74 G 



GLEANmGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Safe after Nine Years? 



I have about 25 boxes which can be used 

 to house bees. They had fov;l brood about 

 nine years ago. Is this foul brood still in 

 themf How can it be stamped out? 



Watertown, Wis. Cornelius Trachte. 



[There are two types of foul brood, called 

 the Ainerican and European. We assume 

 from what you say your experience was with 

 American foul brood as this formerly was 

 called merely foul brood. 



In case of American foul brood it would 

 not be best to attempt to use the combs 

 again. However, we do not suppose this is 

 what you have in mind. The hives are all 

 right to use, but even tho it has been nine 

 years we should take the precaution of 

 scorching out the inner walls with burning 

 straw or a gasoline blow-torch. This would 

 take but little time and it is worth some- 

 thing to be on the safe side. Safety first! 

 Do not char the wood deeply, simply scorch 

 well, and they will be safe. — Ed.] 



And Swarm They Did. 



I have just been having an epidemic of 

 swarming the like of which I have never 

 seen at this season. All during the month of 

 June there was just flow enough to keep 

 thfi colonies breeding up. I did everything 

 a man could do to prevent swarming, but 

 swarm they would and swarm they did. And 

 such swarms I never saw before. 



Eecently, after a swarm had issued I went 

 thru the old colony for queen-cells. I found 

 and cut out 48. One comb had 20 cells on 

 it, two bunches in the middle of five each. 



TWO QUEENS IN ONE CELL. 



Later we found one cell with two well- 

 developed queens in it in different stages of 

 development. One would have hatched in a 

 day or two, the other in about a week. This 

 cell was a little larger than usual — wider at 

 the base. There was no wax partition be- 

 tween the two queens — only a tin film or 

 skin. The cell was built on the lower edge 

 of the comb. S. A. Fuller, 



Helena, Ark., July 8. 



Does the Law Prevent Moving Bees? 



I have 12 colonics of bees out on the farm, 

 and am working here on the railroad. I 

 should like to move the bees here in town. 

 Is there any law in Indiana to prohibit it? 



Huntington, Ind. Carl Christ. 



[There will be no difilculty about moving 

 the bees provided they are at least a mile 

 and a half from the new location where you 

 propose placing them. If you do not sell the 

 bees to any one else there will be no law 

 against your doing this; but if you propose 

 selling them you probably would have to 

 have them inspected by some authorized 

 inspector before such sale could be made. 

 In that case write to State Inspector of 

 Apiaries, Indianapolis. — Ed.] 



Good for Sore Eyes. 



It's a novel sight, and very gratifying, 

 too, to see bees active on red clover as they 

 are here now. This is owing, no doubt, to 

 the effect of the terrific heat and drouth of 

 the last two weeks of July that so pinched 

 and dwarfed the bloom that the bees can 

 reach the nectar so abundantly contained in 

 red clover. Abundant rains within the last 

 two days have broken the severe drouth, 

 and with more moisture in prospect it looks 

 as if white clover and alsike would soon 

 re\'ive with the usual return of nectar to 

 the late bloom. 



Manawa, Wis. E. E. Colien. 



[We assume that the red clover referred 

 to here is the second crop. The second 

 growth is usually somewhat dwarfed, so to 

 speak, and the corolla tubes likewise are a 

 little shorter. — Ed.] 



Cabinet Scraper for Propolis. 



In the issue of April 1, 1916, C. Mitchell 

 relates some experiences with various uten- 

 sils for scraping frames, etc. Permit me to 

 recommend an article intended specially for 

 scraping, and that is the old-time cabinet- 

 scrapei* — simply a piece of flat sheet steel 

 about 3x5 inches in dimensions, and vary- 

 ing in thickness somevdiat. It costs ten 

 cents, or probably now fifteen, at any well- 

 stocked hardware store. The cabinet-scraper 

 is sharpened by setting it in a vise and then 

 drawfiling the edges with a single-cut file. 

 Any mechanic will explain drawfiling. It 

 is a very effective tool for many purposes. 



Hoboken, N. J. B. Keep. 



O You Yellow-jackets! 



In the evening, when the bees come in 

 heavily loaded, I have observed yellow- 

 jackets pouncing down on them as they 

 alight at the entrance, bite them in two at 

 the thorax, and fly off with the abdomen, 

 which contains the honey-sac, while the 

 front part of the bee, the head and thorax, 

 containing the legs and wings, run around 

 on the front of the hive. I have sometimes 

 seen them go in. 



I have been unsuccessful in catching these 

 yellow-jackets, and do not know what to do 

 to get rid of them. I am located in the 

 hills, and the brush is full of jackets. 



A Subscriber. 



Then They Don't have a Chance. 



I think I have found a condition wherein 

 the smoke method of introducing queens 

 will not work. It is when the bees are in 

 a cell-building mood — for instance, when 

 they are trying to supersede their queen or 

 when swarming from any cause. With me 

 they will build cells and reject the new 

 queen if they have anything to build them 

 over. I take away all unsealed brood and 

 the old queen and wait twenty-four hours 

 and thou introduce. 



Grosvenordale, Ct. Ernest Eyant. 



