488 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June 15. 



POISONOUS BROOD ; SPRAYING OUT OF BLOOM. 



Friend Root : — What is the matter with my 

 queens ? I tried raising them by the Alley 

 plan, and placed the prepared larvae in good 

 strong queenless and broodies i colonies. Hon- 

 ey was coming in freely, and the bees started 

 fully 100 cells in the various colonies used for 

 that purpose. The cells were drawn out and 

 sealed in due time, and at the proper time for 

 catling them out I found, without a single ex- 

 ception, the larvae dead and rotten. Perhaps 

 " rotten " is not the correct word, but anyhow 

 they were a mush in the cell. There seemed 

 to be a total lack of royal jelly in the cells. 

 Now, why was it? is the question. The colo- 

 nies were queenless, and had been foraleng.h 

 of time sufficient for all the brood to hatch 

 out, and the colonies were very strong, and 

 honey coming in freely, yet not one queen 

 have I got out of the whole shooting-match. 

 If the fault was mine, where was it ? and if it 

 was the bees', why was it? All colonies were 

 perfectly healthy, and no disease has ever 

 been in the apiary. We have to raise queens 

 early, for later in the season the mosquito 

 hawks are so bad as to make it impossible to 

 4o so. M. W. Shepherd. 



Marchant, Fla., May 22. 



[We have had reports from all over the 

 country as to how brood had suddenly died in 

 certain colonies. Indeed, we have had it die 

 in strong colonies in our own yard. It is 

 something that disappears, or at least always 

 has done so, and the colony is shortly in its 

 normal condition. This trouble I lay to the 

 fact that the bees have gotten the poison that 

 has been used for spraying fruit-trees. While 

 we spray while the trees are out of bloom, our 

 Mr. Wardell says he has noticed that after 

 each spraying there are liable to be dead bees 

 as well as occasionally a dead queen, followed 

 by dying or dead brood. When the bees are 

 rearing large quantities of brood, if there is 

 no dew or water handy they are quite apt to 

 lick up the liquid poison on the trees, carry it 

 home, and then the result is poisoned brood. 

 Only recently one of tmr best queens that had 

 been doing heavy duty was found dead out in 

 front of the hive, and this was just after our 

 trees had been sprayed. The assumption is 

 that the bees of that colony had taken home 

 some of the poisoned liquids, fed them to the 

 queen and to the young brood, because the 

 brood was dead also in the hive. We get re- 

 ports of this kind every year during spraying 

 time, and I am fast coming to believe that 

 spraying does do some harm, even outside of 

 blooming time. — Ed.] 



BURNT SUGAR CAUSING DYSENTERY. 

 Early last fall a grocery was partially burn- 

 ed near me, and a large amount of smoked 

 candy and sugar was left in the ruins, and my 

 bees worked in it for weeks. I was working 

 my bees for increase and not for surplus hon- 

 ey. A neighbor who was running for surplus 

 had his honey ruined by this burnt candy. 

 We both winter in the cellar. He has taken 

 his out, and they appear to be in bad shape. 

 I think mine are badly affected with dysen- 



tery. Do you think the burnt candy and su- 

 gar are the cause of our poor wintering? A 

 year ago our bees came out of the cellars in 

 fine condition. I suppose if the burnt sugar 

 is responsible for our loss it is too late to do 

 any thing for those that are alive. 



Athol, Mass , Apr. 10. A. M. V. Hager. 



[There is no doubt that the burnt sugar was 

 the cause of your trouble. You will find fur- 

 ther particulars on the subject of burnt sugar 

 in " Feeding," in our A B C of Bee Culture. 

 —Ed.] 



a cheap home-made FOUNDATION FAST- 

 ENER. 



Mr. Root : — Inclosed I send you a photo of 

 the foundation fastener with my ten-year-old 

 boy at the machine. R. D. Wii,LiS. 



Montroee, Colo. 



7s fbuiJat/c/jT^stener 



[This is a very simple machine, so simple 

 that almost any one can make one from a 

 glance at the engraving. — Ed.] 



does 1200 INCHES OF COMB MAKE TOO 

 SMALL A BROOD-NEST? 



I wish to ask you a few questions. I am 

 using a hive that gives me 1 199 inches of comb 

 in the brood chamber, 11 frames. Do you 

 think it too small ? Will it make bees swarm 

 sooner if you feed in the spring ? My bees are 

 what I would call fighters, from the woods, or 

 black bees. Do you think them as good as 

 the Italians? E. EvELAND. 



Boomeveld, Wis. 



[I should say your brood-nest was of fair 

 average capacity. The eight- frame Langstroth 

 hive is perhaps nearer standard than any other 

 on the market, and has 1120 square inches of 

 comb. 



For general purposes we do not consider the 

 black bees as good as Italians or crosses be- 

 tween Italians and blacks. The last named 

 are just as good for comb honey, and some 

 prefer them. — Ed.] 



