Well, with me that 

 yaj7«;<' points toward those shallow frames throwing 

 W\Q^ duster ovA. of its normal conditions, rather than 

 the smallness of the hive. Had he used the same num- 

 ber of cubic inches in a hive having frames ten or 

 twelve inches square in it, and then put on his surplus 

 arrangement when needed by the bees, he would have 

 found that such colonies might have compared favor- 

 ably with those in his large hives. . . . Any thing 

 which throws the cluster or colony out of its normal 

 condition tends toward a less yield of honey, and es- 

 pecially something which brings on this abnormal 

 condition a few weeks preceding the honey harvest. 



Except the depth of frame advocated by 

 friend Doolittle, I fully indorse what the 

 brothers say above. 



Box hives are usually made square, say 12 

 to 15 inches, and 18 or more inches deep. 

 Hive an early large swarm in one of these 

 hives and we can see how the bees work when 

 left to their natural inclinations. They begin 

 building comb at the top, filling with brood 

 and honey, and chinking all crevices with pro- 

 polis, thus making the hive airtight, till they 

 reach the bottom, where the winter cluster is 

 formed on the bottoms of the combs, the win- 

 ter stores just over their heads. The bee-heat 

 enables them to follow up their diminishing 

 stores through the cold weather till spring, 

 when we find brood-rearing commences in the 

 top of the hive, and again the downward work, 

 which continues through the summer, com- 

 mences. Therefore I conclude that a reasona- 

 bly deep comb is best for wintering purposes. 

 But we know that for the best results in comb 

 honey we need a hive that can be contracted, 

 hence two brood-chambers of shallow frames, 

 like the Danzy closed-end frame, for instance, 

 is the best and quickest way to accomplish the 

 two objects sought ; viz. : successful wintering 

 and a large crop of comb honey. Side con- 

 traction with dummies is objectionable because 

 it throws the " cluster out of its normal con- 

 dition," and gives us just that much more 

 work in handling so many loose pieces. Con- 

 traction, by removing a brood-chamber, or 

 converting the same into a super filled with 

 sections, has neither of the above objections 

 connected with its manipulation. 



Topbet, \V. Va. 



STARVED OR BLACK BROOD; HOW TO TREAT. 



BY W. I,. HAWLEY. 



Dr. Howard is undoubtedly correct in saying 

 that the diseased brood sent from York State 

 is catised by scarcity of food. In May, 1897, 

 I had over 200 colonies affected. Over half 

 were very bad ; in fact, if not checked it meant 



ruin to me. At first I thought it was foul 

 brood ; but on thorough examination I came 

 to the conclusion that it was not foul brood, 

 but something else. I could not say it was 

 pickled brood, nor could I call it starved brood, 

 as we had been feeding all colonies, and every 

 colony had an abundance of honey. On ex- 

 amining the colonies more thoroughly I soon 

 discovered that the colonies that were affected 

 the most had no pollen — not even one cell. 

 What pollen there was coming in was imme- 

 diately used up. 



Being sure that I had discovered the cause, 

 now for the cure. I procured one pint of crude 

 carbolic acid, and a pail that held 2>^ gallons 

 of water ; put into the water 2^ tablespoon- 

 fuls of the crude acid, procured a four-inch 

 flat paint-brush, and with this brush, water, 

 acid, and smoker, I proceeded to the first 

 treatment with hive No. 1. I gave them a lit- 

 tle smoke to let them know I was around ; 

 lifted the cover off, removed the quilt, and pro- 

 ceeded to sprinkle the top of the brood-frames, 

 bees and all. I gave them a good dousing. 

 Don't be afraid. It will not hurt them ; and 

 when you think you have given them plenty, 

 give them a little more for luck. Stay with it 

 till you see the water running out of the en- 

 trance of the hive ; then replace the quilt, and 

 sprinkle it until it is damp. Treat the rest of 

 the yard the same way. Don't miss a single 

 colony, if you want to make a clean job of it. 

 Then 24 hours later take a pailful of wheat 

 flour and your smoker ; proceed to hive No. 1 ; 

 go through the customary introduction of 

 smoke ; open the hive and remove one or two 

 empty combs. Take one of the combs ; hold 

 it in any position over the colony, and proceed 

 to get as much flour into the cells as you can. 

 When you have filled the comb as full of flour 

 as you can get it, replace it in the hive on one 

 side next the brood-nest. Put the second 

 comb, after it has all the flour you can get it to 

 hold, on the other side of the brood-nest ; 

 and if the colony has not enough honey, feed 

 it until it has. Do the same with every colony 

 in the yard. 



Examine all the colonies once a week ; and if 

 any colony gets short of flour or honey, feed 

 either or both as the colony may need, and in 

 three weeks' time you will have no sign of the 

 disease. 



The use of the carbolic acid is to help the 

 bees clean house. By making all decayed brood 

 the same scent, and also in scenting old brood, 

 musty and sour pollen that may be in the hive, 

 the bees will remove all such pollen as soon as 

 the flour is added to the store. 



Don't feed flour or anj' other substitute for 

 pollen out of doors, as it is a bad way to spread 

 any disease. Feed it to them in the comb di- 

 rect by placing comb in the hive. 



Fort Collins, Col. 



[I should incline to the belief that you did 

 not have real black brood, or it would not 

 have succumbed so easily to your treatment. 

 The same method will not cure foul brood, for 

 I have tried it repeatedly and faithfully, with- 

 out apparently doing any good. If you have 

 any more of this diseased brood, send me a 



