1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



763 



been stung- in the affected parts. We have 

 had a g^ood many other reports from those 

 who have tested the sting's and could see no 

 benefit whatever. See Pickings. — Ed.] 



WORKING COLONIES FOR BOTH COMB AND 

 EXTRACTED HONEY. 



On pag-e 586, Brown inquires of Doolittle 

 the best manner of worlving- his SO colonies 

 for both comb and extracted honey. He 

 gives a very good plan for doing so; but for 

 this localitj', at least, I have a way that I 

 like much better. M3' plan is, to commence 

 extracting from the upper super as soon as 

 or a little before the bees have filled it in 

 the spring, and keep extracting until the 

 swarming furore is about over. By thus 

 extracting it will greatly retard but not en- 

 tirely stop swarming. Perhaps three or 

 four out of ten will swarm — not more. By 

 this time those that have not swarmed will 

 be powerful. Now lift up the upper ex- 

 tracting-supf r, and put a complete super in 

 its place. On the top of the super put a 

 Porter bee-escape board, and set the ex- 

 tracting-super on that; and if the weather 

 is favorable for honey-gathering it will be 

 surprising how soon they will fill not only 

 one but perhaps two or three supers. In 

 this way one can have a small increase, 

 and also a crop of both extracted and comb 

 honey. Joel Hilton. 



Los Alamos, Calif., July 8. 



A SWARM THAT WON'T STAY HIVED. 



I had a swarm come out of a hive twice 

 in one day. They returned both times to 

 the old hive, and they came out again and 

 were hived. They stayed two days, and 

 swarmed out. I hived them again, and put 

 up an entrance-guard of zinc. They swarm- 

 ed out and left. Can you tell me how the 

 queen got through the guard? 



Albert Baker. 



Hartmansville, W. Va., June 18. 



[A colony that has attempted to swarm, 

 and goes back, will try it again; and if 

 they fail to take the queen with them they 

 will possibly kill her. A colony that acts 

 this way should be hived in another loca- 

 tion, or divided; or, better still, shaken on 

 to frames of foundation on the old stand. 

 I can not explain how the queen got through 

 the zinc unless she was a small one. In 

 rare cases queens will pass perforated zinc. 

 —Ed.] 



PICKLED brood; ITS CAUSE. 



This disease generally makes its appear- 

 ance at the beginning of white-clover 

 bloom, and sometimes makes a general at- 

 tack on an apiary as if by some magic 

 power. In its infancy you will occasional- 

 ly notice brood scattered perhaps on several 

 frames with no cappings, which does not 

 seem to h ave energy enough to spin its in- 

 closure. In course of a few days the larv^ 

 will turn a light brown, beginning at the 

 head, very water-like; later turning dark 

 and dry until at last the whole will drop 

 from the cell if you turn the frame side 



downward. In a more severe attack, cap- 

 pings with pinholes contain dead larvae of 

 like nature. ' ^ 



During the past four weeks we have had 

 heavy rains followed by cool nights, the 

 thermometer registering in some instances 

 below 60, causing nectar to flow very thin, 

 the bees requiring more time than usual to 

 seal honey. 



Some writers state that, when there is 

 plenty of unsealed honey in a hive, the dis- 

 ease will not make its appearance. This I 

 can not exactly verifj', as in my experience 

 I have found it in colonies (queen having 

 access to the upper story) having upward 

 of 40 lbs. of unsealed honey. If cool nights 

 and rainy weather have a tendency to bring 

 on the disease, does not this thin nectar 

 gathered during cool and wet weather help 

 to increase its progress if fed to larva;? 

 Careful observation may enlighten us more 

 on this subject. A. J. Halter. 



Akron, O., July 11. 



[A good many samples of brood like that 

 described above have been sent us this sea- 

 son, and we had had reports of it from va- 

 rious quarters. I have seen it other sea- 

 sons, but there has been very much more of 

 it this year than usual, and I therefore 

 conclude it must be a product of the season 

 — the damp weather resulting in poorly fed 

 larvae, which, from lack of proper nourish- 

 ment, die, and subsequently turn brown. 

 Whether this is pickled brood or not I can 

 not say. Mr. Halter came here in person, 

 and submitted a comb. It looked like pick- 

 led brood. If that disease is caused by 

 conditions present last spring and early 

 summer, then we can account for much of 

 it this season. — Ed.] 



LARGE OR SMALL COLONIES— WHICH? 



Comment on Doolittle theory that a stock 

 of, say. 20,000 bees is better than two lots 

 of 10,000 each joined to make one lot. The 

 reason they are better is because the stock 

 of 20,000 began to breed early, therefore 

 there are 10,000 nurses in that stock; 

 whereas the two 10,000 lots when joined will 

 not muster above 5000 nurses. It's the 

 nurses that count in the spring. 



Long Eaton, Eng. J. Gray. 



[I do not think there can be any question 

 that the larger colony is more profitable as 

 a rule. — Ed.] 



WHY IT PAYS TO KEEP POSTED. 



In one of Doolittle's chats I saw an item 

 that saved me just one dollar, and Glean- 

 ings gets it. 



I am troubled beyond endurance by the 

 wax-moth. The season here is so long for 

 them that they will ruin me if I can not 

 find a preventive. 



Mrs. Lola L. Clemons. 



Hamilton, Va. 



[There will be no trouble from wax- 

 moths if you have pure Italian blood in 

 your bees; and they do not need to be pure 

 Italians either. — Ed.] 



