June, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



473 



HEADS OF GRAIN I ?pQilii rDIFFERENT FIELDS 



a very heavy flow and a very strong colony, 

 I should expect fairly good work in the sec- 

 tions with foundation. With a rather slow 

 flow I should expect the work upon founda- 

 tion to lag; and with a poor enough flow to 

 have the drawn combs and baits filled and 

 the foundation left untouched. If brood in 

 black combs should be in the top story I 

 should expect the cappings of the sections 

 to be darkened. To be sure, I have read of 

 sections being produced under brood, and 

 nothing said about the sections being dark- 

 ened; but in the few cases in which I have 

 tried it the sections were always darkened 

 and badly darkened. Of course the case 

 would be different if the brood were in new 

 combs. I 'm not sure how it would be if the 

 combs were old brood-combs, but without any 

 brood in them; but I should be afraid of it. 

 Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



Careful Spreading of Last year from twelve 

 Brood to Build up good colonies, spring 



Nuclei Eapidly count, I took 1767 



4x5 sections of hon- 

 ey and increased to 25 colonies. I already 

 had nearly all the combs I needed. I raised 

 queens by caging the queen in a colony until 

 cells were ripe, then distributing the cells 

 and liberating the queen. 



The following method of spreading brood 

 applies to small colonies. Confine the bees 

 by the use of a division-board to the number 

 of combs they can cover thickly. These 

 combs should contain all the brood and as 

 small an amount of honey as possible. Keep 

 one comb of honey only on the side of the 

 hive opposite from that containing the brood. 

 This provides a honey-flow, so to speak, even 

 on days that are too bad for the bees to fly. 



Keep the sealed combs always on the out- 

 side; and the combs of eggs and unsealed 

 brood in the middle. The sealed brood near- 

 est the time to hatch should always be kept 

 on the outside. 



Within a few days every comb in the 

 nucleus will be solid brood and eggs. When 

 the little colony is strong enough, spread 

 the combs and put the feeder comb, which is 

 now nearly empty, in the middle, putting 

 another comb of honey in its place at the 

 outside. If the colony is not strong enough, 

 put the empty feeder comb next to the divi- 

 sion-board, and within a few davs it will con- 

 tain some brood and may then be put in. the 

 middle. By the time there are five combs 

 of brood the feeder comb should be in the 

 middle, if the wenther is not too cold. 



Keep a sheet of bla' k roofing paper on the 

 liivo, as the bees will breed a little faster. 

 It is really surprising how soon a two or 

 three frame nucleus will be built up to a 

 full eight-frame colony. The plan means 

 some trouble, but it is worth while if one is 

 short of feed. A two-frame nucleus that I 



had last year produced 81 finished sections, 

 and a three-frame nucleus 104. To be sure 

 the season was two or three weeks late and 

 the honey-flow extra good. 



Vincent, Ohio. W. S. Basim. 



European Foul Last season E. F. Hoi- 



Brood Entirely termann wanted advice 



Wiped Out from some one who had 



stamped out European 

 foul brood after it had spread among his 

 bees. I have gotten rid of this disease 

 after a virulent and wide-spread infection. 

 I have not seen a cell of disease in my own 

 locality for five years. I know another lo- 

 cality where the same has been done. The 

 treatment in both cases was Alexander's, in 

 conjunction with my own — the removal, at 

 night, of all infected colonies, as soon as 

 discovered. The quarantine yard should be 

 two miles from the nearest bees, and the 

 diseased colonies should be treated as soon 

 as possible after removal. 



I find in my inspection work that the 

 disease is much more virulent in some 

 places than in others. In the worst form, 

 a few colonies will show disease again after 

 the Alexander treatment. If strong, these 

 colonies are treated again, precisely as at 

 first; if weak, they are destroyed and the 

 combs melted. A full account of my experi- 

 ments and final success may be found in back 

 volumes of Gleanings, and in the report of 

 the Illinois State Beekeepers' Association 

 for 1915. C. F. Bender. 



Newman, 111. 



Book-keeping Dr. C. C. Miller: — I 



versus have been persuaded 



Beekeeping to take a course in 



book-keeping, and sell 

 my bee business. I have started the course 

 and don 't think I shall like it, as it is 

 too confining. I have 50 colonies of Italian 

 bees and equipment. I have studied the 

 business, and like it, and have made a 

 success of it so far. I hate the idea of 

 giving up a business that I have chosen as 

 a life pursuit, and have fallen in love with, 

 too, and follow something that I am afraid 

 I should never like, and I am writing to 

 you for advice. 



Do you think I can make as much from 

 100 or 150 colonies of bees as I could by 

 keeping books at the average price of book- 

 keepers? I think I can manage 150 colo- 

 nies all right in several out-apiaries, as there 

 isn 't enough pasture to support that number 

 in one yard. F. "W. Crravely. 



Richmond, Va. 



It is a very difficult thing to advise. It is 

 hardly possible to compare the income of 

 the average book-keeper with that of the 

 average beekeeper, for the average book- 



