Gleanings in Bee Culture 



bees properly protected, there is still much 

 that may and ought to be done in the win- 

 ters months in order to insure a successful 

 summer's work. Hives should be carefully 

 prepared against swarming time. If the 

 bee-keeper intends to increase the number 

 of his colonies during the year he should 

 purchase and prepare the hives in the win- 

 ter time. When swarming time comes it is 

 usually a busy time for men as well as for 

 bees, and it will mean a great deal in time 

 and money if the bee-keeper has all his 

 hives and supers in readiness for the bees 

 when they need them. This is true of all 

 the mechanical equipment of bee-keeping. 

 The best time to do the work of preparation 

 is when the bees are quietly sleeping in their 

 winter nest. 



Now a final word about the bee-keeper 

 himself. No one can hope to succeed with 

 bees without information in regard to the 

 theory and practice of bee-keeping. Books, 

 and papers also, on the subject of bee-keep- 

 ing, should be read, and the information 

 obtained carefully considered with a view to 

 the improvement of the work. The long 

 winter evenings are well adapted to this 

 work of self-instruction. And it is one of 

 the mOot delightful pursuits of the bee-keep- 

 er's life to dream and plan for his faithful 

 little workers. They are in many respects 

 themostsatisfactory of all his helpers. They 

 do not need to be driven to their task. All 

 summer long they work ceaselessly when- 

 ever there is any "thing for them do, and 

 they never strike for higher wages. 



The bee-keeper's dreams do not all come 

 true. Sometimes he has a rude awakening; 

 but as a rule the best and most successful 

 bee-keeper is the one who does the most 

 toward self-instruction by reading and study 

 — the one who plans and makes the most 

 thorough preparation for the summer's work 

 in the winter time when he has more leisure 

 and the bees are quiet. 



Oswego, 111. 



YOUNG BEES CARRIED OUT BECAUSE CRIP- 

 PLED BY MOTH-WORMS. 



How to Get Rid of Them. 



BY DR. L. A. SIMMON. 



Sept. 15, p. 571, Mr. J. I. Lutes speaks of 

 a very common trouble, viz., "old bees kill- 

 ing off young bees." I think that, if he 

 will examine his brood-combs carefully, he 

 will find them infested with moth-worm, for 

 the mode of attack of the moth-worm, and 

 the habit of bees in relation to their presence 

 in the hive, are not always understood. For 

 this reason there is a great deal of brood de- 

 stroyed by them unobserved. 



The ovules of the miller are deposited in 

 the cells, or carried by the bees in going in 

 and out, are sealed over, and hatch coinci- 

 dentally with the bees. The young worms 

 feed on the pap of the larvae; and as they 

 grow larger they burrow and push their way 

 from cell to cell under the capping of the 



brood, forming elevated lines that may be 

 seen crossing the surface of the capped brood. 

 These lines vary in diameter from j'-^ to 5^2 

 of an inch, and constitute the runways of 

 the worms. There are two important points 

 to remember — first, that bees never attack 

 the moth-worm until it is seen; second, 

 moth- worms instinctively remain secreted 

 behind the cappings of the brood until they 

 reach full development and are ready for 

 the last transformation. They then emerge, 

 make excursions about the hive in search 

 of a crack, depression, or hole, where they 

 spin their silken cocoon. It is then the bees 

 attack them and carry them out. But all 

 the damage they can do is done. 



Bees will cluster over dozens of moth- 

 worms secreted in these runways, day after 

 day, with no apparent knowledge of their 

 presence, nor make any attempt at their re- 

 moval while their brood is being destroyed. 

 The worms do not eat the young bees, but 

 rob them of their food, so that most of those 

 die over which they burrow. But if the lar- 

 va is sufficiently develoi^ed to live the bee 

 will be defective, often minus one or both 

 wings, or so dry that it emerges with diffi- 

 culty, having a segment of the cocoon ad- 

 herent to its body. It is a law of the hive 

 that they tolerate no invalids or imperfect 

 bees in the colony; therefore these are car- 

 ried out to become the prey of carnivorous 

 ants. 



It is the duty of the bee-keeper to exam- 

 ine his brood-combs now and then for these 

 telltale elevated runways on the surface of 

 the capped brood, especially when bees are 

 carrying out dead larvae or young bees. 



When a colony is found infested, it will 

 require bi-weekly examinations for four to 

 six weeks to eradicate them. I had one very 

 strong colony of the best Italians last sum- 

 mer, in a new hive with beautiful frames of 

 brood that became infested, ?nd I removed, 

 in all, 114 worms from beneath the cappings 

 of the brood. It required six weeks to eradi- 

 cate them. I would find from four to four- 

 teen worms at an examination. The best 

 tool to operate with is a delicate sharp-point- 

 ed hook formed on the end of a steel wire 

 about 6 inches long. With tbis you can 

 rip up the runways from end to end without 

 injury to the brood, and turn out the worm. 

 When operating, turn the worm loose among 

 the bees and see how they will pounce upon 

 it and attempt to sting and carry it away. 



Auburndale, Fla. 



Report from Santa Clara Valley, California. ■ 



The season opened late, with lots of rain. Bees ^ 



built up slowly, and did not do much work in the 

 supers until June 1; but during June and July they 

 did well. In our valley bees open the season with 

 truit-bloom: then come wild flowers, eucalyptus, 

 and then, toward the end, buckeyes, redberries, 

 and other shrubbery and trees found along water- 

 courses. Of late years a great many areas have 

 been put into seed-farms where onion, lettuce, and 

 radish seed is raised wholesale. The honey from 

 these is of flrst-class quality. Honey prices are 

 good here. Fancy comb is selling at 20 cts.: No. 2, 

 15; extracted white, per quart, 50 cts.; amber, 40. 

 The B. F. Stillson Co. 



Palo Alto, Cal., Oct. 12, 1911. 



