1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



443 



ought to protect it from the ravages of the 

 moth ; but if there is a great deal of chunk 

 honey, and a small amount of extracted, there 

 might be some danger. — Ed.] 



I should like a discussion in Gleanings in 

 regard to strainers for honey, and prevention 

 of swarming in our yards. C. R. MoRTS. 



Mohawk, N. Y. 



[One of the best honey-strainers — perhaps 

 the best — is illustrated and described by Ram- 

 bler, in Gleanings for Sept. 15th, page 683, 

 last year. For prevention of swarming, see our 

 March 15th issue, pages 218 and 219. — Ed.] 



Can you tell me through your columns a 

 way, if there is one, of taking granulated hon- 

 ey from the comb without destroying the cell? 



C. H. S. 



[The article on page 305, of our issue for 

 April 15th, will give you just the information 

 you seek. — Ed.] 



Can I hive the third swarm in with the sec- 

 ond, that comes from the same hive, success- 

 fully ? T. G. Ledbetter. 



Weaver Sta., Ala. 



[Yes ; but better, far better, prevent second 

 swarms. — Ed.] 



W. C. Townsend, Buffalo, just sold for me 

 9 cases, 24 in case, 216 4x5 sections, 194 lbs., 

 net, at 15 cts., 129.10; charges $4 56— $24.54 

 net. Batterson & Co., 9 cases, 20 sections in 

 case, $1 80. Sections 3^x5, $23.46. S/s sold 

 for 2c more per lb. than the 4x5. Honey No. 

 1, and same quality; these sales are much in 

 favor of the 3^ sections. My Washington 

 men say 3^4 sells just as well as 4x5. As 

 they fit the L. frame, let i:s make the o^ 

 standard. I have 500 colonies, all plain sec- 

 tions. F. G. Bass. 



Front Royal, Va. 



-F. R. S., La. — Albino bees and queens look 

 the same as Italian except that the rings of 

 fuzz or hair are always white instead of a gray- 

 ish dark color. They are nothing more nor 

 less than sports from Italian stock. 



M. C, Fla. — The mosquito-hawk, or dragon- 

 fly, as they are sometimes called, may be 

 easily scared away or brought down by boys 

 wilh whips, or at least that is what Prof. Cook 

 recommends in his book. While they prey 

 upon bees to some extent, it is not generally 

 considered that they do any great damage. 



J. A. M., Fa. — Specimens of bees you send 

 are those that died from bee-paralysis. I know 

 of no cure for the disease. If the colony is 

 very badly infected, for the sake of the others 

 you had better burn hives, bees, and all, as 

 the disease is mildly contagious. If you can 

 not afford to do this, put the hive or hives of 



bees containing this disease in a location at 

 least two or three miles away from your bees 

 and others. Destroy the queens, and then in- 

 troduce queens from healthy stock. 



A. D. W., Trt.— Bee-veils with celluloid 

 and glass fronts are described in our A B C of 

 Bee Culture ; but in comparison with the .silk 

 tulle, so far as clearness of vision is concerned 

 they are little if any better, much more ex- 

 pensive, and, on account of their weight, are 

 not apt to hang straight, but will flop back 

 and forth at every movement of the apiarist. 

 The glass, moreover, is liable to break, and 

 get covered with moisture from the breath, to 

 say nothing of getting dirty. I have person- 

 ally tried these devices myself, and do not con- 

 sider them anywhere equal to silk tulle that is 

 sold by the Dadants. 



/. B. S., Xeb. — From your letter I should 

 judge your bees are troubled with what is 

 known as dysentery — a very common disease 

 or malady in early spring ; but as soon as set- 

 tled warm weather comes on you will find 

 that it will disappear and give you no further 

 trouble. Young bees carried out, which you 

 speak of, are probably those that have come 

 from the chilled brood, or brood chilled dur- 

 ing the cold weather which seems to have been 

 universal almost all over the country. There 

 will be no danger whatever in hiving swarms 

 or putting bees in hives in which bees have 

 died during winter. To save combs from 

 moth-worms, put them in an upper story on a 

 strong colony. For further particulars on all 

 these questions see "Bee-moth," "Spring 

 Dwindling," and "Dysentery," in our ABC 

 of Bee Culture. 



F. 31., Ohio. — I can scarcely tell you what 

 caused the death of your bees unless it was 

 the honey they gathered from the onions. 

 Some kinds of honey are very destructive to 

 bees during winter, and I should be rather of 

 the opinion that the honey your bees gath- 

 ered from the onion-plants was the cause of 

 your loss. But with your hives and your 

 combs filled, even with this bad honey, at this 

 time of the year, you can make a good start. 

 If you work it right you can have those hives 

 full of bees, every one of them, by fall, for 

 that dark honey would be all right for brood- 

 rearing. Of course, if your bees died of some 

 disease, and the germs of that disease are 

 lurking in the honey, then of course it should 

 not be used for spring or summer feeding. 

 To make a new start, purchase one or two col- 

 onies of common bees; bring these home 

 and divide them up into five or six little nu- 

 clei, giving each hive about one frame of bees. 

 Close the entrances down to a space that two 

 or three bees can pass through at a time. 

 These nuclei should be given unsealed larvfe 

 so they can raise a queen, or, better still, give 

 them queen-cells. If you read the subjects 

 of "Dividing" and "Artificial Swarming" 

 in our A B C of Bee Culture you will be able 

 to carry out this increase with very small ex- 

 pense ; but as soon as practical we would ad- 

 vise you to ra-se queens by the Doolittle meth- 

 od, which you will see described in our ABC 

 of Bee Culture. 



